Although I usually paddle on Saturdays, I had to wait until today to be out on the water as it was raining a good deal yesterday. This was the second rainy day within the span of a week or so, which is always good news for the forever dry SF Bay Area. I traveled to the Delta region of NorCal today, to Big Break Regional Shoreline in the city of Oakley. This is where the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers merge and flow into the San Pablo / San Francisco Bays. The area has a rich history of farming and commerce, just like any other delta regions in the world. And I must say, the paddling here is top notch as well, especially if you like wildlife in general, and birds in particular. This area is definitely at the top of my list for a re-visit in the future.
This location used to be an asparagus farm, and its name was derived from the breach of a levee back in the early 20th century. From the parking lot, it’s about a quarter-mile of paved road to the kayak launch. Kayakers would need to wheel their kayaks to the water, and I’d heartily recommend doing the same thing with a SUP. I asked the nice park rangers at the visitor center for a set of wheels, and they happily lent one to me. The cart definitely made the walk to the launch a lot smoother.
Oops! It seems like this post isn't published yet. Stay tuned for updates!I didn’t really have a specific route in mind, as I was more interested in exploring the wildlife in the area for this trip. I had asked the park ranger about migratory birds in the area, and he mentioned that in his paddle yesterday they were able to find lots of egrets, plovers, coots, a couple of kestrels etc. With my current skill set, I could definitely spot most of the slower and more human-friendly birds, but kestrels and more skittish birds may take me a bit longer to recognize and approach successfully. I headed northwest from the launch and wandered around the small islands and marshes of this side. Two kayak fishermen were fishing near the Big Break Marina, and a lone kayaker was on her phone talking to her significant other while a sea gull looked on with feigned interest.
From here, I continued to paddle north until I got near the San Joaquin River. It was very windy out there, so I decided to turn back and explore the more protected parts of Big Break. Staying close to the small islands and paddling along the shorelines, I got to a tree with lots of snowy egrets and black-crowned night herons perching on it. But thanks to my excellent camera handling skill, I could only manage one decent photo that is in focus….
But there are more to come. When I proceeded to go past the fishing pier and into the more exposed portion of Big Break, I first ran into a couple of snowy egrets.
Then there was a large raft (or cover) of American coots hanging out in the bay on the other side of the pier. At first, I thought they were ducks for they were very far away. And I still thought that they were ducks until I got home and used my Merlin app to identify them from the photos that I took. Well, American coots they were.
Then leaving these coots behind, I continued my paddle out toward Big Break when I ran into more Greater Yellowlegs on a small marsh islet.
And then I encountered the biggest raft of American Coots near the biggest island on the western end of the park. I was filming them and my paddleboard was drifting with the tide when apparently I got too close (still hundreds of feet away per my estimate) and they started flying away. Apologies to you all for having disrupted your rest!
I continued my paddle out into the exposed waters, but then the wind became stronger and stronger, and the resulting waves were getting higher and more forceful. Since I was not familiar with the area, I thought I should turn around and head back in case powerful afternoon winds made my paddle less manageable. Indeed, I had to deal with unfriendly winds, tides, and waves the entire way back. It was not too hard, but I’d imagine things could get worse than that if I stayed around for longer (although I’d have the tides on my side). When I was about half a mile away from the fishing pier, I noticed a lone great egret was resting in the marsh with windmills lining up behind it. This one was the third type of common herons/egrets that I had seen on this trip. Only a great blue heron was missing from my checklist.
And of course, since I had to round out the list, a great blue heron decided to stand near the fishing pier and welcomed me back. It was practically posing for me, staying still for the longest time possible.
And I ended the day with that great blue heron near the kayak launch. But wait, there was one more surprise to be had. When I was loading my paddle board on the cart to be wheeled back to the parking lot, I realized there was a big map on the ground of the entire delta region! It has got to be one of the largest ground maps that I have seen!
It was a good trip overall. Oakley was very cool (mid 60’s) and the park seemed very well kept on this day that I was here. I’ll definitely want to come back again to explore the area more. This is a major destination for bird migration in the winter months, which also works wonderfully as one doesn’t have to deal with the scorching heat of the summer =D Next Friday is Veterans Day (thank you to all who have served or are serving!), and I’ll probably sneak in a paddle at Bolinas Lagoon before driving down to SoCal for a week-long trip. Peace out for now!
