Bird Mania

I set out early in the afternoon catching the last hour of the dropping tide.  It is overcast, the clouds with just enough definition that a sprinkle might fall, but then again it might not.  The air is humid, another hint that rain is coming, but it is only 75 degrees, a quite comfortable day.

Oyster Catchers

I cross over the big river to the far side because there is little boat traffic and I rarely paddle over there  and the current is a bit zippier. When I get down to the bottom end of the Wheeler marsh, I cross back over.  The east side of the river with the huge marsh is always a more interesting paddle.  There are some dead menhaden, also known as bunker, in the water.  The state put out a notice the other day because people have been calling about the number of dead fish.  Menhaden were overfished at one time.  I've seen people fish for it, but it's not popular.  Mostly, it was used for bait or fertilizer or other bi-products.  However, it is an important fish in the food chain for everything from whales to striped bass.  Today, the Gulls are doing well with their scavenging.  The number of dead fish is due to the excellent run of menhaden this year.  It was a good run last year as well.  One day I paddled through a school that was over a mile in length.

Snowy Egrets

Juvenile yellow Crowned Night Heron, probably

I don't have to look for birds today, you can't avoid them.  And its the cool birds, not that some wildlife isn't cool.  All of the young from the Charles Island rookery can fly now, and this is the closest protected and plentiful food source for the young birds.  Egrets and Herons are all around, Terns are in the air, Gulls are on the prowl for carcasses, and some Oyster Catchers are squabbling about something.  Out in the mouth of the river are fifteen Osprey.  They're too far off to see any identifying colors, but I spot them hovering and diving every so often.  Must be a big school of fish there.

Spyhopping Turtles

I head into the marsh from Milford Point.  A quarter mile in I decide that I'll probably ground out before getting through the inner passage, so I turn back to go through the Nell's Island channel.  There's a lot of turtles - big thumb sized heads poking out of the water.  I stop for a second and scan - easily thirty turtles watching me all at the same time.

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron, maybe

With that I paddle back.  Spot a Rail... well, I'm going to call it a Rail.  It was damned shy and preferred to walk back into seclusion, an unusual move for most of the other birds.  Then, a Harrier swoops through low - eyeballs a Gull before ground skimming away on the hunt.  A Sharp Shin Hawk comes head on at me and passes of to the east.  It's a pretty good bird day.