Duckin' the Heat

I set out just a bit after high tide and ride a light current down to the big marsh. It will be warm and humid today, so it is best to get this paddling stuff done and over with in the morning. There is a pleasant breeze out of the southwest, the sky is partly cloudy with a good chance of rain at some time during the day.

There is a lot of plastic trash in the water today. This is probably a result of high tide and a good dumping thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Everything that I pick out of the water has obviously been laying around in the weeds for quite some time.  

I spot a couple of Yellow Crowned Night Herons at the top of the marsh. As I head up the channel towards the central phragmites patch, I spot a five gallon plastic bucket. When I pull up against the shore to grab it, I flush eight or ten Night Herons and an equal number of Mallards. With the high tide, they'd been sitting out of sight a few yards back in the spartina. Most of the Night Herons are juveniles - basic gray in color. So, while I wasn't paying attention, the Night Herons have fledged and come over from the Charles Island rookery. It's the "doubling of Herons" time. 

Paddling up through the center of the marsh, I continue to flush Mallards. juvenile Night Herons, one Black Crowned Night Heron, and a couple of mature Yellow Crowns. At the phragamite patch, I flush five Black Crowned Night Herons. 

Considering how nice it is right now, I am surprised to be the only person in the marsh. I weave my way through some smaller passages, then head over to the east shore to see if any Herons are perching in the trees - at times, a favorite spot for them...but, just three Great Egrets. From there I head out, passing four Snowy Egrets and a few more Night Herons. Spot a mature Bald Eagle just before the take-out.
I pick plastic trash at the boat ramp until I fill the bucket.