Walking with Nature: Walking the Gateway Wetlands in May

            Sometimes a walk around the Gateway Wetlands is a Mary Poppins walk – practically perfect in every way.” I enjoyed my many walks around the Wetlands this month, but my May 14 walk takes the prize for perfection.

            By May, the male red-winged blackbirds have been back for two or three months. More recently, the females flew in to hook up with mates and decide where to build their nests. On May 14, male redwings were perched near the tops of trees and reeds, advertising their territory, warding off competitors and perhaps attempting to woo additional mates. When I stepped too close for her comfort, a female chirped her distress and almost disappeared lower into the cattails. A male flew down from a nearby tree and landed near her till she calmed down. A touching scene for a romantic like me!

            I was hoping for another glimpse of the mother mallard and ducklings I had seen a few days earlier, but they were out of sight. However, I spotted a female mallard on its nest, with the male standing guard. Another sign of love? Or just instinct? Either way, I thought, another set of hatchlings will be exploring the Wetlands soon!

            On my way to the back pond, I encountered my second rabbit of the morning. Cottontails usually avoid ponds and marshes, but they frequent grass near the path through the Wetlands.  Sometimes they see or hear me coming and quickly bound away into the brush. On this special morning, I saw them before I got too close, and both cottontails posed for my camera.

            In the marshy area between the two ponds I saw a cardinal which seemed to think he was a redwing. He flew down from a tree in a neighboring yard, and perched on a cattail. His bright red feathers made a great contrast to the light tan of the old cattails.

            I headed toward the back dock, where I enjoyed conversing with a family who had brought a guest—and two children—to enjoy the Wetlands with them. They were enjoying the sight of fish beneath the surface of the water. Occasionally a small turtle head would pop up through the surface. Through my binoculars I spotted two large turtles sunning themselves on the remains of an old pipe near the shore on the other side of the pond. There is no walkway giving access to that area, and swimming is not permitted, so I couldn’t get close, but they looked like snapping turtles. I have seen snapping turtles in the Gateway Wetlands before, but had not seen any yet this spring.

            As I retraced my steps, heading back to my car, I thought what a great time I’d picked to come to the Wetlands, and what a perfect walk it had been. Just as I got back to the marshy area near the Feather Sound entrance, a great blue heron flew in! I didn’t get home as early as I had expected; I had to stay a while longer and watch the heron take its mincing steps across the shallow water in search of a meal.

            When you walk around the woodlands, you never know what you will see. There are always friendly neighbors walking the Wetlands, enjoying the gifts nature it has to offer. Why not join them sometime this week?

© Wilda Morris