Our paddles are moving from hard to easy. This morning we had a nice loop paddle around an island on the Pokomoke and up Corker Creek. Right at the start we saw two bald eagles perched on a bare branched tree. They were stunning. My photo is not digitally zoomed in because I wanted the quality, but it is still easy to tell how large the birds are. One took flight and soared over us, as if to show off.
When I am lucky enough to see eagles, I always have the wry memory that Ben Franklin did not want this bird as our national symbol. The bald head of an eagle is an adaptation that many carrion birds have to avoid parasites as they are eating their “aged” meals. In spite of its reputation as a “top” predator, eagles would rather let other birds do the serious hunting. They swoop in a take what they want.
Better to not think too much about the symbolism and just enjoy viewing the enormity of the eagle. After all, if Ben Franklin had had his way, we’d be seeing engraved turkeys on our money and as our symbol in other locations.
The understory is flowering now, in early spring. Dogwood are white and especially visible. We were delighted to discover that the Eastern Shore of Virginia has a native azeala. The flowers are every bit as pretty as the cultivators, though packed less densly. Turtles were out in abundance in sunny spots on the emergent parts of logs in the water. Another first sighting was a beaver. One of our excellent guides saw it curled up in a root fall. It was actually a bit odd to see it during the day. The shaggy fur blended right in and it was hard to spot even when we knew were to look. My admiration for the guide who spotted it. It was not possible to photograph.
The afternoon was completely different. We had several hours off, meaning no programmed activities. Mark and I headed over to Wallops Island Flight Center, the busiest rocket launch site that NASA has. It is a surprisingly big facility with a Navy personnel housed and stationed here as well. The rockets that are launched used to supply the international space station. At the moment, NASA launches sounding rockets for environmental and intelligence data collection. They also launch enormous weather balloons— several times larger than jets and many times taller than the Washington Monument. The most recent rocket was launched during the eclipse to study atmosphere changes around totality.
We made a quick trip into the town of Chincoteague to sample what has been called Virginia’s best ice cream, at Island Creamery. It really probably is Virginia’s best ice cream. They also have some of the best flavor names: Marsh Mud and Rocket Fuel were two of our favorites.
The day wasn’t finished. We launched a second paddle around 4pm into the tidal river between Chincoteague and Wallops Island. Marsh grass on either side, lots of egrets, and pretty lighting. It was calm water. When we returned to the field station, we’d were welcomed to a seafood boil and cracked crabs in good company. The night was rounded out by a performance of music (mostly Celtic) and story telling by a local group called The Salts. They were good! Very entertaining and interested and knowledgeable about the history and folkways of this area, and Ireland.
