2022 12-17 Nimbus Fish Hatchery
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We spent a few hours walking the southern edge of the American River using a wonderful walkway associated with the CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife’s Nimbus Fish Hatchery. It was a bright and sunny morning, but cool.
In front of the hatchery and built into the river just north of the main buildings, there is a weir which can be walled off with a barred barricade to stop the northbound migration of returning salmon and steelhead. This directs them up a fish ladder and into the hatchery. The weir was not walled, but yet many large chinook salmon were climbing the ladder. Other salmon individuals were seen apparently mating and possibly laying eggs in the sediments of the riverbed.
On the water surface, and the target species for today’s photography, there were a large number of common mergansers. Most were oriented towards the north and the on-coming river flow. Some mergansers floated downstream and rode the current over the weir…fun to see.
Also present on the river surface were bufflehead ducks and goldeneye ducks. A few double-crested cormorants were on rocks and also perched on a cable that the USGS installed to cross the river in front of the hatchery. This cable also had a few California gulls on it.
A more robust cable system above the weir mentioned above, is used to drop the vertical-barred walls in place. An osprey was perched on the cable. During our 2 hours on site, the osprey flew off and returned to a different spot on the cable twice. It was a nice photographic bonus.
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Read MoreWe spent a few hours walking the southern edge of the American River using a wonderful walkway associated with the CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife’s Nimbus Fish Hatchery. It was a bright and sunny morning, but cool.
In front of the hatchery and built into the river just north of the main buildings, there is a weir which can be walled off with a barred barricade to stop the northbound migration of returning salmon and steelhead. This directs them up a fish ladder and into the hatchery. The weir was not walled, but yet many large chinook salmon were climbing the ladder. Other salmon individuals were seen apparently mating and possibly laying eggs in the sediments of the riverbed.
On the water surface, and the target species for today’s photography, there were a large number of common mergansers. Most were oriented towards the north and the on-coming river flow. Some mergansers floated downstream and rode the current over the weir…fun to see.
Also present on the river surface were bufflehead ducks and goldeneye ducks. A few double-crested cormorants were on rocks and also perched on a cable that the USGS installed to cross the river in front of the hatchery. This cable also had a few California gulls on it.
A more robust cable system above the weir mentioned above, is used to drop the vertical-barred walls in place. An osprey was perched on the cable. During our 2 hours on site, the osprey flew off and returned to a different spot on the cable twice. It was a nice photographic bonus.
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Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Chinook salmon in river 2022 12-17 Nimbus FH-b-106
Larus californincus California gull 2022 12-17 Nimbus FH-b-006
