A Company of Critters at Placid Pohick

On Sunday I was up early and standing bleary eyed in front of the kitchen window was scared out of my wits to find myself at eye level with a huge orbweaver spider in the window. It had spun a web which filled the entire window pane, and was perched bang smack in the middle of it. Not what I wanted to see first thing in the morning while filling up the kettle for my first cuppa of the day, but I was relieved to realize that the web and its creator were actually on the outside of the window and not inside. 4 days later he is still there.

By 7:00am I was feeling quite industrious so I pulled Big Red from the barn to see if I could repair the hole in the hull. I used a red bucket made of the same HDPE plastic as the boat. I cut small strips off and then, using a heat gun, melted it on top of the hole. I had to do this in layers and was progressing quite well until I realized that the weight of the warm plastic could cause the repair to drop right through the hole, so after about 90 minutes I stopped to allow the plastic to harden fully. I will have to return to this and build up the plastic even more but I was glad the process was working, and for today's kayaking trip with Emily and Margie I would rent a boat.
I arrived at the Pohick Bay on time but the DC girls didn't, they were having to stop a few times to restrap Margie's boat to her car roof, so after 45 minutes I decided to start without them. It was actually quite pleasant to just enjoy the kayaking trip without the hassle of loading and unloading a boat on the car. I simply walked to the shoreline after my booking and set off. I was given a Wilderness Systems boat, similar to mine, and immediately noticed how much higher I sat in the water and how much faster I could paddle. I guess I'd been dragging that cargo compartment full of water around in Big Red for quite a while, I'd got used to it!

The bay was looking very healthy, the water was clear and didn't seem to be as clogged with weed as it had been in the past. I spotted a number of large fresh water snails at the edge of the water while hundreds of baby fishes darted between the pebbles. Stopping in a bed of water lilies leaves to take some photos I had my second fright of the day as an enormous fly creature with bulbous eyes and massive claw like feet landed on my boat right in front of me. It had buzzed very loudly as it landed so I sat very still not wanting to be bitten. It looked extremely capable of attack and I have to admit that I was petrified.. I managed to very slowly move my camera around so I could snap a photo. It didn't move. I wasn't sure if it was sizing me up but it made me very nervous and I wondered if my bug repellent wipes would encourage it to fly elsewhere. I pulled one out, carefully making sure I made no sudden movements or noise and slowly unfurled it until I had a sheet I could hold in front of me like a shield. It worked. The ferocious creature became aware of the fumes and took off, buzzing loudly like a chainsaw, circled around and then shot off so fast that I had no idea in which direction it went. I realized I'd been holding my breath the whole time and loudly exhaled, slumping back against my seat. I later looked the fearsome fiend up online and discovered that it was a Red-footed Cannibalfly, a predator which apparently does inflict a bite on its prey but rarely humans. No report of anyone being bitten has been received, but I didn't want to be the first! They attack stinging paperwasps but also hummingbirds, twice its size, so I'll have to watch out for these at home. Apparently a good dose of a high powered water hose will see them off. A good blog has recorded them, scroll down on the link.

There were few people out on the water today which I didn't understand. It was hot but there was a slight breeze and not the usual intense humidity. I noticed the invasive Kudzo vine had taken residence on many trees, something I hadn't noticed here before to this extent. It's earned the name of "The vine that ate the South", originally introduced from Asia in 1876 as a high protein cattle food and as a cover plant to prevent soil erosion. But when boll weevils infested the land farmers abandoned their farms and the weed was left to grow unchecked. The Forest Service claims that it isn't so much of a problem now but I see it in most woodlands in our area.
The red wing blackbirds here were readying for migration to the south. The last fledglings were flying and, with the adults, swooped in flocks back and forth over the lilies and rushes, chattering loudly. It was wonderful to sit and watch their activity as they came so low over the top of me and perched momentarily on nearby stalks so that I could see them clearly. Usually I have never managed to get close to these birds in the past so today was a treat.
Yellow paddles of a kayak dipped and swung in the distance above the lily leaves and pickerel rush plants. As I got nearer I saw it was a guy fishing. He'd had a great morning catching plenty of large bass. As my stomach began grumbling I parked up in the vegetation, cracked open a beverage and munched on the crackers, salami and cheese I'd brought with me. No sooner had I munched a few mouthfuls when I heard voices and turned to see Margie and Emily paddling towards me. We all parked up together to enjoy some snacks.

Margie came out top with her tasty Mint and Egg Salad, which I initially turned up my nose at, as the thought of mint and egg combined did not sound at all appetizing, but it was delicious and we polished it all off.

The air was alive with the fluttering of butterflies, many of which were monarchs who were enjoying the purple pickerel rush flowers. They skipped back and forth above our heads while the red winged blackbirds continued their dashing and diving among the vegetation, chirping noisily. Golden, blue and green dragonflies swept overhead joining in the activity. I was amazed and delighted to note that I didn't see, or wasn't aware of, any mosquitoes. I didn't suffer a single bite or have any buzzing annoyingly in my face. Bliss! We all saw a spectacle we'd never witnessed before, or even thought was possible. A large dragonfly had captured a monarch butterfly and was carrying it to the branch of a tree where it disappeared out of sight among the leaves. It had struggled with the weight. We were amazed at the sight and after researching this I read that adult dragonflies eat just about anything that can be caught and is edible. I wondered if Red-footed Cannibalflies fell into this category...

At the end of the day in the parking lot, as I reached my car, I'd been aware of an extremely loud commotion, birds squalling and squawking in high pitches, and above me on a light pole had been a poor mother osprey sitting in her nest with rambunctious babies. The dad had sat on a pole a few yards away looking pretty fed up. While we'd been kayaking I spotted this guy sitting peacefully up in the tree. He sat there for ages not moving and at the parking lot I wondered if this had been the dad, or the mom, getting some down time, enjoying the peace of the creek. We paddled up to the end of the creek, fighting against rills and across sand bars where the water was shallow, and then on the return trip, we just let the current of river take us. I had my feet and arms hanging outside of the boat in the refreshingly cool water, and let my head rest back on my folded up PFD. It was so comfortable and relaxing that we all lapsed into silence as slowly drifted downriver, no sounds of humans at all, only the birds and insects. Margie even admitted she had fallen asleep. I wished I'd been able to but I was constantly aware that I might need to use the paddle to stay on course or avoid a floating log or simply prevent the boat from stopping in the reeds.

The sun was beginning to set as we slowly paddled back to the dock, casting a golden glow on the plants and water. We left the silent creek, its water like a mirror and a blue heron flew in front of me. I liked to think it was calling farewell rather than croaking its disgust as our presence disturbed its peace.  The bay opened up and the water became choppier, with noisy jet skies jumping over waves and emitting foul smelling fumes. We grounded our boats on the beach, simply stepping out and walking away; it felt very luxurious not having to haul a kayak on to the car roof and strap everything down.I could get used to that! But instead I'll knuckle down and try to finish the repair job on Big Red.