Belmont Bay has been one of my favorite places to paddle since way back at the beginning of my kayaking explorations. The setting is beautiful, the bird life is outstanding, and it's a no muss, no fuss launch - you can pull right up to the launch beach to unload. The launch is car-top only, so you're not dodging power boats Frogger style.
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| The launch at Mason Neck State Park |
In the days before blogs I kept notes on my paddling in a written journal and my first entry for paddling at Mason Neck was from my second visit there, on 7/25/1999. The entry mentioned, which I had forgotten, that Mason Neck was the first place I launched my very first kayak. It's a special place for me. I think it's a special place for a lot of people.
My choice of Mason Neck for this particular outing was to do maintenance on a geocache I had placed on little Conrad Island, across the bay near the powerboat channel. I'm not really doing much with geocaching anymore, and this is the last active geocache I maintain, but it's one of the few "hydro" caches - ones which can be reached only by boat in the area. People like it, so I like to keep it active. The water was glassy as I paddled across to the island, which as usual, was a mess of bird refuse - half-eaten fish, guano and feathers - as well as poison ivy. As I paddled across I spotted two bald eagles, one in mature plumage, and one still in immature brown plumage, perched on a branch sticking out of the water. You rarely see eagles down at the water line, so this was kind of special. The immature eagle flew off, but i got a picture of the mature one. Once at the island, I replaced the log (paper people are supposed to sign to prove that they've found the cache) then headed out towards the river.
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| Eagle by the water near Conrad Island |
Mason Neck is always a good place to see eagles. It's rare that you visit there without seeing one, but some days are just ridiculous. As I paddled along I saw eagle after eagle after eagle, so many so that eventually I stopped counting. Eagles are rock stars within the bird world, but I shouldn't ignore their fellow Aves. As I made my way I also saw great blue herons, cormorants, ducks, geese, ospreys, and all those tiny wading birds that I can't identify.
As I paddled along the western side of the Mason Neck peninsula I spotted another eagle at ground level, standing along the shoreline, fishing, I guess. As I turned to get a better look I inadvertently flushed two more eaglesI hadn't noticed, which took off from the bushes and flew away. The first eagle, though, remained on the beach. He seemed to be holding one wing down a little bit, but to tell you the truth I have no idea whether that was normal eagle posture or whether it indicated an injury. In any case, he didn't fly away. In fact, he stayed put and allowed me to approach. I got as close as I felt like getting, eventually stoppinga bit offshore because I didn't want to cross the line into harassing the wildlife. The eagle hopped from the beach to a branch, but generally stayed put. It stared at me. I stared at it. I snapped a million pictures. It felt like some sort of animistic spiritual experience, like maybe this eagle was a sign that the new year (the Jewish new year starts next week) was going to be a good one. Realistically, the thing's thoughts were probably along the lines of, "Big Creature approaching! Danger? Worth giving up food to get to safety?", but it felt like more. Eagles are really big, by the way and have powerful looking claws and beaks. If this thing had decided to defend itself and attack me I could have wound up in bad shape - all the more reason to "social distance" from it a bit. Eventually, mesmerized though I was by this majestic bird, I decided to back away and leave it in peace. I continued on my way and was still saying, "Wow! Wow! Wow!" to myself in my head over my eagle encounter when I stumbled across a field of lotus plants in full bloom. Yes, apparently there are lotus plants growing wild at Mason Neck and I was happily surprised to spot a bunch of gorgeous yellow flowers poking out of the water. I stopped again, this time to ogle the flowers. I've seen lotus blossoms at Kenilworth Gardens in DC, but it's different to be out on the water with them. Again, beautiful. And of course, there were more eagles along the way - two in a tree here, one in a tree there. And herons. I half expected to round the point and find a leprechaun sunning himself on the beach,
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| Approaching the eagle |
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| I really was this close |
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| Into the lotus blossoms |
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| Lotus blossoms |
I had already been out on the water longer than I had planned and so once I got to the mouth of the bay I turned around and headed back. I didn't see my eagle friend on the way back - either he had flown off or I just missed him.
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| Two more eagles - most days, this would be the "money shot" |
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| And another |
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| And a fine looking heron |
Once I got back I was walking up the hill to where I had parked my car when I noticed an odd fruit smooshed on the ground. Omigod! Paw paws! For years I've been hearing about paw paws, which grow wild in the mid-Atlantic. Paw paws have a storied history - native Americans enjoyed them, Lewis and Clark ate them on their journey, there are towns named "Paw Paw" in several states (mid-Atlantic cyclists will be familiar with the Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O Canal tow path, located near the town of Paw Paw, WV), and there's even a kid's song about them. Paw paws supposedly taste tropical - sort of like banana, sort of like mango, with a custard-like texture. I've heard so much about these amazing wild fruits and every year I swear to try and find some - and every year I forget to do so. This year I had recently seen a post online about how paw paws are coming ripe, and as usual had promptly forgotten about it. But here they were - staring me right in the face. Actually, they were a little above my head out of my reach (where's Tall Tom when you need him?) so as I drove out I stopped the car under the paw paw tree and was able to reach some by standing on the door sill. So on top of an amazing eagle encounter and the beauty of wild lotus blossoms, I can now cross off the bucket list item of finding wild paw paws. As I write this, I realize that said paw paws are still sitting in my paddling bag, as of yet untasted. As soon as I wrap up this entry, I'm off to the kitchen to taste my paw paws!
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| Back at the launch there were butterflies all about |
