"The HubPages Birdwatcher's Club" - River Cruise Along the Pocomoke River
River Cruise Along the Pocomoke River, Snow Hill, MD
There is a quaint little town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, known as Snow Hill. Snow Hill is situated on the navigable and tidal Pocomoke River that runs peacefully through the center of the Town. For my birthday this year, my husband gave me a special treat - a river cruise along the Pocomoke. The river is mainly undeveloped and beautiful in its natural environment and is the home to many fish, including gar, perch, pickerel, bass, shad and many others. As you know, where you have a smorgasbord of fish, you also find many wonderful and beautiful birds. According to http://www.worc.lib.md.us/tourism/outdoor_rec/pocomoke.html, you may find over 172 different birds feeding along the banks of the Pocomoke River and nesting in the great cypress trees that grow up from the river bottom. Even if you are not a birdwatcher or bird lover, the peaceful surroundings as you slowly make your way through the calm, quiet waters, taking in the beautiful natural flowers, cypress trees, and plant life is a gift of serenity and beauty to anyone who is a lover of nature.
As we made our way along the river, in between the cypress trees and cypress stumps, lily pads and natural islands, we had a friendly and knowledgeable boat captain that told us to keep watch for the bald eagles that made their home in the tops of the cypress trees, wood ducks, great blue herons, osprey, kingfishers and other bird species. As we began, we immediately were joined by a great blue heron, that seemed to take on the role as our river guide. As we made our way along, he would fly ahead of us, land in a tree and seemingly wait for us to get closer, then fly on up ahead again, land in another tree, wait for us and on and on he continued as we were going down the river and even as we were coming back. He was a special and welcome guest to have along with us on our cruise. We did spot a giant bald eagle, but he was too far in front of us for me to snap his picture and was not as friendly with us as the heron but we were happy to at least get a peek at him. Another great treat, was the kingfisher who flew right in front of us and landed on a cypress stump in the middle of the river. They are a unique looking bird with their big heads, over-sized bills and unusual markings.
It was an overcast evening, with sporadic misty drizzle as we meandered along the river, but the cool breeze over the water carried with it the sweet smell of the native flowers growing wild along river and it was a wonderful contrast to the hot, muggy weather we had recently been enduring. The quiet cruise was a perfect way to relax after a long, hot week.
Please forgive the quality of my photos as the weather was not conducive to taking clear, bright photos, nor do I profess to be a professional photographer in any way, shape or form and snapping a picture from a moving boat is obviously one of my weak areas, but I hope you enjoy some of the photos I was able to take. I am including some photos of the great cypress trees and stumps as I was just as fascinated by them as I was the birds.
