Cooperative Living June 2021 - 14

ExploreMore | by Amanda S. Creasey, Contributing Writer
Warblers, Waterfowl
and a Weekend Retreat
Paddling the Pocomoke on Maryland's Eastern Shore
A
s I stand on the banks of
the Pocomoke River at the
Pocomoke River Canoe Co.
in Snow Hill, Md., my interview
with Russell Kovach keeps getting
interrupted.
Far from being annoyed however,
we are both delighted. The interruptions
include a beaver busily going
about his work in the still water, a
heron tiptoeing through the shallows
and a lone cormorant slicing through
the cool spring air above our heads.
Kovach has been guiding trips
with Delmarva Birding Weekends for
a quarter of a century. The small
business, owned and operated by Jim
Rapp and Dave Wilson, began as a
birding festival in 1995 and evolved
into a small business in 2015. " I joke
that my year revolves around the
Delmarva Birding Weekends. And it
really does, " Kovach says. " As soon
as it's done, I'm like, 'When is the
next one?' "
While he's guided other trips
in other areas, Delmarva Birding
Weekends' events are among his
favorites due to the location as the
northernmost cypress swamp habitat.
Like the Great Dismal Swamp, it is
home to bald cypress trees and is a
prime nesting spot for prothonotary
warblers. In addition, Kovach explains,
the Pocomoke's unique flow
characteristics make it fun to paddle.
Our interview concludes, and we
board the shuttles waiting to carry us
to our launch site. We drive along the
Nature Conservancy's Nassawango
Creek Preserve and unload at a little,
grassy pull-off on the side of the road.
We stand at the creek's edge while
guides unload kayaks and canoes.
ALL ABOARD
Jim Rapp, co-organizer and guide
for Delmarva Birding Weekends, stands
thigh-deep in the cold, tea-colored
water to facilitate launching. After a
few minutes, everyone is settled in their
vessels. We float along the browniebatter
banks, the air smelling sweet
and earthy. We haven't been on the
water 15 minutes before we come
across an obstacle: a log the shallow
water has almost exposed, the boats'
bellies hanging too deep in the water
to pass over it.
Rapp straddles the log, shepherding
boat after boat across. It is because of
this setback that we see our first
prothonotary warbler of the day.
Kovach described them as " little golden
jewels, " and when I spot the tiny
songbird, I know why: The bird is a
lemon gem, his starburst yellow throat
throbbing with each trill of his song.
I hold onto a branch protruding
from the bank to defy the gentle but
persistent current. It's cold, damp and
solid beneath my fingers. Alongside
our canoe, kayaks pull up, their noses
muddied. When we are all parked
along the bank, still and stopped,
Rapp says, " We're at a perfect pace -
just enjoy. "
For several minutes, time, like our
boats, stands still and more than 20
people sit silently on the surface of a
little creek shrouded by branches and
Double-crested cormorant
12 | Cooperative Living | June 2021
co-opliving.com
PHOTOS COURTESY AMANDA CREASEY
PHOTOS COURTESY SARAH BLANCHARD PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living June 2021

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