Sutter Bypass, Fishing, and The State of Things
I am not a bird watcher and have no clue as to what kind of birds these are. The sun had just come up and this long line of birds came flying over. I ran to the truck and grabbed my OptioWp camera. I could not get all the birds into one shot – bummer. I had never seen this many birds flying in one long line. I double checked to make sure we were not looking at an angle into a v shape formation. Nope, just one big long line and then they were gone. If you know what kind of birds these are or if this long line is a normal flight pattern let me know.
One of the nicer benefits of fishing through the night is when the sunrises. The night wildlife retreats and the daylight brings color to all the scenery that was nothing but a shadow in the night. Rocks that were nothing more than line snaggers, shadows that loud cries of territory fights and love calls came from loose their night time mystery and appear as recognizable objects.
I enjoy the Sutter By Pass especially at sunrise and sunset. Years have passed since I rode my ten speed out of town to the middle of no where. Developements are getting closer and closer to many areas of the bypass. It is sad. I realize the bypass is a man made irrigation system but the wildlife is abundant and it was always a quite place to get away from it all. Now many of our secret fishing spots are overrun with poachers. The invasive mitten crabs that were most likely introduced to the bay illegally by individuals who had been denied permits to raise them locally for sale in Asian markets have moved into the delta and bypass eroding the banks and stealing bait. Any fish you catch are not really safe to eat anymore because of years of agricultural and mining contaminates.
I really don’t mind not being able to eat every fish that I catch. The fish catch and release practices make since to me when a species is at risk. But releasing a catfish because it is not safe to eat?
Driving along Hwy 70 I can not help but notice miles of houses along the road from Olivehurst past the Feather River Blvd turn off. Miles of them. I wonder if anybody told the new occupants that this land was under (very under) water durning the last floods? The poor racoons, skunks, rabbits, and rats are now increasing victims becoming roadkill as they search for open lands and food.
Enough ranting for now. There are too many rats in the cage. Off to watch the Space Shuttle take off. Maybe space colonization.. then we can mess up another planet.
