Egretville

It is about as good a day for canoeing as it gets; 70 degrees, almost no wind, and a mostly cloudy sky that lets the sun peep through once in awhile. We put in under the bridge and paddle with the current down to the big marsh. We enter the marsh just before low tide. Our circuit is only possible because this is a higher than average low tide.

Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron

The reason  to go into the marsh at this tide level, is that extensive mud flats and banks are exposed, ideal for feeding birds. We flush a flock of thirty Cormorants - an untypical concentration that I take as a sign of migration. I expected to see a mix of Egrets and Night Herons as we paddled in, and while the Egrets are there, the Night Herons are not. As we get up to Cat Island, we start to see large numbers of Great and Snowy Egrets.  

Snowy Egrets with dirty feet

They are clearly the dominant bird in the marsh today with three or more in sight at almost any one time as we paddle. The missing Night Herons also begin to appear. They just seem to be standing farther back in the spartina and inner channels. 

Once passed the refuge launch, which is quite unusable at this tide, we cut across via a good channel to Milford Point. There is a large number of Great And Snowy Egrets all along this channel. Then, we head up Nell's Channel with a short diversion to explore what turns out to be a long dead end inlet that gets to the center of Nell's Island. I have to come back at a higher tide and explore in here. Near the top of the channel, we flush another Cormorant flock - some 50 strong.

We spot an Osprey just below the draw bridge - the only Osprey sighting of the day.