|
The Rappahannock River in the Fredericksburg area is more narrow than at other parts along its length. On a recent weekday trip, plants and wildlife were plentiful, and the boaters encountered few other humans during their 70-mile trek.
Bill Portlock, from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, tests the Rappahannock for clarity, temperature, pH levels and more.
Dodder, a parasitic plant, spreads along a Rappahannock marsh.
A heron stands on a branch along the Rappahannock River, keeping an eye out for fish. During a recent trip, boaters saw 62 great blue herons on the river. |
FROM CITY DOCK IN
But by using our eyes, ears, backgrounds and equipment for measuring water quality, two experienced Chesapeake Bay Foundation hands and I sought to get a feel for the relative health of the river.
The informal verdict: Day one, from here to Tappahannock, displayed a vibrant, seemingly healthy river where fish had safe havens to swim and eagles and other graceful flyers filled the air.
Day two, from Tappahannock to the mouth of the bay, had a different feel.
There were long stretches where the water lacked enough oxygen for fish to breathe, algae blooms painted waves darker colors and crabbers already have pulled their pots, giving up on crustaceans that just aren't there.
The saddest commentary, from a Virginia Institute of Marine Science sampling team we ran into: Sections of the Potomac River and many of its creeks are worse.
A NATURAL WONDER
At city dock in downtown Fredericksburg Thursday morning, the river was flat and slow flowing, narrow enough to make everything feel intimate.
At the helm of a small Boston Whaler, CBF Senior Naturalist Bill Portlock was assisted by media relations specialist Chuck Epes. The pair kept a running tab of eagles, great blue herons and osprey.
Leaving the dock, it took only seconds for the boat to rouse a great blue heron from the Stafford County bank.
Pulling out the worn leather book he has used on decades of sampling and teaching trips, Portlock noted the birds' species and location.
By the time the river widened to more than a mile at the Downing Bridge in Tappahannock, there was an impressive tally. Our trek, including side trips into Occupacia and Cat Point creeks, covered 70 miles.
The numbers: 137 eagles, including 59 adults and 78 immature birds; 62 great blue herons, dozens of ospreys and several species of hawks.
In one stretch, along the cliffs near Horse Head Point, not far from Westmoreland Berry Farm, there were eight magnificent eagles in the sky, an inspiring sight.
"Twenty years ago, you'd have been lucky to see one or two," said Portlock. "Now there aren't many places in the world where you'd find more birds in one place."
Fish--probably shad, bluegill or white perch--showed up in bunches on the fish finder, including big large numbers of blue cats on the bottom.
SHIELDED FROM MAN
The whole first day of travel, we saw only two other boats between Fredericksburg and Tappahannock, both slow-drifting fishing craft.
Near Haymount on the Caroline County shore, Epes was dead on when he noted we'd seen more duck blinds than houses.
Pulling into a freshwater marsh near this spot that may still become a large residential development, Portlock pointed out wild rice, rose hibiscus, pickerel weed and cattails in the water-filtering wetlands.
From there to our finish in Tappahannock, the CBF staffers indicated several tracts protected from development, either in the hands of government agencies or put into protective easements by landowners.
One is a marsh that will hold thousands of ducks and geese come fall.
WATER QUALITY MIXED BAG
Stopping often to lower a water-testing probe into the water, Portlock and Epes got mixed results.
They were glad to see there was enough oxygen in most spots in this upper stretch to support life. They found acidity levels in safe ranges as well.
Measures of water clarity weren't as good, a harbinger of problems to come. Epes said that even in this healthy stretch of river, algae seemed to thrive.
But it was hard to feel downbeat about the river, as Portlock described the passing array of life, from a many-kneed bald cypress to bright red cardinal flowers, a marsh full of water lilies and white egrets that traced lazy circles above Portobago Bay.
On this day, it was a wild, natural river that man hasn't yet ruined.
Back Thursday with the second day of the trip.
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
