Up to Fowler Island

I set out from under the big highway, a close-to-home launch, for a short trip. There is a line at the launch - pickup trucks and trailers, because it takes a big truck to pull a jetski? I shoulder the canoe and walk past the line and put in on the backside of the dock. I'm gone before they notice I am there.

The tide has just passed high and there is a small downstream current. I cross the river, weaving through the bridge abutments and rounding the wood cribbing that protects the railroad drawbridge. I head into the four islands, all of the channels well flooded and easy paddling. The innermost channels are scratchy at low tide and sometimes not passable. There's not much for birds and I suppose that that has something to do with the high grass vegetation - spartina and phragmites are good for blocking one's line of sight. I see a few overhead Osprey, one mature Bald Eagle flies close by, and a few Ducks. As I reach the top of the inner two islands, I spot a pair of Cormorants that appear to have some fish cornered. A couple fish splash at the surface and one cormorant dives. It comes up with a 4 or 5 inch long fish. It flips it in the air, grabs it by the head, and swallows it head first, all in about 3 seconds. It's a neat trick.

The narrow channel between Peacock and Carting Islands

I head up, crossing the river at Peck's Mill, which is no where to be seen anymore, of course. Then up and around Fowler Island. By this time, the tidal ebb is moving along pretty good. As I turn the upper tip of the island, my speed more than doubles even though I have a headwind, which feels great on a sunny 85 degree day. I cross back over at Peck's and return through the islands. When I take out, there is still a line of trailer boaters.