Captain’s Message: All Storms Are Different
Posted by Jack Russell on February 26, 2024 · 1 Comment
The Storm of 1933, 10 years before I was born, caught everyone by surprise. It ended maritime transportation and commerce in St. Mary’s County by knocking out the wharves. Here’s a look at the major storms in my lifetime, 1943 to last month.
Message from the Cap’n – Oh, That Skunk
Posted by Jack Russell on February 14, 2024 · Leave a Comment
Don’t get skunked!
Message from the Cap’n: Saga of a Burned Duck Blind
Posted by Jack Russell on February 7, 2024 · 1 Comment
Robert Lynch was a big-time waterfowl hunter in the St. Mary’s River. He had a duck blind as decked out as a restaurant. Then one night his premier duck blind burned.
Message from the Cap’n – Maryland’s Belted Kingfisher
Posted by Jack Russell on January 29, 2024 · Leave a Comment
Year-round residents of the Chesapeake Bay region, Belted Kingfishers are a bright flash of blue on the wing, their territories along streams and rivers.
Oyster Prices Down in 2023-24
Posted by Jack Russell on January 15, 2024 · Leave a Comment
“Oyster season in the months with R” used to be the norm, but conservation efforts and disease have dictated some changes to that meme.
Winter in the Chesapeake: Where Are the Ducks?
Posted by Jack Russell on January 9, 2024 · 2 Comments
It’s the time of year where rafts of ducks fill Island Creek for good eating — and usually hunters are out looking for the same thing. But this winter has seen few arrivals thus far. Give Cap’n Jack a shout if you’ve spotted some of the ducks listed here.
Category Leader Exclusives, Leader Features · Tags arsters, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye, Common loon, cooked crabs, eagles, environmental education, Fins-claws, Fins+Claws, fresh fish, hard crabs, iron-head, Message from the Cap’n, Message from the Captain, oysters, Ruddy, Scaup, softcrabs, St. George Island
Message from a Cap’n: Season of Jellyfish, Turtles, Ospreys
Posted by Jack Russell on August 7, 2023 · 1 Comment
With the water temperature in the 80s, jellyfish are taking over. Bad news for swimmers. Good news for oysters.
Time of Dissolution for Chesapeake Osprey
Posted by Jack Russell on June 22, 2023 · 1 Comment
Disastrous weather, dreadfully timed, destroyed much of the nesting season on the lower end of Island Creek on St. George Island. The shrinking number of offspring suggests the Osprey Baby Boom of the past few decades is winding down.
Category Leader Exclusives, Leader Features · Tags Fins-claws, Osprey, St. George Island, viki volk
Message from the Cap’n – Osprey Return
Posted by Jack Russell on March 20, 2023 · 1 Comment
Two of the most famous osprey couples of Island Creek — Mr. and Mrs. Perfect and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet — returned to their nests March 5, 2023, from their winter digs in Central America. For the second year, the Perfects have defied osprey tradition by arriving together. And now the Bennets have accomplished this feat as well.
Catfish Still Problem in Chesapeake
Posted by Jack Russell on February 14, 2023 · Leave a Comment
Wet, Wet, Wet times brought catfish downriver with the lower salinity to the point that they have become a dominant species. Catfish dominance became obvious in 2018, still the wettest year on record for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, its impacts still affecting the rivers today. Now 2022 has clocked in as the third wettest year on record in Maryland, suggesting the trend is likely to continue.