Nells Island Maze

M was long overdue for a trip, and by the time she arrived, the unexpected early morning wind had died down. We went to put in at the Refuge launch, but there was an sketchy idiot with a stalled truck...wait for it...parked at the water's edge of the rather steep and rutted dirt launch. He needed a battery jump, which I could not help with, and given the whole picture, I decided to put in upriver rather than run the risk of returning to find my car without a battery.  

The day was most excellent with clear skies, a very little wind, and temperature in the mid 50's. We headed downstream from beneath the high bridge on the last hour or so of flooding tide.

With the high water, it was time to show M the interior maze of Nell's Island. This time, we headed in on the most upstream entrance, which I had not before used. In about 200 yards, we came to a log jam that I remember, although from the other side. We took our time and pushed the floaters out of the way and eased over the main log with just enough water that we didn't rub. Then, M spotted a critter to our right, and we backed up to confirm it as a opossum hunched on some drift wood staying dry.  It definitely looked interested in staying dry, so we moved on. We managed our way up and out through the main entrance channel with just a couple of wrong turns. Tidal marshes fill from the outside in, as a sponge set it in water. Nell's Island does the same with a couple main flood/drain channels and a maze of others that don't fill/drain with much of a current.

We crossed the marsh to the east zigzagging through spartina islands and channels. Spotted a couple dozen Black Ducks, one Teal, a dozen or so Canada Geese. The Geese were migratory, being that they spooked from quite a distance. Then in and out of Beaver Brook, where we spotted some more Ducks and a couple of active Kingfishers.