Elkhorn Slough November 2008

Paul Doherty came down on a beautiful Saturday after Thanksgiving. We loaded up the boats and headed for Elkhorn Slough. Reports of a giant swell coming in from Alaska and a pretty strong offshore wind as we were driving down had us imagining wild conditions, but it was perfect. Light breeze and warm and sunny.





Had not seen PD forever and it was great to have a chance to get caught up on the way down. He is off to Terra Del Fuego for some serious paddling in January.








We poked around in the canals looking for leopard sharks.








Did not see any, but the seals, sea lions, otters and birds were out in force. Western grebes, merganzers, willets, curlews, brown pelicans, loons, least grebes and cormorants we identified for sure.

















There is a new parking lot/boat launch facility with a nice dock that seems to be appreciated by a certain crowd you don't want to be downwind of.








Paul had his usual great store of science and adventure stories. From first ascents of 20,000ft peaks in Chile to the first westerner televising via satellite link from a remote part of China covering the 2008 total solar eclipse Paul doesn't waste any time being bored. It was a pleasure to see him as always.

These photos all shot with a Canon S2

Thanksgiving 2008

Every year for the last many, we have gone for a Thanksgiving hike at the Pescadero Marsh up the coast a bit. This year it was overcast and 60F. We stopped at Swanton's for one of their Ollaberry pies.


Then, on to the marsh. This is a nice wetland with some shallow lakes and the Pescadero River meandering its way through.

Lots of birds and the goal was to get some great shots with my new Nikon 70-300mm lense (hmm, see below, house finches, buffleheads and a great white heron, but just OK shots).

There is a nice beach there where the river meets the sea. Building these little driftwood houses is a local tradition.

Those kids had a good time.

These extra Johns keep showing up...