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Paddling Journal September 2004 Hard to find the time to paddle between Hurricanes. Trips this month: 5
09/10/04
Frances, and the lingering rain and wind associated with that huge storm have finally moved on and there are a few days before Ivan gets here so I thought I'd take a quick pre-dawn trip to see how Fran changed the landscape. I put in well before dawn and since it was so dark I ignored the Night Herons for a change and headed toward the old cedar. They didn't ignore me, however, and one flew out and circled me a couple of times "Wokking" as he did. The tide was slack and the water absolutely glassy - quite a change from the last time I saw it on Sunday night when the Mills looked like the ocean on a windy day. The storm surge has finally moved northward and the water level was about normal. I reached the old cedar and was not surprised to find it intact since it has been there for as long as I have been paddling in Hannah Mills. The new cedar, however, was gone but I think I could spot it about 1000 yards west of where it had been for the last nine months. There was a Great Blue on the old cedar as I pulled up but he soon left and was replaced by a couple of Tri-colors. A small flock of crows soon stormed the tree and squawked noisily at the herons until they left. I continued on to the ICW and upon reaching it found the banks lined with herons on both sides. I think the birds are enjoying a respite from the windy conditions and perhaps sensing that more trouble was on the way were probably taking the opportunity to feed while the conditions allowed. As I headed south toward the Kingfish park I saw three Roseate Spoonbills fly just above my head to the south. A few minutes later about a dozen more flew the same direction. As I approached the turn at the park to re-enter Hannah Mills I saw the initial three hanging out on the shell bank with a Ruddy Turnstone and some white herons. I floated by them slowly taking pictures and they seemed unperturbed. At the old marina there was an Osprey on a piling and as I watched another flew in with a fish in hand and attempted to land on the same location. The pair seemed to be playing with each other over which piling to share and finally they both flew off. There was a little Blue sitting on a cautionary sign that made for a nice photo. I headed back and as I entered the main pool by my put-in I saw an Osprey sitting on one of the pipes stuck in the water. I was surprised how close he let me get but unfortunately, my card was full and he flew off before I got any close shots. I passed by the Night Herons again and scared them away including the Yellow Crown who always seems to be hanging there with his cousins. See the pictures from this trip
09/21/04 Surfin' in the marsh! It was wild out there and if were not for the fact that it had been well over a week since I had last been out I wouldn't have attempted it. But with not much improvement in the weather forecast I decided to at least give it a try. I passed a relatively calm Browns Creek and Cedar Point and pulled off at Hannah Mills to see a pool that was literally churning in the 20 knot wind that was the remnant of Ivan. The huge amount of rain combined with the intense northeast wind was pushing at least two feet of additional water into the marsh and it was almost too deep for me to drive all the way to my normal put-in. I launched and struggled to turn my boat into the wind and then began paddling into the two foot swells that were rolling in from the ICW. It was intense to say the least and the water was a dark, grayish, brown topped by whitecaps as the waves rolled relentlessly toward me. I was able to make my way slowly over to the grass bank where I could take some refuge and I decided to take the western circuit out to the main channel that runs by the old cedar so that I would be out of the wind for the most part. Eventually, I found my way out to the main channel and saw that the "new cedar" had been pushed another 100 yards further west from where Francis had deposited it. I made the crossing over to the old cedar and found it rocking in the current but otherwise it was unaffected for the most part. The fun part of the trip came as I headed home. Once I got into the main chute that leads into the pool by my put-in I found myself being carried quickly along by a series of large swells. At one point I felt my boat being picked up by a wave and carried forward. That was OK but when I saw the bow of my boat was digging into the wave in front I picked up my paddle and began paddling away. That caused me to shoot forward and actually begin to ride the crest as if I were body surfing in the ocean. It was a lot of fun so long as I stayed aware of the waves and made sure that I was always perpendicular to the current. As soon as I felt my boat slow down I knew that it meant a swell was hitting me from the back and I would begin to paddle harder and that would allow me to ride the crest. It was a lot of fun - needless to say - too rough for pics and the birdlife was mostly hunkered down out of the wind.
09/22/04
Another breezy day. A little calmer but not much. This time I chose Browns Creek since I knew that the Browns Islands chain would were positioned to shield me from the nor'easter if I chose to take the western route. The only rough water was crossing the main channel that is oriented in a northeasterly direction and is always a little choppy and was especially so today. I crossed easily and the calm water that I found behind behind the island was stark in contrast as was the eerie quiet since the wind was pushing the usual road and port noise away. As expected, I found quite a few herons hanging out on the leeward side of the island out of the wind and I cruised by taking some shots. From there I headed directly over to the SJRPP runoff pond because I figured that it would be an ideal place for the birds to seek refuge from the wind. It wasn't exactly full of birds but I did see a few Night Herons, an Osprey and an Anhinga. I then took advantage of the high water level to explore some deep inlets into the plant property along the western edge of Browns Creek. At one point I saw a Kingfisher who was so engrossed in his catch that he let me take some good shots of him which was very unusual. I headed north along the plant property and encountered the same Anhinga that I have been seeing out here lately and got some good shots of him. I then headed around the northern side of the middle island of the chain and caught the current home. See the pictures from this trip
09/23/04
What a difference a day makes. Yes, it was still quite breezy but it was downright balmy in comparison to the last couple of days. Everyone got the unexpected word today that Hurricane Jeanne has stopped spinning around in the ocean and has decided to make a beeline for the east coast and therefore it is time once again to hunker down and hope for the best. At any rate, it means that today may be the last day that I can paddle this month so I headed for Hannah directly after work. The main pool was choppy but quite different from the blue-brown maelstrom that I paddled in on Tuesday. The water level was still quite high though and it made easy going out my usual route to the old cedar and then north to the waterway. I crossed over to the east bank and took a few pictures of an Osprey and then crossed back over at the old marina where a pair of Oyster Catchers were waiting on the corner. From there I had an easy paddle home on the slack tide with the wind at my back. See the pictures from this trip
09/29/04
Jeanne has gone and it looks as though we may have seen the last of the hurricanes for this season so I headed out to take advantage of the beautiful fall-like day. Although I knew I would be putting in at low tide, I figured that the recent flood tides would mean that there would be plenty of water but when I reached Hannah Mills I saw that I was wrong. I turned around and headed back to Cedar Point and managed to put-in there and find just enough water to paddle in. It was a beautiful day - temps in the low 80's, little humidity and a gentle breeze coming off the ocean. The low tide, of course, meant that it was an ideal time for the herons to feed and indeed the banks and oyster beds were lined with white shapes bent low to the water. I stopped to shoot a Snowy Egret who was stalking his prey near some oyster beds and he was completely oblivious to my presence. As I sat there watching him, I could see tiny shrimp flitting across the surface of the water and occasionally I would see a Redfish swooshing through the shallows after them. It became a kind of "food chain" situation with the fish stalking the shrimp, the herons stalking the fish and me stalking the herons with my camera. Just around the first bend I encountered a Great Blue who was stalking his meal and like the Snowy, he was tolerant of my presence - to a point. I chased him to a couple of locations before he flew off croaking to a point too far away for me to annoy him and I continued on. I made the turn north toward the confluence of Cedar and Hannah and stopped at one of the sea daisy islands but there were no herons hanging out there - they were too busy fishing. I made my way back and stopped to drink a Perrier at a nice shell island. As I stood there surveying the herons along the opposite bank I began to notice that a pair were wading through the shallows with their bills in the water. I could just barely detect a hint of pink plumage and so I made my way over where I was able to get a couple of shots of the Spoonbills before my card was full and they flew off t the north before I was able to make the swap. The rest of the trip was easy with the tide carrying me back to my put-in but I nearly had to go swimming after my boat drifted off while I was pulling my truck down. Fortunately, I was able to wade out to it before it got too far into the muck but it was a good reminder to never take anything for granted. |
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