On August 28, the Y members and I headed out of Kingston Landing.  The landing is directly on the Choptank, but after a few hundred yards we turned off into a small creek to the right.  Check it out:

The weather was perfect and the water was extremely still.  I love paddling this creek because you do not pass any developed shorelines.  We even paddled passed a piece of land that is owned and/or managed by the Nature Conservancy.  What makes the property unique is that there is only water access to it, a small dock, so you can only reach it by small boat.  The only drawback is that there are private residences that border it and I’ve seen them drive around the property in golf carts and minivans.  Rude if you ask me!

The creek winds back and forth a bunch of times so if you like exploring and wondering what’s around the next bend, this trail keeps you on your toes.

After we turned around and started heading back, the sky became filled with migrating birds.  Some of them swallows and some of them red-winged blackbirds.  There may have been some starlings too.  What amazed me was just the sheer number of them – thousands and thousands!  As we paddled along, huge clouds of birds started bursting out of the marsh grasses.  What fascinated me the most was the sound of all their wings beating at once – surprisingly loud and surprisingly peaceful at the same time.