Scotchman's Creek off the Bohemia

46 degrees, wind northwest 10-20 with gusts to 30, partly sunny

As cold air from the north battled it out with warmer air from the south, thick puffy clouds in bright whites and brooding grays swirled overhead.  Dobbs and I put in at the kayak launch at the Route 213 bridge and paddled across the choppy Bohemia River to Scotchman's Creek.  

The shores of the creek, after a collection of modest homes and the marina right at the Glebe Road bridge, for the most part return to nature.  Low-lying marsh transitions to elevated woodland and then back again as the creek meanders south.  We saw some mergansers (red-breasted, most likely), golden eyes, and, of course, mallards.  From a hillside pasture came the mooing of a cow, carried on the wind.  Satisfied with our exploration and not wanting to push the limits on the Gale Warning, we paddled back across the river to the park.