What I Think About

Getting out in the canoe this winter has been difficult. We've had a few unusually long stretched of windy weather interspersed with good old fashioned cold that created enough ice to force a retreat to areas near the salt water. This morning comes calm with a steely gray sky, the advance warning of snow in the afternoon. The temperature when I set out is 27F, but the previous days have been warm enough that the only ice should be the thin overnight skim that forms in calm spots.

I put in at my usual start point about a mile upriver of the marsh. The tide has been coming in for about an hour, so the opposing flood current is still fairly light.

Near the drawbridge, I start spotting birds. It is the winter mix - a few Canada Geese, some Buffleheads, Black Ducks, Mallards, a Red Breasted Merganser.  A Loon appears, unusually near, maybe 2 canoe lengths.  I think we are both giving each other the eyeball as the Loon should dive and swim away, but it doesn't.  I get a few quick photographs, and then paddle away figuring that it has as much right to be left alone as I did. 

The mile down to the marsh has more Ducks and Geese than normal. This is a hunting pattern that I have begun to recognize; hunters anywhere in the marsh push much of the waterfowl to the outer edges, which are no hunting zones because they are near houses. 

One of my current projects is to determine the rate of accretion (soil accumulation) in the marsh. So far, I've been collecting old bottles as the become visible in the cut banks. Bottles can often be dated to a five or ten year span without any scientific equipment, and at this point, I have a 50 years per foot estimate of accretion. (In the above photo, the soil at the water level would date to some time around the Civil War.) However, much of the marsh doesn't cooperate due to it being mudflats, or for some reason, just lacking debris where I need it.  So, lately I have been looking into old maps and writings about the marsh.  Generally, I want two independent sources before I "begin" to trust any story.  One item that I read reported that the marsh was more of a bay during the 19th century.  I have my doubts about that as the only old maps (ca 1830-40) from that era that I've located were made for the purpose of selling or taxing land.  Those maps are drawn showing open water everywhere that there isn't solid land, and the lack of any marsh symbology, especially on the edges and backwaters shows that the mapmaker considered marsh to be non-land, which is not an unusual viewpoint for that time period - if you couldn't build on it, farm on it, or mine it, it was useless. Some of the "bay" idea might very well extend from viewing inaccurate maps. The first good map series that tried to show land as it was are the early USGS topographic maps, which were begun in the 1890's. There are some old sea charts, but then again, they don't bother much with marsh because you couldn't drive a steamboat through it.

I head down the main channel following the outside of Nell's Island, flushing one Harrier from the spartina as I go.  My only side trip is to check out the main entrance to the center of the island. It is shallow with the low tide, but never having been in here at low tide, it's worth the look because one never knows until one goes.  After a hundred yards, it goes too shallow to proceed.  

I continue down, passing a hunters' boat tide off to shore.  As I round the point to come back via Nell's Channel, I spot the Goose hunters about 200 yards in. I decide to leave them alone and turn back up the main channel. 

At the top of the marsh, I head back a ways into Beaver Creek, flushing about a Hundred Canada Geese and several dozen Ducks. They fly off being careful to avoid flying over the main marsh where the hunters are.  They're birds, they're not stupid.

Against the Flow

It is a calm day, the calm before the storm, of course.  We will get a half foot of snow tonight. 

With the likely hood of the inland rivers being frozen, at least likely enough that it isn't worth the drive, I return to the Wheeler Marsh. The tide is halfway out by the time I get my act together. It is an easy paddle down to the marsh on the ebb current.  There are two Loons in the usual spot, in the current near the drawbridge. I flush Mallards and Black Ducks fro the riverside all of the way down to the marsh.

Once I am in the marsh, the current is against me as marshes fill and drain... going into the marsh from any direction is against the current. I try one of my favorite inner channels, but after a hundred yards, it's obvious that I won't be able to exit out of the far end.  As I spin the canoe, I catch sight of a Harrier gliding into the marsh  behind me. At Cat Island I find a Goose hunter set up with some decoys.  He reports that it has been quiet.  The other day when I was here, I flushed a hundred Geese from this spot. I find a couple more hunters in the bottom of the marsh. They might as well have a flashing neon sign saying, "Stay Away!  Hunters!".  Geese and Ducks were well distributed throughout the marsh five days ago. But, with just a few hunters present, I haven't seen a Duck or Goose since entering the marsh.

I cross over and head up Nell's Channel, against the current of course.  There is a solitary Loon in the channel, by the upper island where I usually see a Loon or two.  I flush a Harrier from the shore - that makes six sightings, although it is probably not that many birds.

Windchill

The wind was more than expected when I got to the river, it was coming downriver at just under 15mph, although my estimate may be off a bit given that there was a nippy windchill added on to the 30F temperature. Since it was low tide and my options would be limited down in the marsh, I crossed the river and headed up into the quad islands, which would have some protection from the wind as well as a downwind return trip.

Heading up the shore, I flush a Great Blue Heron, and I find a lone Coot sheltering at the tip of Carting Island. There are quite a few Ducks, mostly Mallards or Blacks in the channel.  They move off as I approach, but not much farther than the opposite side of the small island. 

Coot

It is a slow trip up the westernmost channel - between Peacock Island and the shore.  The tide has just started to come in, but since the water is not much more than 6 or 8 inches deep for most of the distance, so I just poke along trying not to stick myself in the mud. At the mid point of the channel, where there is a natural stone dike, I wait for about ten minutes while the water rises, and then squeak a tight turn around the end of the rocks.

At the top of the islands, I flush three immature Bald Eagles from the shoreline trees.  One of them catches something when they're about 150 yards upriver and another makes a steal after a few moments of dogfighting. I continue up to Pope's Mill site before making my retreat. It is cold enough that I'm not motivated for a longer paddle against the current.

I manage to make it through the narrow Carting/Peacock channel. This is the shallowest of the channels and when I passed it heading upstream, it was exposed mud. I flush a Harrier while in there, and a Snipe.  I don't get a good look at the Snipe (which is normal), but it is the right size and right color, and it flies a speedy zigzag, in the air for barely a second before landing.  That is pretty much how Snipe act when flushed.  It is my second Snipe sighting in two canoe trips. 

Coming out of the islands, a Common Loon gives me a call.  Their winter calls, which they use rarely, also seem to be much more muted than in summer.  I cross over the river by the drawbridge and find two Great Blue Herons just down from the launch, where they seem to be discussing fishing rights.

Timing is Everything, or Not

 We got about 2 inches of snow last night. But with it, the temperature started to warm. Yesterday morning it was 15F. Today, it will rise to over 40F. The snow will melt. It is, definitely, a winter canoe day with not only pleasant temperatures, but also no more than a 5mph wind.

I put in under the highway bridge.  The tide is rising with about 2 hours to go. It is a bit of a crawl down to the marsh. I spot some Buffleheads and Mergansers near the drawbridge, and three Common Loons, which are taking advantage of the tidal current that gets amplified near the bridge.

Bufflehead Drake

The big treat of the day comes just as I reach the marsh.  A snipe takes off from the edge of the water, does a zig and a zag, as they do when flying, and settles down out of view in the grasses.  I rarely see Snipe, and thinking about it, it has been in colder weather. I suppose the cold ground moves them closer to the water for food.

There are more Canada Geese and Ducks than normal, and they are more distributed over the marsh than usual. Ice up farther inland has pushed birds down here. It's often most noticeable by the number of Swans that show up, although today, they are somewhere I am not. By Cat Island, I flush a flock of a hundred Geese.

There's a pick up truck at the refuge launch and I find a hunter about 200 yards away. He waves me through his Goose decoys, hasn't had any luck yet, but he's only been sitting there for an hour. 

There is little ice in the marsh and most of it is fully rotten salt water ice. The canoe doesn't cut through it but rather just mushes through as if paddling through a pond full of frozen peas. 

I get over to Nell's Channel too soon, so I cut back through the center aiming for the Central Phragmites patch. There is some firm ice here as this is spot is protected from the wind and never sees a current of any account.  I push up onto it, some breaks under the weight and some just gets pushed down. Then, I cut through the marsh over to Cat Island and head out and back up river.

Loon Fest 2025

Today is a brief calm, few of which we have had this month. The beginning of the month was windy as hell with repeated days of 30mph gusts. During that time the temperature dropped enough to start freezing up the fresh water. By the time we had a calm day or two, the only open waters were near the salt water of the sound.

I put in about 2 hours after low tide under the high bridge and head downstream to the Wheeler Marsh. A couple guys are pulling out their small oyster boat prior to a cold snap that is due to arrive tomorrow. It should be cold enough to freeze the calmer spots in the river.

Just down from the draw bridge there is a large Loon in midstream. It still has most of its summer colors.  Common Loons winter in this area. Many people don't know this because the Loons are rather silent in winter and they lose mush of their fancy coloring.  In fact, there are 4 Loons in sight as the pair of what I assumed were Mergansers on the far side of the river are actually Loons.

I head in for a clockwise circuit of the marsh. Ahead, a large bird crosses the river. Backlit by hazy sunlight, it's not easy to identify. It could be a Great Blue Heron or a Bald Eagle, but it rises up and sets its wings for a glide... almost for sure an Eagle. Then, a large number of birds flush from the river as the big bird begins a wide slow circle. That is an Eagle for sure, and those birds know that it is an Eagle on the hunt, for one of them.

I round the marsh, which has just enough water for me to coast over the shallowest section on the east side. A hundred Canada Geese come in from the sea, overfly me, and scatter off to who knows where. I don't think I could ever get tired of hearing the honking of Geese as they fly past. I spot several Harriers. It is probably 4 to 6 different birds, but it is impossible to tell - since Harriers skim the marsh hunting for prey, I can't see them once they are away from the channel that I am in, and they often skim all of the way across the mile wide marsh.

I find 2 more Common Loons in Nell's Channel. I collect an old liquor bottle from the east side of the side entrance to Nell's - 15 inches deep and by the embossing, before 1968.

I return upriver, counting 6 Loons, and a flock of a dozen or so Buffleheads.

First Day of the Year

I put in at the old stage crossing on the East River. But as often happens in these parts, I talk with a couple of guys who are passing by on their walks out into the forest. They ask how far I am going, and I tell them, "down to the sound, it's not that far." This is not true, but I don't know it, yet.

It is overcast and quite gray. The tide is close to peaking and there is very little wind. Wind, in fact, is the reason that this is the first day of canoeing this year. Since New Years, We have had repeated days of wind with 30mph gusts. The temperatures have been wondering around freezing for most of that time, just cold enough to get ice forming on fresh water, particularly along the banks and in protected areas with little current. But, here at the put in there is very little ice, and I've crossed the brackish section of the river recently and there was no ice there.

A Red Tail Hawk flushes from a tree and crosses the river just as I get started.

There is some ice slabs floating in the river at the irst bend held in place by skim ice that formed during the night. There's quite a bit of ice over the Gravel Flats, but I get through by following a meander of skim ice and only have to push through thicker ice for a dozen feet. The solid ice is about a half inch thick and with a gentle push and some rocking, it's not too hard to open a channel. 

The next bend has some thicker ice to push through, but again, it isn't too bad. But, the bend near the saw mill dam is nearly solid for about 150 yards. I take a side trip though the flooded cattails, getting down half of that distance, but there isn't a let up.  I could get through this section, in maybe a half hour or so, but the real issue is that I need to make it back up to my start point, and as the tide drops, more ice is going to break loose and come downriver, and this section of ice looks like it is going to stay put for the day. That is one of the considerations when paddling in ice - making sure that you can get out/back to shore at the end of the trip. I figure that this section of the river is going to be a portage on the return, and I don't want to do that.

I turn around and head back.  With the high tide, I can get up into the twisty upper section of the river, which braids into two or three narrow and brushy channels.  I find some wintering over Wood Ducks in there, and make it up the bridge above the put-in, and then head back down to the saw mill dam bend, deciding to do a couple laps of this section of river instead of just packing it up. 

On my third lap, I stop in the Gravel Flats.  The Flats are mostly clear of ice at this time, but all of that loose ice is jammed up in the narrows below the Flats... science, duh.