Sunday fun day

This is the Rt 600 bridge where I put in.

Clay was up at 4:00 a.m., I was up by 5:00 a.m., so it wasn't exactly a rush to get to the river by 8:00 a.m.   With almost 4" of rain in the area over the last couple of days the river was high, muddy, and flowing fast.  I didn't bring anything except a bottle of water, knowing that I wouldn't be out there very long. 



Otter # 1 for the day.  He was a curious fellow,
but not overly concerned about me.

Although I was out there fairly early and had the river to myself, I didn't expect to see much wildlife.  The fast-moving, muddy water isn't ideal for birds that fish.  I saw one Great Blue Heron but no eagles, a few ducks and geese.  But I saw otter.  Two of them, in separate locations.  The pics are blurry but I actually wasn't far away from the first guy.  I saw him, he saw me and dove underwater.  He resurfaced and looked at me and dove again.  He repeated this a couple times, as curious about me as I was about him.



My only heron spotting of the day.

The first one was near where I've seen them before, but the second was downstream in a new location.  I didn't get any pics of the second guy.  I heard something dive into the water from the bank and then saw him pop up and take a look.  Then he sort of jumped, like a breaching whale, and slapped the water with his body.  I sort of wondered if it was a beaver, but I didn't ever see a tail.  I think he was slapping the water to get my attention because he seemed to make an effort to lead me away from what must have been his den.  He swam away and then did his jump and slapped the water to get my attention, then he would dive, move away, resurface, and do it again.  I actually turned my canoe around and followed him back upstream a bit, then he crossed the river and appeared over near the other bank, slapping the water again to get my attention.  I paddled over there and then got the message that he didn't want me around so I went on my way. 

I didn't see much else until I got to the spot they call Sandy Beach.  It's a rocky sandbar that's accessible via a hiking trail near the Fluvanna dog park.  There must have been a dozen dogs and their people down there.  Most of the dogs were playing in the water and obviously having a great time.  The dogs seemed surprised to see me float by.  I saw Cheryl Faulkenburry and her Saint Bernard, Desi, among the crowd.  Desi was in the water and loving every minute of it.



Riley (left) and Sparky (right).
They are so pretty together.

Sparky enjoying a roll in the grass

While I was on the river, Clay started brewing another batch of beer, another ESB (English Special Bitter) that we call English Setter Bitter.  It's one of my favorites.  I took the foster rottweilers, Sparky and Riley, out to the pasture with me while I did some mowing.  They had a good romp and I got a good chunk of the pasture mowed. 

I helped Clay finish up the brewing process and drank the last two bottles from our first batch of English Setter Bitter.  I am absolutely sold on home brew.   








The brewmaster at work.

ESB  uses both Goldings and Fuggles hops.
It's the classic English ale.



This is the 14 pounds of malted barley that was
used to make the beer.  I'm going to put it out
for the birds.

My heron friend over the river today.