A rare calm day on the Refuge

The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, located as it is on Assateague Island, is usually fairly breezy. Today was a rare, calm day, even though yesterday was a blustery, rainy mess. Looking at the weather map this morning, we noticed that we were right in the middle of yesterday's storm (the eye of the low). We needed our daily walk, so off we went to Assateague yet again.

The wildlife loop was kind of magical. It was almost bare of waterfowl, but those in residence were unusually cooperative. They were also calm and lingered longer as we approached. The water remained unruffled the entire time we were there. The reflections were compelling.

On the way around we met some bicyclists, who stopped to talk. They asked if we were interested in birds, then mentioned that a Bald Eagle was in the area. We knew the eagles were around, but had never seen one. This one was far enough away that I could not get a good shot. But any day you can see America's symbol is a good one.

There was still a lot of humidity in the air, so things far away became beautifully indistinct. These lines of trees reminded me of the way mountain ranges look.

Around the loop, this Great Blue Heron posed for us for minutes on end. He stood, he walked,  he balanced, then finally flew off to a distant pond.

One more sighting of a Bald Eagle in flight and we were done with our walk. Then we drove off to inspect the beach. It is becoming easier to see how the Assateague Island National Seashore is spending "millions" of dollars each year to maintain the beach. All winter long an articulated truck and two huge loaders have been pushing, digging, carting, and piling sand. They have made holes, filled holes, distributed sand and piled up sand. Last week the parking lots looked like this, large holes with large piles in them.

Today that has all changed. The holes were filled by yesterday's storm. The piles were reduced significantly by the storm. It looks like the team has to start all over. A park truck was out on the beach, surveying the edges of the filled roads, etc.

The sand was so newly deposited that it was still quite "quick". A person with substantial mass and fairly small foot area sank inches into the sand, while sandy water drained into his sneakers. That person was lucky to get away with his shoes.