Hello All!

Yesterday was a fabulous spring day here at Casa de Peaceable Kingdom. Maestro had a half day of school, Little Red has no school on Fridays, and so we decided it was a great day to have an adventure. Music Man reminded me that we wanted to get over to Plum Island, and so that's where we headed. Though we had heard about birds galore this time of year, we didn't get to see very many at all. That part was a little disappointing, but we had a wonderful family day just the same.

We particularly liked the boardwalk loop trails that let us go right into the marsh habitat. I know in the summer, it's probably just unthinkable with the mosquitos that I'm sure just fester there, but this time of year, pre-skeeter season, it was fascinating. We got to see some beaver damage where they had cut down trees that they had absolutely NO hope of ever moving, the brush is incredibly thick there, but try they had. We also walked up onto a dune on the boardwalks, climbing stairs that were pretty steep in some places to come to the top for a wonderful panoramic view of the Atlantic. We could even see the Crane Castle in Ipswich across the inlet, which is where my dear friend Michael was married. Very cool day indeed.

Though we didn't get to see many birds, we did spot two grand white swans, and a multitude of ducks. We checked out the bird blind where you can go to observe the tidal salt marsh and all the birds that inhabit it. It's great because you can do it without disturbing the birds in their nesting territories.

We know we will definitely be checking out Plum Island and the wildlife sanctuary there again soon. It was a great experience for the boys to get a nice view of some nature they don't see that close to home, and we enjoyed the walking and photography opportunities. Above you'll see one of those, all my guys watching the birds and salt water...a fine day indeed.

If you're in the area of Plum Island, Massachussets, I highly recommend taking a walk through the sanctuary, it's well worth the $5.00 per car it costs to get in. Take a picnic and some binoculars and spend a day with someone you love enjoying all the sites of coastal nature.

Salt marsh and boardwalks to you, ~Peacemom