Night Herons

 We set out from small gravel launch on the side of the Wheeler Marsh.  S slept in and now the tide was going out but we had enough time for a quick trip completely around the marsh.  The day was too fine not to take some advantage of.  Finally, the temperature and the humidity had dropped to humane levels.  

Two kayakers were putting in and they informed me that it was windy out there.  I get lots of good advice when I go out canoeing (sarcasm font).  When I get the canoe down to the water I ask, "which way did they go?"  We head the other direction.

 

Our last trip was short on bird sightings because we weren't first up the river.  I knew that this place would be better.  A large rookery is not far away and the immature Egrets and Night Herons find this a favorite feeding spot.  It didn't take long to start flushing Night Herons.  S had a hard time spotting them until they were airborne.  It takes awhile for the eyes to adjust.  Immature Night Herons blend in perfectly in the margin where silt and spartina meet.  

With a falling tide we had no extra time to explore the insides of the marsh.  There are too many dead ends and good opportunities to get stranded in the mud as the water pulls back.  So, we circled the entire marsh heading out to Milford Point and then up the Nell's Island channel.  We found fewer Herons in the channel but there was a good number of Osprey.

We spotted one mature Night Heron - a Yellow Crowned.  Otherwise the rest were immatures.  I didn't get any bird photos as the wind was strong enough to drift the canoe and keep me from holding the birds in my viewfinder.

We took out maybe a half hour before a mud wade would be required.