marsh & bay on this autumn day

Okay, confession, I did not spend time out in this particular salt marsh today, but I did want to include the photos from my field trip on Thursday. It was a day full of sunshine, smells of marsh muck, and lots of birds...

Abbie and I drove down to the tip of Tilghman Island today, where it juts out into the Chesapeake Bay. A place full of marsh and mosquitoes. Monarch butterflies are said to congregate there during fall migration. I believe that we just missed the peak. There were a few here and there, plus other butterfly species. I could not photograph them though, as the wind would lift them up and down, then out of sight. I was just not fast enough. We did see half a dozen bald eagles and at least ten great blue herons as we make our way through phragmites and spartina. It was a warm day, still more like summer than autumn, but I can feel it in the air.

Welcome Autumn!