After the Freeze

A heavy snowfall will knock down much of the tall spartina in the Wheeler Marsh. But, if that didn't do it, the heavy freeze did.  In tidal marshes, whether freshwater or saltwater, a sheet of ice will freeze around the vegetation, and clip it like a giant lawnmower once the ice drifts an inch. Last year, without any cold weather, the spartina stood all the way to spring when fresh growth gre up around it.  Today, the marsh looks much like a harvested soy bean field - just mud and plant stubble, except for the occasional ice flow perched high and dry.  At first, I take one to be a large drift log, but then realize that it is an ice flow that has collected enough shredded spartina to be in disguise.  

Winter showed up this year. It doesn't always do that. Last year, the so called winter months were ice free and almost without any snow.  About 6 weeks back, we had a freeze followed closely by 12-15 inches of snow.  This not only froze most of the inland fresh water routes, but it also started to freeze the salt water. There was even large drifting sheets of ice in Long Island Sound on many mornings. Tidal salt ice is a very different animal than the freshwater ice that I grew up around.  Freshwater ice is rigid and most often, when snow falls on it, the snow remains snow.  Tidal salt water ice is remarkably flexible to the point of draping over marsh hummocks as the tide drops (where freshwater ice would break into pieces). And, if snow collects on the top of the salt ice, the next tide will be soaked into the snow like a sponge, which becomes a very thick slab of ice in a day or two. That 12-15 inch snowfall became an 8-10 inch layer of ice in short order. Anyway, we had a cold spell that lasted 2 weeks and froze not only the salt marsh, but the main rivers all the way to the sound. A week ago, after a second 15 inch snowfall, I checked on the river, and while the main river was open, the access points were choked with ice flows. And, while going out is optional, getting back to land is required.

I put in under the highway bridge. The water temperature is somewhere in the low 30's, although still liquid, but the day is sunny and calm with a temperature nearing 40F. The launch is open with a few small sheets of ice nearby, but nothing that can't be pushed aside. I head downstream on a falling tide. 

Below the drawbridge are a collection of Ducks and Loons feeding in the river current. 

With the tide low and still dropping, I am limited to Nell's Channel and a few dead end side trips.  It will be enough paddling after a 6-week break.  One thing I notice is that today the marsh is noisy. There are large numbers of Canada Geese, often just sitting in the marsh stubble.  They honk warnings as I pass. Sometimes they flush, which flushes other Geese that are  farther off and unseen.  Gulls are circling as well, and making a fair amount of noise. 

I spot two Bald Eagles at the tip of Cat Island - one is mature.

As I near my start point, I spot a Golden Eye.  It is a handsome Duck, which shows up in these parts during colder weather. It reminds me of the first time I ever saw a Golden Eye.  That was a nesting pair in a sub-alpine lake in the Cascade Mountains on a backpacking trip with my wife. I take out, thinking about which birds and animals remind me of the places where I first saw them.

Golden Eye Duck

I turn back when I get to the bottom of Nell's Channel.  I don't feel like paddling the main river, and the water is too low to enter the main area of the marsh.  I spot some Mergansers