My First Boat Ride on Clear Lake

I've lived in Lake County for over three years and have seen Clear Lake many times, but until today I'd never seen it from the water.  I switched county departments on July 14 from Planning to Water Resources and this afforded me the opportunity to see the Lake up close.  I accompanied the Water Resources Technician on a mission to drop some hazard warning buoys on shallow rocks that had surfaced as a result of the drought.  We took the air boat so we wouldn't run aground anywhere; the boat is great except for having to wear ear protection, especially at high speeds.

Check out the video I made from clips shot from the air boat!

I noticed some interesting things out on the Lake.  One thing I saw right off was how expansive the view is compared to from land.  All those trees and buildings everywhere really block the view!  I saw a flock of geese take off and fly for over a mile, then land back in the water.  Something that I've seen from the land before, but they always take off and fly out of view.

Another thing I noticed was all the different small organisms in the water and how they all seemed to cluster and live around each other.  There were different types of aquatic weeds with a bubbly mold-looking substance and particles of Cyanobacteria intermixed with it.

Another interesting site that day was the albatross flying around.  This flying boat was being used for the filming of a Bollywood action flick where the final scene involves a world champion water skier using a grappling hook to barefoot water ski behind the giant plane.  Unfortunately, the water skier is going to be added in digitally, so I didn't get to actually see anyone trying to carry out this stunt.

I also got to see tons of grebes!  I've noticed the different grebe species around Clear Lake for years, but never have I seen so many nests in one location before; it was impressive. We took the air boat near Rodman Slough, and also between Tule Island and the mainland.  The area is really shallow due to the significant amount  of sediment deposited there from Middle Creek and Scotts Creek.  There were grebe nests as far as the eye could see.  These birds make their nests out of aquatic weeds that float on the water.  I'll have to go back out sometime with my SLR camera and the long zoom lens so I can get shots of these birds up close.