Loving American River......

With no-one else in the campgrounds when we arrived we chose a site right beside the water and not too long after Bill had the van up and the outside sorted while I had the inside done and lunch made.

American River is a quiet village nestled on a hillside, but it's neither American nor a river!  It is named after a group of American sealers who landed here in 1803 and camped along the narrow inlet from the sea which at the time they mistook for a river.

It is a bird photographers paradise with mainly seabirds around the campgrounds but American River is also home to the very rare Glossy Black Cockatoo.  These birds eat the seeds from the Drooping She-oak trees and with many of these here there is a small colony of them if you are lucky enough to find them.  Pete had told us where to look so later that afternoon we went in search of them, but first we explored!

A walk to the wharf had us looking over Pelican Lagoon, first described by Nicholas Baudin in 1803 as 'Port des Pelikans'.   We never saw less than a dozen at any one time and the morning and evening flybys were just wonderful.

Looking out from the wharf the sheltered waters are home to many boats anchored in this beautiful lagoon.  

Walking along a little further we came across the bird hide and here we found a number of the beautiful Black Swans that call American River home.  A little further down the road there is even a 'slow down Swans Crossing' sign handmade by the local residents.   

Jumping in the car we drove to the few Kms to the northern end of town and walked a few Kms along the Birds and Bush trail. This is a fabulous coastal trail that leads to the site of the historic fish cannery.  We never did find this as with evening approaching we turned around and walked the half hour or so back to the car.

From here we drove around to the area we had been told to look for the Glossy Blacks and just as we had given up on finding them two of them flew in.  They are striking birds, completely black as the name suggests with the male having bright red bands across their tails.  The female is a duller colour with some yellow around their throat.  They are closely related to the Red Tailed Black cockatoo distinguished by the calls of the juvenile birds and the colouring of the females.  We spent a half hour or so with this pair until some others flew over and our subjects flew off with them.

Almost dark we headed back to camp where Bill played with some spoonbills and oyster catchers until the rain came down and then it really was time settle in for the night again, it was going to be chilly and the rain was forecast to last all night.

So until tomorrow..........