Sometimes it takes seeing a place through someone else's eyes to reconnect you with it. Just recently, some good friends came to the Eastern Shore for a visit, during which we poked into many off-the-beaten-track places as well as more familiar locations such as Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Our goals were simple, see as much interesting nature, particularly birds, as we could and get a sense of what makes the Shore so special.
Our travels took us to Chesapeake Bay-side hide-aways such as Saxis Island and Guard Shore where we saw black needle rush marshes stretching as far as the eye could see. These marshes are punctuated by small tumps (tiny islands of high ground) crowned with loblolly pines, giving these wetlands the look of an African savannah. The small fishing village of Saxis was quiet during a windy downpour, but the surf scoters and buffleheads (both diving ducks) seemed to revel in the stormy bay as they road the white caps next to traditional Chesapeake deadrise fishing boats moored in the harbor.
We traveled from bay-side to sea-side where we walked the beach on Wallops Island. There we saw an amazing diversity of shells and evidence of other life, such as the well-defined tracks a seal made when it hauled-out on the beach. NASA's Wallops Island continues to fascinate me with it's juxtaposition of high tech rocket launch facilities and naval defense with pristine marshes, maritime forest and beach. Certainly, MSC is lucky in it's close partnership with NASA and ability to access the natural areas for educational purposes.
Long, glorious hours on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge gave us looks at a variety of waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds. The calls of tundra swans, ducks, and geese intertwined with the chip of yellow-rumped warblers and cry of gulls, making an unusual musical backdrop to our travels. We were energized by the sight of one of the refuge's resident bald eagles streaking after an American wigeon which only barely outflew the eagle.
After a long, cold, gray winter it is easy to forget how lucky you are to live where you do, but these two days spent exploring my backyard with a couple of kindred spirits certainly snapped me out of it. I am reminded again of the wonder a stormy sky can produce, not to mention the shear joy we feel at seeing wildlife abounding. As any long-time educator might feel, I want everyone to have this same experience of seeing, wondering at, and connecting with our special corner of the world. That is why I am doubly thankful that tomorrow is the beginning of spring training for MSC's education staff. Tomorrow a group of bright, enthusiastic educators will gather for the first day of intense training in preparation for helping thousands people learn to appreciate our marine and coastal ecosystems. Over the rest of this year they will, time and time again do what this weekend did for me. To quote Sam Ham, author of Environmental Interpretation, they will "make the ordinary, extraordinary."
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