View from the Road

So, on my first day of vacation, I had a long drive, thru Ontario, and New York ending up in lower Pennsylvania. Traffic was light and the clouds had this center that glowed pink! Unfortunately, there was no where to pull over,so I put the camera feature on my iphone to use to capture the colors!

I really wished there had been a place, preferably on top of a hill overlooking a valley where I could have gotten out and photographed it with my "normal"camera!

And...a little while later, I went through the
Le High Tunnel! Hey....why not take a picture of this!

...and the next morning crossing over a large bridge in northern Delaware! Hmmmm.....possibly look for more "views from the road" in the future!

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday October 2nd was an absolutely PERFECT day! The skies were crystal clear, the sun was bright, and it was in the high 60's! Perfect! I had originally planned to check out Bombay Hook Natl. Wildlife Refuge (near Dover) and then mosey down a few hours to Prime Hook NWR, but this was a large refuge at nearly
16,000 acres and I was having a
great time!

I spent a portion of my day just wandering around looking at all of the migrating butterflies like this Monarch!







Hold on there little guy, wind is picking up!








Also found this old Swallowtail.








I meandered down the butterfly lined path to an observation tower, to find several dozen Northern Shovelers. In a few more weeks, this pond will be loaded with Snow Geese and Canadian Geese and all sorts of other migrating waterfowl.



This butterfly seemed to fit right in with the leaves! I have no clue as to the species.







I think this may be a Spring Azure butterfly. It was VERY tiny, maybe slightly bigger than my thumbnail!








And bees......everywhere there was pollen, it was constant buzzing! Glad I didn't get stung!






I found a boardwalk trail that took me further into the marsh on the banks of a small drainage and I saw about a hundred Fiddler Crabs!

A juvenile Great Blue Heron wades into deeper marsh waters to find some nutrition.

Pretty soon, the tide rose and all of the exposed surfaces were underwater.

Near the end, I took a hike through a wooded trail and ended up in this large field of yellow flowers, the buzzing of the bees was deafening! Pretty soon it was nearing 4pm and I decided I should start heading for my overnight destination in Salisbury, Maryland. And I had one more stop to make....
the Mason Dixon Line. Now, the
books said there was a monument
at the site of the start of the Mason Dixon Line. After passing it twice, I finally decided that what they meant by a monument, was only a historical marker! But did you know that the Mason Dixon line was a land survey done between 1763 to 1767 by 2 men, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to resolve a border dispute between British Colonies in North America that lasted nearly a century! And I thought it only had relevance in respect to the American Civil War! Did you? P.S. For dinner I feasted on all things Maryland..a combo platter of...crab cake , Maryland chicken, (and to celebrated being in Salisbury), Salisbury steak! How's that for getting into the local tastes!

Assateague Island National Seashore...Maryland

The weather forecast for October 3rd was not very promising! Very overcast, heavy rain at times, constant drizzle in times that rain was not heavy...damp and wet. YUCK! However, this could possibly be the only day I would be able to see the wild ponies of Assateague Island. And there were 3 hiking trails in the Maryland district, and a nice bike path. I had planned to do all of that, and to check out the brand spankin' new visitor center (it opened the previous day)! So, I arrived at the visitor center at 9am sharp, checked out their exhibits, got maps, asked about the ponies, and of course, had my journal stamped and bought plenty of souvenirs and gifts! As with all wildlife, they really couldn't tell me where exactly the ponies would be, but assured me that they are more plentiful and more accessible in this district and I would most likely see one! So, I hopped in the car....drove over the bridge....

and was promptly greeted by one of the wild ponies! Gee....how EASY was that?!










Well, of course I had to stop and hold up traffic! This was not the perfect background scenery that I had imagined....but good grief, I didn't even get out of my car! Just rolled down the window (and put my hazard lights on) and clicked away!
Pretty nice not to have to use the zoom!

So, then I started talking to it...yah that's right...the nature whisperer! And, I was rewarded by him looking up right at me! After that awesome nature moment, I realized there now were a few cars behind me and I figured I had better move on and let them have a nature moment too!

Next stop was the Life of the Marsh Nature Trail...since the skies looked menacing, I decided to put on my raingear. (Sure glad I did) And at the end of the boardwalk, I observed a gull eating a crab! He must have thought I was eyeing his dinner because he would drag it further away every time I looked in his direction!

And in the other direction, a band of 4 ponies! (click photo to enlarge for a better view). And no, the ponies did not come from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon, but rather early residents would keep their livestock on the barrier islands to avoid paying taxes on their herds.

Next up was Life of the Forest Nature Trail....was a nice trail cushioned with pine needles.

Saw a lone white egret...not much else, everyone apparently was looking for shelter...

And then it got really dark, and the wind picked up....and the rain began to fall...very steadily.

I had planned on hiking Life of the Dunes Nature Trail, but I wasn't going to get soaked putting on my sandals, and wet sand + leather hiking boots = a big gross mess! So, I took a quick walk over the dune to the seashore by way of an elevated walkway. It was interesting..the combination of an angry loud crashing surf, dark skies, a beach devoid of any people or critters, and pony tracks in the sand! This would be a great place to explore more in better weather!!! Now, back into the car for the hour + drive to the Virginia district.

Assateague Island National Seashore..Virginia

So, late afternoon on the 3rd of October, I reached Wallops Island, Virginia and decided to take a quick jaunt over to the Virginia side of Assateague being that you can't drive from one end to the other. As you can see, the day continued to deteriorate and was quite windy and blustery not to mention drizzly! The Atlantic Ocean was quite angry and even though I was still was donning my raingear, I decided I would just stay inside my nice warm vehicle!











This little guy was probably hoping I would invite him in!

Many of the birds were gobbling up dead fish brought in by the waves, no flying in today's conditions! Well, nearly 5pm and have to go check in at my Road Scholar (elderhostel) program at Wallops Island, should be fun lugging all my stuff in while its raining!

Paddle: Pokomoke River

Monday October 4th marked the first "official" day of the Road Scholar program "Adventures in Coastal Kayaking". I had arrived Sunday night after a wet and dreary day to the campus of the Marine Science Consortium (MSC) in Wallops Island, Virginia, located in the Delmarva peninsula near Chincoteague Island!

This is their brand new LEED certified education center. Besides elderhostel programs, they have field trips and weekend/week long sessions hosting school children of all ages in all things coastal ecology.

The dorms were brand new also! Just opened in the spring. Very nice, comfortable bed, dresser ample space, super nice bathrooms! (By the way, these sunny photos were taken at the END of the trip!)

With Lake Superior getting the best of me, I was VERY leery about my selection for vacation, however, coordinator Parker assured me that this was easy paddling and that I would NOT dump out of my kayak! The first paddle was north into Maryland on the Pokomoke River near Snow Hill. To say I was apprehensive was an understatement. However, after about 20 minutes of paddling in a 2 person kayak with Bobbie (VERY experienced!) I was feeling quite comfortable and even felt I could take a few photos!

Cypress trees and knees!

The current was fairly quick, especially with the recent rains from Tropical Storm Nicole and the flooding that resulted, so paddling was not really needed, but was hard in congested areas to keep from bumping into others!

It was a damp and dreary day like yesterday, but not a steady hard rain, more like a drizzle. After finishing our lunch, the Pokomoke became quite a bit wider.

And then after we turned a corner, we came upon the town of Snow Hill, Maryland.....and a bridge. Fortunately they had phoned ahead to arrange for the bridge to be lifted so that we didn't have to portage the kayaks over the roadway...not sure how we would have even gotten out.

We were ALL SOOOOO EXCITED to have the bridge lifted just for us! I guess after a crummy weather day this was just the bright spot that we needed!

I wish I had known at the time how to work the video feature on my new water camera! That would have been cool!

Bridge back down and we are bunch of really happy campers!!!

Near the docks, we had to paddle through some Lilly pads. I HAD to feel them...not as slimy as I would have expected....

Anyway, despite the inclement weather, a good time was had by all, I did NOT overturn the kayak or end up in the water, and we were mostly dry (thanks to Gore-Tex). I wish this had been my first paddling experience! No worries!!!

Horseshoe Crabs..WHO KNEW?!

One evening, we had a program on Horseshoe Crabs given by Jan Nichols. I learned TONS! I think we were all pretty surprised at the amount of knowledge that she rattled off in about an hours time. I'll list a few facts later. They following day at Assateague Island NS, I went to the visitor center at Tom's Cove where they had a touch tank! It looked sort of harmless and docile....


...so I picked it up, just like it was explained the night prior. Ewwww! What she did NOT explain is that it will wildly move both its abdomen section and tail WILDLY while wriggling its legs against the outside of the shell where you are holding onto it! I was sort of freaked out!
(Yes, I did squeal and yes I do believe the rangers snickered like I am sure they do ALL DAY LONG!


So, I turned it over and although it bent it abdomen back at a 90 degree angle along with its tail, I could hold it in such a manner that its legs weren't clacking against my fingertips (gross!) and could examine it more closely...






The little fart was still upset as you can see him contorting himself again as I put him back.

















There there now.....







Horseshoe crabs are a member of the arthropod family (no wonder I freaked out) that have existed for about 350 million years with virtually no evolutionary changes. They exist only in temperate regions along only the east coast of continents (U.S. and Asia are prime habitats) on the continental shelf. They usually live for about 30 years, males reach sexual maturity at 3 years of age and stop physical growth, whereas females continue growing until their death and molt as needed and begin to breed at age 9-10 until their death. Males start to migrate to the barrier islands in February to await the return of the females when they arrive during the first full moon of May. Males latch on to the back of the shell of the female as she literally drags them around on her back, all season! By the end of the season, the female will have laid about 30,000 eggs in the wet sand with only 300 surviving to adulthood. The majority of the eggs and larva are gobbled up by shorebirds, turtles, crabs and fish. However, once its exoskeleton is formed and it has its tail (2 weeks after hatching) it has no natural predators, even during molts! As far as their diet, they are scavengers eating only a few times a year. Now, humans have used the molts for centuries as arrowheads and bowls. More recently watermen catch them and use the meat for bait for conch and eel. But, for the last few decades, a new use has cropped up...during the months of April to November, horseshoe crabs are harvested for medical purposes! They are taken to the lab, washed and a portion of their blood is collected then purified, and a certain protein is extracted and dessicated and put into vials to be reconstituted in a hospital or manufacturing setting. In the hospital if sepsis or other gram negative organism is suspected, a sample is mixed with the crab protein (Limulus Amebocyte Lysate endotoxin detection)...if it coagulates, the patient is suffering from some sort of gram negative infection and empiric treatment can begin sooner, while awaiting culture results in 24-48 hours, this test takes only minutes! And, in 1983 this protein became the ONLY method to test for gram negative contamination of injectable drugs (IV, vaccines, insulin), IV bags, and medical and dental devices or implants! WHO KNEW?! I certainly didn't learn of this in pharmacy school! And by the way....the crabs are NOT harmed, they are put back into the ocean, tagged, and not allowed to be "bled" again for a year. Now, 11 years ago, a synthetic protein was developed to do the same thing, but is still awaiting FDA approval. It is a time consuming process, each lab can only procure a few liters a day, (there are 5 labs) but each liter is worth $15,000! But, since I was pretty creeped out while holding the crab....I think I will stay in retail! I never counted on learning something related to my profession while on THIS vacation! But...was quite interesting! And by the way....a BIG THANK YOU to the horseshoe crabs for keeping our injectables entotoxin free and for helping with the speedy diagnosis of sick patients!