In the morning, I was busy in my studio, but by noon it was time to stretch the eyes. I pulled in at the usual launch site, under the highway bridge on the far side of town. Today is one of very high tides, and even though it is just a short hour past the peak, the ebb current is already speeding by. On top of that is a north wind, and the prospect of returning to this spot against the current and into a 15 mph wind is... not preferred. I head down to the Wildlife Refuge launch site instead.
This launch site puts me directly into the marsh and I use it less often mainly because the extra two miles of river travel give me more time in the water. With the tide dropping, I have something like three hours to mess around. After that, getting out will involve some mud slogging. It is plenty of time to do some exploring.
I head up to try the back side passage around Cat Island. You won't find Cat Island listed on any map. I got the name from a friend who grew up in the area, and I am pretty sure that the name doesn't go too far beyond him and the childhood friends that explored the island. Today, I can't make the passage. The spartina has been growing thicker with each year, and it's just too dense to get through, at least until winter.
I head out, take one of my known sneaks into the middle of the marsh, head down to bottom, check the depth at my put-in... I have a good hour left to wander, head into another sneak and come back around to call it a day. I didn't see many birds today. With the high water, the best feeding is away from the channels. I saw a Harrier, 2 Kingfishers, 4 Swans, 1 Canada Goose, 1 juvenile Night Heron, a few Ducks and a few Cormorants.
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