Spring Day

We put in on our favorite day trip river, perhaps the best day trip river in the state.  Days of rain and wind have given way to a sunny day nearing 60F.  The flood tide has about an hour to go as we head up the Neck River.

Willet

The first Willet had arrived on my last trip into this river.  Then bad weather and a minor bout of the covid virus showed up.  I wasn't particularly sick, but I sure was short on energy for a good 10 days.  So, I missed the entertaining shenanigans of the arriving Willets - the territorial bickering and mating dances that you can see if you are in the right place at the right time.  In fact, that drove our choice of river today, to see how the Willets were.

Osprey are all in place and it is clear that eggs have been laid.  In each nest, one Osprey always stays while the other hunts or stretches its wings.  We see a few Willets as we head up the Neck and into Bailey Creek.  With the high tide I suppose that most of them are back away from the edge of the water.

It is in the Big Bends that the Willets become most active.  This area is usually where their numbers peter out.  Today, there are Willet calls from all sides.  Frankly, they are making quite a racket.  I spot four white tail deer moving along the edge of the marsh a good quarter mile off.  It takes S a few moments to find them with the binoculars.

We pass the arch bridge, the smallpox burying ground and Foote Bridge.  With the water high and the day so fine, we head up past Foote Bridge about another 1/3 of mile where the river is blocked with a deadfall.  The next bridge is just a hundred yards up and I know from past experience that the water runs too shallow for a canoe above that.

Above Foote Bridge

We turn around and retrace our route.