The day after Memorial Day weekend and it’s much warmer. Several days have passed since the last entry. One of the black snakes could be seen the next day working its way up a groove in the burned out part of the cyprus tree that leads to the heart. It seemed to be having trouble penetrating the tree and I wonder how a snake knows when a hole is too small, or if they ever get inside, eat something, and can’t get back out. The lizard being stalked that day may have survived. A good-sized one scoots about the tree as we walk by some mornings.
Just where we turn off the road to cross grass beside the wetland going to the beach we startled two deer who bound through the brush up a draw from which the creek comes that feeds this small patch of wetland. These morning because of the warming weather we are out an hour earlier so Izzy doesn’t get too hot. It looks, now, like we’ll have to make it even earlier.
The number of oyster boats has dwindled. This morning there are two. Over the three-day weekend there was just one on Saturday and it may have been a crabber.
A few dead crabs of moderate size litter the beach most mornings. Some could be repeats, so the count isn’t for new ones each time. Some of them are empty and look translucent when held up to the morning light. They are of male and female variety, the males appearing about three times as much. I identify them by the pull tabs on the bottom, the male having a long skinny tab.
The water this morning is very calm and smooth. No breeze either so we heat up more quickly. The river is also warming from the 40’s of wintertime to 72 degrees today. A slight river smell appears from time to time and isn’t as pleasant as the honey suckle. Other fragrant flowers have appeared in the area and blend with the honey suckle, though their musky scent is less appealing to me. In the still water where it meets the beach what looks like more pollen turns out to be some green algae is now growing in the warmer water.
We’ve fewer birds of late. Eagles persist high in the trees, erupting as we approach, as do the kingfishers lower down. The vultures, of course, are always with us, off and on. For several days about a dozen cruised above our home. I’ve yet to find a dead animal, by sight or smell, when this happens. Of greater concern is such a group deciding to take up a permanent roost near a home where their droppings and continued presence are not welcomed. One morning after seeing the cruise group I found five perched in several tall dead pines near a neighbors house. Another five were roosting in some tall trees another house a couple hundred yards away. Those trees were live, as if it matters.
We’ve had no rain now for several weeks or hard winds so only tidal action has smoothed the beach near the water. Closer to the river bank all sorts of tracks are accumulating. Heron tracks are the largest bird and always carefully placed. Many smaller birds drag their feet leaving tiny grooves in the sand. Rarely, when the sand is just right, very tiny beetle tracks can be found. Of course they might not be from beetles, but I can’t imagine another source.
Long, continuous mysterious grooves of several types also appear. I’ve no idea what makes any of these: snakes, lizards, crayfish, earthworms? No marks straddle any of these. More mysteries of the beach….
Speaking of mysteries, the purpose of several styrofoam floats close to the beach was resolved when several boats were tied up to them during the weekend activities.
Another mystery was the grass planted in two fields alongside our main access road. This was hay and it was cut over the last week, dried in flat windrows and bundled into round bales.
Rabbits are now coming out of the closet. Several appeared on lawns and beside driveways as we made our way from the beach back home. An unfortunate snapper turtle of medium size had also been crushed. Not a very nice ending to this walk….
