Calls from the Hidden

I head into the secret cutoff with doubts that I will have enough water to pass through, but deciding that maybe I should go find out for myself.  I pause for a few seconds at the mouth to let the Swans with their white Cygnet move casually aside.  Most Mute Swan Cygnets are grey.  The white ones are not albinos and as they mature the only difference is the possibility of having pink or grey feet instead of black.

White Mute Swan Cygnet - "Polish" morph

It is warm, humid and windy and the wind combined with the flood current made the trip down to the marsh into a bit of a crawl.  But, the wind also took the edge off of the humidity.  The marsh has a fresh tangy "green" scent from the massive amount of plant growth that is happening right now.  Heading up the cutoff, I pick up the calls of several unseen Marsh Wrens.  Then, a scratchy call, which is responded to from the other side of the channel, then a few more times from other hidden spots.  Without seeing the birds, I can't say what it is although I suspect it is a Rail or something like that, one of "marsh hen" types that do most of their business on the ground.  There is some slightly higher ground nearby and on previous trips I have heard what I think was a Bittern, but without a sighting to confirm.  

I run out of water when I am almost through, where I also flush a Black Crowned Night Heron that croaks, grumbles and belches its disapproval as it flies off.  So, I sit and write my notes.

By the time I am finished with my notes, I have enough water to squeeze through the last few yards and back out into open water.