Marsh Tour

I put in at the local marsh, known as the Wheeler. It is about 40F with clear skies, the tide has just peaked some ten minutes ago, it would be a perfect day except for a 10-15mph wind out of the west, which is mostly downriver here. With the high tide, there is little cover from the wind.

Heading behind Cat Island

I head to the back end of Cat Island. This is only passable at a very high tide. I spot two Harriers on the way, their wings held with a large dihedral as they circle and glide over the spartina looking for prey. Heading back behind Cat Island, I flush four to six Great Blue Herons and a half dozen Black Ducks. Two of the Herons don't fly off until I am within two or three canoe lengths as I push through the grass - I wasn't expected. We haven't had any weather to knock down summer's plant growth, so the usual faint channel has to be imagined. I end up wading for about 20 yards. Cat Island, by the way, is an archaeological site, probably a fishing camp as the island isn't large enough for a village. Town Hall has a small exhibit of artifacts from there.

From there, I head up Beaver Brook. Spot a couple more Great Blue Herons, a pair of Kingfishers, a dozen Black Ducks, a few Mallards and a few Hooded Mergansers. 

Done with that, I head out into the center of the marsh, turn up a wrong channel, run out of water and wade a few yards into where I was supposed to be. I head down river, eventually entering Nell's channel. There, I flush a Harrier from just 20 feet away. It's rare to get that close. I think of Harriers as Owl-Hawks, They have an flattish round head that reminds me of an Owl. That makes for four individual Harriers sighted today.

From there, I crab across the bottom of the marsh back to my put-in. I had the entire square mile of marsh to myself, if one doesn't count the birds.