Want to know everything we saw on the water the other day? Here you go!

ESNWR kayak ramp

Just thought I'd list every single critter my group saw or heard while paddling in the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge the other day...bald eagle, osprey, black vulture, willet, lesser yellowlegs, laughing gull, herring gull, clapper rail (heard but not seen!), great blue heron, little green heron, snowy egret, great egret, double-crested cormorant, common loon, American crow, American oystercatcher and tree swallows...that's all as far as birds go. Of course, we also saw plenty of periwinkle snails, mud snails, oysters, clams, ribbed mussels, fiddler crabs, ghost crabs and minnows. I love this time of year on the water! -Margaret 4/21/13

Hooray for the first paddle of the season!

When Dave asked me over shrimp, hush puppies, and something cold at The Shanty the other day if I could switch my schedule around at my off-season job to guide a trip for eleven Habitat for Humanity volunteers on the short notice of just two days, the answer was.....of course! I monitor oysters and help with oyster reef restoration on the seaside and barrier islands of Virginia for The Nature Conservancy in the winter. In April, I only work a few days a week, so you'd better believe I want to take a group out on an off day.

The kids were fantastic. Sixteen to eighteen year old high schoolers and their two chaperons from the Adirondacks who were volunteering their spring break to build a Habitat for Humanity house in Bloxom. (Last year, they went to Birmingham, AL to build and gave themselves the name Team Tornado.) There's nothing like knowing ahead of time that your group consists of, at least relatively speaking, responsible and able teenagers. Many had paddled before, and those who hadn't were gung ho and ready to learn. They actually paid attention during my creekside paddle clinic!

paddling the seaside marsh

It's not like I forget over the winter how much I love to kayak, but there's nothing like the feeling of sliding that boat in for the first outing of the season. Our launch time out of Red Bank (a seaside creek in Northampton County, VA not New Jersey) was just an hour after low tide, so were right at oyster level, giving me the perfect opportunity to talk about the work I've been doing at the Conservancy over the past few months. I plucked a clump of oysters out of the mud and was delighted when, once again, the kids came in close to listen and learn about what oysters do and why we really need them to keep doing it. They were excited by the shear numbers of fiddler crabs on the banks and even acted mildly amused when I ate a piece of sea lettuce out of the creek. As we floated on the rising tide back to the boat landing we found ourselves following a common loon as he dove and resurfaced, and we were all pretty impressed at just how far he could go without popping back up.

Back on land, while my co-guide and I were strapping the boats on the trailer (which the kids insisted on loading themselves), I remarked that if every group was as good as Team Tornado had been, we would have one heck of a season. Something tells me we will, no matter what!

-Margaret, 4/8/13