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Subject:

Paddling the Patuxent (Episode 2); Merkle

From:

Stan Arnold

Reply-To:

Stan Arnold

Date:

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:53:16 -0400

Hi Folks,

After last weekend's bumbling in trying to get our kayak into the Patuxent
River for some birding, I heard from Kathie Lambert, Karen Caruso, and
Barry Marsh, all of whom suggested the same thing:  launch at the Patuxent
Wetlands Park in AA County, a tiny little piece of real estate on the north
side of Rte 4 where it crosses the river, and a mile or two southeast of
Upper Marlboro.  And Karen added another great tip:  check the tide tables
on the DNR website and let the tides work in your favor.  So that's exactly
what we did this morning (Monday, 23 July).  After an awfully early wake-up,
Elaine and I were at this little park around 5:40 a.m., wondering where
everyone was.  Not a single fisherman around--guess they were all recovering
from the weekend, or back at work.  We packed the vessel and were
water-borne by 6:02 a.m., following the tide downstream, enjoying absolutely
PERFECT paddling weather with no wind, mild temperature, great visibility,
and enough clouds to keep the emerging sun off of us and out of our eyes.
The plan was to paddle downstream till low tide (shortly after 8 a.m.), and
then turn around, and float back upstream with the incoming tide.  A great
way to get a little more mileage out of the morning bowl of Wheaties.  As we
cruised southward, we passed Bristol landing, with its little assemblage of
crude buildings, and shortly thereafter reached the Western Branch, where we
went ashore at Mount Calvert on the PG side of the river.  We walked the
grounds of this picturesqe historic site for nearly half an hour, and then
re-embarked to continue our trip downstream.  We passed Jackson's Landing at
Jug Bay, and were almost to the south end of the bay, when the wind started
kicking up to our backs.  Hmmm, the forecast was for 10-20 mph winds out of
the north, which meant we would have a good headwind on the return trip.  We
decided to turn around then, not sure of how the winds would play out.  It
was around 8:25 now, which meant the tide had already turned around.  Once
heading northbound, now with the incoming tide, the wind in our face made it
feel like we were moving much faster than we actually were.

Oh, the birds, by the way.  Yes, there were birds.  Not remarkable, but
there were things to look at and listen to.  We tallied 9 MARSH WRENs on the
way down, 6 in PG, and 3 in AA Co.  Terns were much more evident today than
a week ago, and we counted 58 FORSTER'S TERNs perched in three different
collections (one group allowing us within 10 feet before flushing), and
others flying that may or may not have been counted.  At Jug Bay, we had a
LEAST TERN fly over the river, and then fly back again, in fact crossing
right over the kayak where we could easily discern not only its diminutive
size, but also see the white forehead and yellow bill with the naked eye.  A
small island with a small mud-flat extension hosted a LEAST SANDPIPER and a
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER during the trip down (very near low tide), but on the
return trip the tide had eliminated the mud flat, and any further chance for
shorebirds at that spot.  The only other shorebird seen was a single SPOTTED
SANDPIPER near the Rte 4 bridge at the end of the trip.  We had one
HUMMINGBIRD fly over the river, and the only warblers singing were COMMON
YELLOWTHROATs.

We disembarked around 9:55 a.m., and while the birding was unremarkable, the
paddling was marvelous, and we formulated lots of ideas for future trips.
Now it was time to get to Merkle Sanctuary and try for the ibis.  We saw no
ibis or herons when we arrived, and after some waiting at the observation
deck and walking around trying for a better vantage point to view the
partially-hidden pond, we were able to talk to one of the staff members.
They said we could walk down the gravel road between the ponds, and we were
preparing to do that when Mike Bowen appeared, and after a short spell the
three of us set out to try for a look at the ibis.  We hadn't gotten more
than 100 feet from the visitor center when the juvenile WHITE IBIS flew out
of hiding, and towards the open pond.  It landed where, with a slight change
of position, we could view it very clearly, and I clicked away with the
camera, despite the distance.  One of the imm. LITTLE BLUE HERONs was also
seen a few times at the concealed pond, but only for brief spells.

It was a fabulous morning to be out, and this section of the river was a
great place to kayak on a weekday.  We only passed one speed boat and one
other boat with a fisherman during the entire four-hour outing.  Can't wait
to back out there again.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie