Duck Dodge

I put in for a short trip through the Wheeler.  High Tide has just crested and the river current is slack.  The weather is near calm, and in the upper 30's with thick overcast.

It is an easy paddle down to the marsh.  I retrieve some more of the little yellow duck toys.  They seem to be all over lately.  They're used for charity events.  People buy ducks and then they all get dumped into some stream with a good current.  It's a race. Of course, some get lost. I collect 8 today and I picked up 12 a couple days ago, and I've spotted several that I couldn't reach.  It would be interesting to trace the ducks back to the origin.  Normally, I go a whole year without seeing one. I figure that the ducks got filtered out by a stand of cattails or a still pocket along the shore, something that got disturbed by the ice build-up of our colder than usual winter.

The marsh is very well flooded with a higher than usual tide.  In fact, following the narrower internal channels is not easy with the spartina clipped off and no longer sticking out of the water.  Anyway, I can pretty much go anywhere I want.

Northern Harrier

The birds are the usual mix of Canada Geese, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, and Black Ducks.  The most notable difference is that there are a lot of Green Wing Teal migrating through.  I see at least a hundred Teal, and as they are small and scattered throughout the marsh, there are a great many more. Also to note is that for the first time this winter, I do not spot any Common Loons in the river. One Eagle flies through and I spot a Harrier.

I cut through the center of the marsh, pass the Central Phragmites Patch, come back across to Nell's Island, and paddle the Maze, which is not really a maze at this high water level. Then, it is back up river, hugging the shore to help beat a very stiff 3-4 mph current in the main channel.