Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

First, I have to thank my younger son for sharing this picture of the dock and for taking a film class in a building with such a gorgeous view:) 

Usually when I visit one of the nearby beach towns this time of year, I’m either sitting on the beach or riding one of the cycling paths nearby. It’s rare that I have the opportunity to just sit on a dock and enjoy the bayside beauty and rarer still to find such a peaceful, quiet dock in the month of June. When my husband and I dropped our son off for his first film class, I wasted no time in grabbing my camera and settling in by the bay to capture some salty-air scenery.

The Phragmites pictured above and below, while beautiful, can be very invasive, unfortunately, choking out other native grasses or taking over too much shoreline. It has many positive uses, though, besides being very scenic; it provides a wonderful habitat for several species of birds, it is used to make a musical instrument similar to the clarinet,  its stem and seeds atop the stem are edible, the reeds can be woven into baskets, or used in thatch roofs-these are just some of its many uses in various parts of the world.

It apparently also makes wonderful nesting material, as this house sparrow proved…

This black bird, I believe a Grackle, was also a fun little guy to watch as he went flitting through the reeds…

Now, since I was on the dock of the bay, I did get a few underwater creatures, for instance, the famous Maryland Blue crab:

A little hard to see through the bay water, but the pretty blue markings are still visible. A few were getting close to the crab trap (below), and I wished I could send a warning down to them to back away!! I must admit, though, I don’t feel so kindly towards them when they pinch my feet in the ocean!

The last bay inhabitant I took a picture of is the horseshoe crab.  Sadly, I usually only see these washed up on the beaches, so it was nice to see them swimming around, making designs on the sandy bottom with their dragging tails.  I learned many interesting facts about them at the link above… from their blue blood being used in the medical field to their link to the survival of the long distance migratory bird, the red knot. For an interesting video of the horseshoe crab click here.

While a fascinating creature, it does not make for the prettiest picture with the barnacles on its back, so I’ll end the post with another pretty topical view of the bay.

Next stop, the beach.  See you there!

A little music for your listening pleasure, the inspiration for this post title, enjoy!

∼Jen