Swan Cowboy

I stay in the local waters as there is a prediction for strong afternoon winds. There is a thick overcast and the air is cool and humid. The tide has about 2 hours to go to hit low. I put in under the highway and head down river to the Wheeler Marsh. With low tide, my route options will be limited, but it does make for good bird watching.

Rollin'  rollin'  rollin', keep them dogies rollin'....

The Swam pair at the top of the marsh have two cygnets, and one of those is white. Cygnets are usually gray, but I see a white one maybe once a year. I head into the channel leading to the phragmites patch, but I surprise another Swan with four Cygnets and a Mallard with a few ducklings. The Mallard does the wounded Duck decoy thing that is so common with Wood Ducks. I decide not to head up in the channel as there seem to be too any young birds about. The Mallard plays decoy for a ridiculously long distance, and then circles back to where she ditched her youths. The Swam leads her young away, except for the slow one in last place. It turns around and starts swimming in the wrong direction. So, I circle around and get it turned around and headed in the right direction. Around the bend are a couple inlets that Swans like to take shelter in, and I suspect that is the plan. The Cob should also be there, as mated Swans do stay together. This is a 10 minute slow paddle with the little goof paddling steadily. And, as I round the bend, there is the big Cob looking as big as he can by standing on the bottom in a couple inches of water. The little one swims up to the Cob and once I turn the canoe, the Cob saddles up and takes over.

Virginia Dare Extract bottle

I head down Nell's Channel instead. There will be fewer young birds in here as it is more open water with fewer places to hide. I find a bottle in the cut bank not much more than fifty yards in. It is a Virginia Dare Extract bottle at a depth of 19 inches. That should make it about 75 years old as my estimate of soil deposition, based on bottles recovered from cut banks, is about 50 years per foot.

Black Crowned Night Heron

Great Egrets and Yellow Crowned Night Herons are numerous today. I spot two Snowy Egrets, and a total of six Black Crowned Night Herons. I usually don't see more than a single Black Crowned, if any. There are several Willets near the top of Nell's Channel as well.