Wheeler on a Dropping Tide

The tide is about halfway out when I put in under the big highway bridge. It is an easy and quick paddle down to the marsh. It is a fine day, mostly cloudy with little wind and a temperature around 70F. I flush two dozen Mallards from the shoreline weeds as I go.

Eight Yellow-Legs wait for me at the top of the marsh. As I head over to one of my favorite sneak entrances,  I spot three young Night Herons up one of the inlets, all sitting on their own wooden piling.

I take the side entrance to Nell's Channel, and then follow the East of Nell's Channel Channel down. Spot a Snowy Egret on the way. At the bottom of that channel, I magically pick out the correct channel that takes me through the fragmentation of low islands that form the lower marsh. A Harrier flies past, and a Cormorant takes that as a cue to move. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a small Duck on shore, and then think it might be a Rail, as it didn't fly off, but rather walked back into the spartina. Fifty yards on, I spot another Clapper Rail, which confirms the first. Unlike the Yellow Legs, which feed at the edge of the water, the Rails are feeding where the mud flat meets the spartina. I pass a dozen Great Egrets on this stretch, a few more young Night Herons, and one Great Blue Heron. 

Clapper Rail - center of photo

At the east shore, I turn upriver and head towards Beaver Creek. The water is low enough to limit my options, but the creek will be good. 

Flush a few more young Night Herons in the creek, and spot four Osprey. These are the only Osprey sightings for the day.

As I head back out to the river, I spot three bottles. This is right near where I located a Borden's Milk bottle and I suspect that this might actually be a trash dump. Anyway, everything has a 1950--1960 sense about it, and two of the bottles are brands of soda pop that I've never heard of. Only one of the bottles is still embedded in the bank, but I collect them all as they might help pin down a date on the Borden's bottle.

Virginia Dare soda pop bottle