Beat the Heat

I head out earlier than normal and I'm on my way downstream by a quarter after seven.  This week is going to be all 90 degree days, sun and high humidity.  It's tough weather unless one has a narrow shaded creek to paddle in,

The tide peaked just over an hour ago and already I have a good current to carry me down. I'm in the marsh in no time.  I head clockwise around the outer edge, spot five Yellow-Crowned Night Herons right away, spot two immature Night Herons a bit farther in, and spot the white Cygnet with one of its parents. Lots of small sandpiper flocks working the freshly exposed mud.

The marsh smells of green growth mixed with the warm vapor of brackish water.  

I go a ways into the middle, spot six Short Billed Dowitchers, and eventually misplace the passable channels and head back the way I came.  Then I pick up Nell's Channel and follow it upstream.  

As I am leaving the marsh, the Osprey have gotten up and are soaring and whistling.

I eddy hop the east shore making the paddle against the current fairly easy.