Walking the Beach #73 (Jul 07)

The last few days went from hot, humid, rainy and hazy to cool, clear, dry and partly cloudy. An inch of rain fell one day, but didn’t clear the haze and humidity. That took a cool front. However, runoff from the raindid leave dirty fingers of soil on top of the sand a foot or two from the river bank.

The onion field is down to about twelve visible flowering heads out of the hundred we started with. The others are still there, but buried under the kudzu.

Near the onions on the sand the morning glorys are still out and more plentiful than two months back when they first appeared. They come in different colors, but these are all the same with light purple (mauve?) and white stripes.

It’s so cool this morning that when the sun peeks through for a minute it really feels good. The water, at low tide, is corrugated with waves parallel to the shore superimposed in dappled patches where gusts of air touch down. It’s quiet, too, despite the periodic lapping of each wave against the shore. Over this the crickets or cicada can be heard. A male cicada is lying on his back in the road on our return . Females have an inch-long lance or ova depositor to pierce bark and lay eggs. It can pierce skin, too, which I nearly found out from still bug that came to life after I picked it up.

This cool air seems to capture flower smells. At one place a pleasant smell can be traced to a few honey suckle blossoms. A little further on another leads to the small mimosa tree surviving at the base of the bank and now covered with pink flowers.

More work is being done on jettys. Four of the five we pass extend to the bank or stop a foot or two shy. Only one starts several car lengths out. The work is just adding height by piling more odd chunks of concrete from uprooted footings for posts, to broken pavement and landscaping blocks. It’s as if everyone is preparing for stormy weather. More likely this is renovation time for the aging places along the bluff, and the jettys are receiving part of the fallout.

Work on the low pier may be completed, unless a shelter is planned out at the end. Yesterday afternoon another boat pulled the pile driver upriver past our place, so it looks like no more piles will be installed. The pile driver isn’t self-propelled.  Its driving device goes where an outboard would normally be placed.

Only one old contrail shows where any blue sky can be seen. The sound of a plane can be heard at one point, but not seen. Another sound like the motor from a fishing sized boat can be heard over the water, but no boats are visible, so the source never appears.

Past the big promontory the osprey carcass on he sand is even more dissipated. The talons have gone from gleaming black to dusty gray and the skin of the feet is misshapen. You can see why old talons are not a desirable collectible, like antlers or shells.

Several herons are about and one small shore bird, but no evidence of deer, otters or other bird life is about. Tidal action has smoothed away evidence of the otter’s sand box.

An owl flew out of the tree tops close to the turnaround point the last time we were down this way. That’s the second time it appeared that I’d seen. It could have flown by silently other times and I’d not have know, of course. I’d like to photograph it and keep a watch on the trees in this area, but nothing appears this trip.

This is the 4^th of July week and more folks are about during the week than usual. Monday, yesterday, we turned back after barely starting out to avoid bothering people sitting on the bluff. The alternate route up the access road is less entertaining. Grass alongside the road has half grown back. Hay has about half grown back, too, in the two fields harvested a month back, but may not do well because rain is pretty scarce….

Walking the Beach #59 (May 07)

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….

Walking the Beach #57 (May 07)

 

 

Days have passed but the beach remains. It’s Saturday, moderate tide, clear and breezy but warm from the sun. Rain, some wind-blown high tides followed by wind-blown dry days have produced beach areas that are perfectly flat and smooth, mixed with water-wrinkled, and wind-wrinkled areas.

Sand is building back up in areas where it was removed. The metal ladder exposed before is now concealed and the spots where I found the embedded tube worm fossils is now under a thin layer of sand.

No bird and no oyster boats. The boats have been missing for several days. Today only a single boat loaded with a half dozen oyster traps is on the water.

No contrails can be seen in the clear sky. Only a small two-engine commuter or executive jet passes over while we’re on the beach.

A few more Morning Glorys are out, but they never appear in profusion while the Honey Suckle does and has and the air everywhere is scented with the blossoms.

Up the access road the two fields planted with grass may be hay fields. If so, they should be mowed before long as mowing is ongoing nearby.

A walking couple I meet relate they saw a skunk near their house. Skunks seem to be slowly increasing around us just as the deer, wild turkey and raptors have been. Skunks are rabies carriers so the potential smell problem is a secondary concern.

We also swap some stories about eagles dropping food as they fly above. My story of the large fish in our flower bed that had been dropped on the roof and left a trail of fish scales to mark its path downward is topped with a live eel that crashed through overhead branches to land at their feet. They first thought it was a snake, then had to puzzle out how an eel became airborne.

They were interested in a sticky fly trap patch I’d just tried out on my hat to catch biting May or deer flies. It snared eight of them in a couple hours the first day the flies were active.

An asparagus patch I’d forgotten to check yields four big edible shoots. Six others had already bolted. The picked ones are quite nice eaten during the walk.—-

Walking the Beach #56 (May 07)

Things are just a little better today. The sun is out and the breeze blowing from downstream to cool you a lot while going downstream and a little on the return. I’d prefer the reverse: a little cooling going and more on the return when I’m warmer, but it’s better than yesterday.

With the sun out the sky has to be clear and is. However, only one oyster boat is working, and only one eagle, too. That’s on the way down. We see a single flier on the way back, too that circles around and acts like it’s looking for a meal in the water. Just as we reach the driveway another flys over from the woods to the river carrying a small branch, much smaller than yesterdays limb. It heads out over the river and trees block where it ends up.

A high tide is still with us and that’s uncool, but no obstacle.

One passenger jet passes overhead heading east and shortly another goes by heading north.

At times the air is beginning to be perfumed with honey suckle

Close to where we leave the beach I spy a long tube worm specimen that’s pretty much exposed. It’s at least three inches long. I fail again to remove it without breakage. I’m facing the bank and close to it while doing it. The waterline behind me is about fifteen feet away with the high tide. As I stand and turn to walk towards the low place in the bank where we leave the beach I see a rapidly moving black snake heading for the water. It goes right in and stays on the bottom until out of sight. It was in sight about two seconds and looked to be totally black, about eighteen inches long, but going into water indicates it should have been a water moccasin. Both have the same body style, husky versus skinny water snakes or our cute green snakes. Where we enter the beach is next to a narrow piece of wetland with a small creek and ideal location for snakes of several types, so that’s a likely source. So it’s good that I’m paying attention to where my hands and feet are being places while climbing over driftwood piles. —-

Walking the Beach #54 (may 07)

 It’s cool, breezy, overcast and rainy this morning. We waited for the rain to stop before going out. A small batch of vultures was scattered up and down the beach where we entered. The tide was in and the only eye catching item was an undamaged red apple in the sand. Don’t know what attracted the vultures. The only boat out is a sailboat close to the opposite shore.

After a short beach trip we head up the access road again, even though we don’t see folks about on the beach this Sunday. They can come out at any time and I don’t want to have to pass through them on the way back.

A couple places in the trees and bushes do have remnants of caterpillar tents in spite of what I thought yesterday. More honey suckle blossoms are out and the air’s a little sweeter. Grass alongside the road is about three feet high. One of the fields planted with grass is just as high and several spots are twisted and flattened. One of the spots was there last weekend, but now it’s bigger and another one has appeared. Either gusts of wind are the cause, or deer have bedded down. The places are close to the road and no tracks are visible nearby, so wind mixed with recent rain must be the cause.

With greenery so lush and thick it seems that the forest floor should have a thick layer of topsoil, but it does not. Looking at the bank top along the beach is the same, very thin topsoil. It takes a hundred years worth of decayed leaves, twigs, grass and brush to make one inch of humus or topsoil. At one time this area might have had a nice layer, but not now and nothing ever like the Great Plains with many feet of it.

Two jets pass overhead above the clouds in short succession. The sounds fit fighter jets taking off from Langley AFB.

We reach the beach at the other end of the neighborhood, but are blocked by the tide and return home the way we came.—-

Walking the Beach #53 (May 07)

 

Saturday has come again and the beach portion of our walk is short. The river is very calm today. It’s low tide, almost no breeze and the water is hardly moving along the waterline. During this calmer weather different wave patterns are easily seen with large, slow waves moving in one direction and smaller ones superimposed and moving in another direction. Then there’s some rebound waves from those that reach the shore.

It rained yesterday making the air humid and producing an even greater amount of haze. We’ve varying amounts of clouds that are on the move. The predominate cover is basically high and flat for the moment.

The sand is dimpled from the rain. Remains of a medium-sized bird carcass with black feathers, probably a crow or blackbird, lies half buried.

No contrails today or airplane noises.

A barge is moving upriver. They can be seen several times each day, but this is the first time for one during our walk. Motor noise can be heard, faintly, from further downriver than the barge. For a boat it’s loud enough to be seen, but the haze seems to be obscuring the source.

Pollen has gone away for now. Over the last week the pollen count in the newspaper has been around 1 on a scale of a 100. When it was bad and pollen pools could be seen along the waterline, the count was well above a thousand.

We travel up our access road where the greenery is just as intense as last weekend, but darker. Some honey suckle blossoms are out and the damp air carries a faint scent from them. It will become stronger within days.

Another patch of asparagus is now visible near where the first one is alongside the road. The first one is larger with eleven spears, but the uncut ones are all blossomed out. The smaller one has six shoots and two can be harvested, which I do and consume en route.

Two of the four farm fields are planted with winter wheat which is half grown, though a little stunted compared with past years. The other two fields look like they were planted with grass. It’s higher than the wheat and thicker. Perhaps it’s a cover crop that will be plowed under. We’re waiting to see how many fields are planted this summer with corn due to the hype about biofuels and ethanol. Corn is commonly grown in the area, but has only been on any of these four fields one time in the last ten years. Peanuts were common for a few years, but of late only winter wheat and soybeans are grown in these fields.

All evidence of tent caterpillars is gone. The tent remnants have dissolved and limbs bare of leaves now have new growth.  No biting flies either for the moment.

Several yellow and black swallowtails are about, on the beach and the roadways. No birds can be seen although a few can be heard; nothing else of interest. —-

Walking the Beach #46 (May 07)

Yet another cool, overcast day; Saturday, too, so only a short trip on the sand. No boats at all. The view downriver seems more clear perhaps because weekend traffic is less. Big cranes in the shipyard down there are pretty clear, but also stand out more against the gray sky.

A bunch of deer tracks are on the beach. This is the same location where the body of a White Tail buck washed up. No tracks around, then. These reach back to the thirty foot high bank. It has enough slope to be an easy path. It’s right in front of a house, but the house is normally unoccupied, not that discourages the deer. A couple times they’ve crossed our yard, too, at mid-day. Once an old dog living with one of the neighbors even escorted a doe to the river edge. Quite a sight..

The coolness and still air bring out the smells from the woods as we head up the access road. Three pink dogwood trees have lost their blossoms and a white one down the road, too. It smells like some honeysuckle may be in bloom. The greenness is intense now that most everything has leafed totally out and is newly fresh. Even some tree trunks are green from ivy winding its way upward. One spot of only a hundred feet is almost a tunnel of trees and is always noticeably cooler all year round.  Again the cooler weather stops the biting flies from attacking us.

Down the road the blackberry bushes are in bloom. There should be plenty of berries judging from the amount of flowers, but the quality is still unknown and berries can be large or small, bland or tasty. A nieghbor couple we meet on this stretch report that local strawberries are ready for picking at a nearby farm. I mention that blueberries will be available in another month at another farm. They reply that last year the blueberries had very little flavor, like these local blackberries. I’ve only picked blueberries at the farm for two years and have to agree with the neighbors. Still, they are good in pies, smoothies, etc.

A good sized magnolia tree about thirty feet high and fifteen wide is covered with buds, some of which are starting to open. The tree seems to like this location and always produces many blossoms. We’ve one that sits on the riverbank and suffers some each year, I think, from salt in the river water blown ashore by stormy weather.

When we return we can reach the beach at the other end of the neighborhood and the tide is far enough out to allow passage along the river.

A few fresh deer tracks are visible just where we join the beach. Where we head up the bank for our house we find the next door neighbor moving pieces of a large dead pine tree he had cut down and sectioned. He’s assembling a pile that will be burned when weather permits. The felling process a week earlier provided great entertainment for our twenty month old grandson.—-