Tag Archives: Gualala River

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Rick and I were sitting outside at Trinks restaurant in Gualala yesterday when a friend saw a Bald Eagle in a snag at the north end of the Gualala River. I had my camera in the car and got this photo using my super zoom.

immature-bald-eagle-by-jeanne-jacksonDiane Hichwa said this big eagle is probably in its fourth plumage before it reaches its adult plumage at age four. To see a mature Bald Eagle, here is a photo taken by Eddie Mikus a few years ago.

bald-eagle-by-eddie-mikusBald Eagle sightings are tantalizing us with the possibility that someday soon we might have a nesting pair in the watershed of the Gualala River.

Thanks to Eddie for allowing me to share the mature Bald Eagle photo.

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I took this photo of the Gualala River from the Gualala Bluff Trail just before the rains came. You can see it was very low and the sandbar is huge.

the-gualala-before-the-storms-10-13-16Bob Rutemoeller photographed the river after the rain, an amazing difference. The Gualala River has been closed to the Pacific Ocean by a huge sandbar for months. With enough rain, the river will burst through the sandbar, but that will have to wait for another day as the river is still closed.

the-gualala-river-after-the-rain-by-bob-rutemoellerFor now, we have sunny, warm weather. This would be a perfect time to kayak or canoe on the Gualala. But once another storm brings rain, you won't want to be anywhere near or on the river. It's an amazing spectacle. Here is a short video taken by Dane Behrens a few years ago when the river opened. It's titled "Standing Waves." Tree trunks, steelhead, pretty much anything in the river gets thrust into the ocean at an extremely rapid speed. Fun fact: when the river is closed by the sandbar, the mouth is called a lagoon. When it's open, it's called an estuary.

Thanks to Bob and Dave for allowing me to share their photo and video with you here.

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Steve Coffey-Smith was watching the fun from the Gualala Bluff Trail recently. Brown pelicans were coming in for a landing. So graceful in the air, they can be downright clumsy as they land, webbed feet stretched out. You will be hard pressed not to laugh.

Version 2Here's one of my favorite pelican photos. Craig Tooley photographed a Brown pelican about to land. Was it a smooth landing or did this pelican do a pratfall? Only Craig knows. This photo appears in our book, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year, in the November chapter.brown-pelican-pelecanus-occidentalis-coming-in-for-a-landing-nov-by-craig-tooleyah, we love the wonderful Brown pelicans. They were on the Endangered Species List because of the pesticide DDT. It made their eggshells so thin that the shells broke when the mother sat on them. With the banning of DDT in the 1960's, these birds have recovered, so much so that they are no longer listed on the ESL.

Thanks to Steve and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

 

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These reddish frogs are on the endangered species list. Roberta Chan spotted one at the campground at Gualala Point Regional Park on July 30th. The campground is near the banks of the Gualala River.

CA Red-legged Frog found 73116 by Roberta ChanRoberta previously photographed one in the same area in January of this year in the gravel bank of the Gualala River.

California Red-legged frog by Roberta ChanThis rare frog is found almost entirely in California. To learn more about this frog, here is a link to an interesting article: http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/amphibians-reptiles-and-fish/california-red-legged-frog.aspx

Thanks to Roberta for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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Despite all the valid reasons to deny the Dogwood timber harvest plan, the logging in the floodplain of the Gualala River, CAL-FIRE has just approved it. The logging plan starts at the boundary of Gualala Point Regional Park Campground and then goes up river for more than five miles. The solid red in the photo below shows Dogwood. The red with yellow is "Apple," a recently approved THP.

Apple and Dogwood THP Boundaries - Handout (Large)There will be a Community Protest Rally at Gualala Point Regional Park on Saturday July 16, from 11 am to noon. Sonoma County Parks has waived the entrance fee for this event. Enter the park on the west side of Highway One. Just after the pay station, is a parking area called the Salal parking area. We will congregate there, beginning at 10:30 am.

COMMUNITY RALLY TO PROTEST THE TIMBER HARVEST PLAN CALLED DOGWOOD - yellow!At 11 we will walk down the path in the meadow, which passes by the Serge, totems, and then to the parking area which overlooks the Gualala River Lagoon.

Mike Shoys recently photographed some of Dogwood. You will see mature Redwood trees marked in blue for logging.

Dogwood3 by Mike Shoy Dogwood2 by Mike Shoy Dogwood4 by Mike ShoyThe new owners of this land, some 29,000 acres, should not be allowed to log in the floodplain of the river. These 400+ acres are a part of the Gualala River's ecosystem.This area was logged nearly a hundred years ago. It shouldn't have been logged then and it shouldn't be logged now.

We urge the Burch family to sell these 400+ acres to Sonoma County Regional Parks where the land would be added to the existing park, giving our community, and those who visit our area, a river park to cherish.

Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To learn much more about Dogwood, here is the link to the Friends of the Gualala River's website: http://gualalariver.org/

You will read on FoGR's website that a "Notice of Intent to Sue" has been filed by FoGR and Forest Unlimited. They will need donations for this necessary legal action. Here is Forest Unlimited's website: http://forestunlimited.org/about-us/mission/

Hope to see some of you at the protest rally on Saturday!