I'm a pretty good river man. As I've gotten older I've learned to appreciate all of the creatures we share this special place at Mile 14 with...I guess it's a sign of healthy aging when you go out and buy expensive binoculars to watch birds with. And of course after a lifetime of watching the river flow under and around me I've seen and heard and witnessed just about everything in this natural world....so, this morning I was a little amazed to see bird behavior that was entirely new to me.
Mind you , on all years except this one the river has just 'iced out', usually mid April. I've always been amazed that when the ice goes Duck, Gulls , Terns and of course Eagles all know immediately and start looking for sustenance. But this morning as MP and I rounded the corner on our walk we ran into a bunch, and mean a bunch of Gulls and Arctic Terns floating and feeding on the water. They would fly up to little riffle and then float down maybe 300 yards and peck at something on or near the surface and them fly up and repeat.
As you can see these guys are in the middle, the deep part of the river. I've watched them fish for out going Smolt many, many times and that's not the way they do it and it's usually the month of May. . The Terns are experts, they circle the shallow water where they can spot the Smolt contrasting against the bottom and they dive in a get them. The Gulls are a little stupider and float the shallows where the Smolt are vulnerable....so, this leaves me with mystery. Are they after decayed fish meat being picked up by a rising river ? Is there some kind of super early insect hatch that they found ? Why was it just here and no other birds up river, down river or anywhere ?....Seriously now, help me out with this. I suspect that out of my 200 to 300 regular readers I've got a couple over at ADF+G . And for sure I know I have many real expert River men that know the way, so hey, help a curious guide out, help me learn....
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