Ellison, a paddleboard racer, once called me the Maryland Magellan because I've paddled in so many places in Maryland. That is definitely true, and it has become increasingly difficult to find places that I have not paddled in the Old Line state.

While not in Maryland, one place that I've been wanting to paddle is Tangier Island. It lies in Virginia, just south of the Maryland/Virginia state line. Full of history and nature, it is a place I could not pass up after I saw that Dr. Greg of the WatersEdge kayak club was leading a trip there.

I initially thought the history of Tangier Island would be similar to that of Smith Island but the two are much different.
Because of its strategic location between the channels up and down the Chesapeake Bay, Tangier beach at the southern end of the island was chosen as the base of operations for the British fleet during the War of 1812. Fort Albion was constructed there and from there, the British sacked and burned Washington, D.C. From there, they unsuccessfully attacked Baltimore and bombarded Fort McHenry, during which our national anthem was written. But there also, hundreds of escaped slaves first trod solid ground as free men, women, and children before either being trained as British Colonial Marines or being relocated to Nova Scotia, Bermuda, or Trinidad.
- from "Welcome to Historic Tangier Island" sign

I drove out to Crisfield, Maryland and met up with the group at the Crisfield City Dock where we staged our gear. I picked up my overnight parking pass and then joined the group at the Waters Edge Café for breakfast. Dr. Greg got them to open early, just for us.

We loaded our gear and kayaks onto the power boat that would take us to the island.
Charley and Ginzy sat up front for the ride out. I joined them but found that all the splash covered my glasses with salt and make it difficult to see.

It was nice sitting up front and getting the cooling breeze.

Here's my view as we approached the island.
As our boat pulled closer, I spotted a great egret looking for food.
We landed at Puge's and County Dock.
Charles "Puge" Charnock (1936-2003) was one of Tangier's most beloved watermen. He not only was in the crab shedding business, but also sold ice and bait to the watermen. From his dock, and the adjoining County Dock, Tangier's famous soft shell crabs continue to be shipped worldwide. Puge also was the last "pound netter" on Tangier, a remarkable but disappearing method of catching fish by anchoring net to hand cut and sharpened young pine trees, hand driven into the soft mud bottom of the Bay.
- from sign at dock

Next, we hauled our gear to the Island Oasis house and our kayaks to the Island Oasis Pier which was about a tenth of a mile away. Some people brought kayak carts to help with this. A lot of folks on the island get around via golf cart and we got one woman to give a kayak a ride.
We were a little early so we had to wait for the Waterman's Hideaway house to open up before half our group of 12 brought our gear over. That would be my home for the weekend.

Neither Puge's and County Dock nor Island Oasis Pier are made for launching kayaks. Each pier is two to three feet above the waterline and I found noplace on the island with a boat ramp or easily accessible beach. We dropped the boats into the water at Island Oasis Pier and then climbed down a ladder to get in. Here's Anisa getting into her boat while Dr. Greg steadies it.
We paddled through some very shallow areas with lots of aquatic vegetation that made kayaking cumbersome.
Near the south end of the island, we saw lots of containers for growing oysters. Here is what they look like from a satellite.
And here is what they look like from kayak.
Brown pelicans were quite content to perch on the oyster containers.
Another view from this same area is shown at the top of this page.

We pulled ashore at a beach to take a break.
Looking around, I found an angel wing shell, a bivalve mollusk known for its elongated, thin, white shell that resembles angel wings.
Biting flies were a problem. I was not wearing my spray skirt but wish I had because they found attacking my legs to be an easy endeavor. I don't believe DEET or permethrin work well against these flies. Dr. Greg says picardin is better.

We paddled north via the main channel through the island. Along the way, I spotted a royal tern.
Several bridges crossed over our waterway.

Arriving back at Island Oasis Pier, we made sure to tie up the kayaks so they wouldn't float away but also wouldn't go under low sections of the pier. Doing so could crush the boats when the tide rises.

We paddled 4.4 miles.

After getting cleaned up, I went for a little walk in the "downtown" section of Tangier Island. You might sense a little sarcasm in my tone since the island is so small but even though it is much smaller than Smith Island, it has a lot more people and has a stronger tourism component. Like Smith Island, the people of Tangier tend to be Trump supporters. Shown below is the Swain Memorial United Methodist Church and Four Brothers Crab House & Ice Cream Deck on Main Ridge Road.
For dinner, Dr. Greg arranged a crab feast. But it turned out many of us were not fans of crab. So they ate at Lorraine's. I enjoy the taste of crab but I am so inefficient at extracting the meat that I jokingly say that I burn more calories than I consume at a crab feast. My last crab feast was about 20 years ago. I figured it was time for another.

We met Cameron, a young man who lost the Tangier Island mayoral candidacy by a mere 20 votes. He took us out in a boat to a crab shack that he and his father, Norwood, own. I was concerned the biting insects would be a problem but the temperature dropped and we had a nice breeze that made sitting out on their deck perfect. Here's Lisa, Jennifer, and Diana dining on crab, corn, and potatoes.
I spent some time checking out the crab shack and talking to Norwood.
Cameron and Norwood had some nice music playing and once they cleared away the crab parts, they made us piña coladas. Shown below are Jennifer, Greg, Cameron, Lori, Lisa, Diana, and Cheryl.
A crab feast would never be my first choice for a meal but this one was extra special because it was at a place that has a history of watermen making their living from the Chesapeake Bay. I was also surrounded by good people.

I hesitate to call myself a birder. I really don't fit in with that group. I think of myself more as a wildlife photographer. I may not have a great camera but given good lighting, it does pretty good.

I was up around 0630 which is about the normal time I've been waking up. I walked south to a little pond at 37.82057252100764, -75.99364900243853 where I saw several waterbirds. I could tell some were ibises but I couldn't make out the others. I made use of my camera's 40x optical zoom to get what I felt were some pretty good shots. Once I got home, I identified all the birds.

In the below photo, the large bird in the background is an American white ibis. The white bird in the middle is a snowy egret. The dark bird in the foreground is a glossy ibis.
Here is a glossy ibis airing out its armpits.
It was breakfast time so it was no surprise the birds were here to feed. Here's a glossy ibis and a little blue heron looking for food.
I saw snowy egrets.

I saw numerous mature little blue herons. They also live closer to my area but I rarely see them there.

I couldn't tell what I was looking at at the time, but when I got home, I was ecstatic to find that I had some nice pics of tri-colored herons, a bird I have never seen in my area.

I crossed over a bridge to the west side of the island. I saw a lot of small crabs. Not sure what kind...they were not blue or fiddler crabs.

I saw the dog that greeted our group from a bridge as we paddled under. I ended up seeing him and his owner several times during my stay.

I found a pair of ospreys on a nesting platform
Not really wildlife, these are domestic ducks...likely an American Pekin duck (white) and an Indian Runner or Swedish Blue/Black duck (brownish-grey).
I made my way to the beach at the south end. It was pretty buggy out here.
I saw several chickens roaming free on the south side of the island. I'm guessing there are no predators. Again, not really wildlife, the bird shown below is likely a Barbu d'Uccle bantam rooster.
I ran across another osprey, this one on a telephone pole.
I headed north and then crossed over another bridge to get back to the east side. Then I went and checked on the kayaks. All good.

I passed the place we met Cameron yesterday before heading out for the crab feast. This place is part of his business.
Back at the house, I told Ginzy what I saw and then took her for a walk. But the birds had left.

It was now time to get ready for kayaking.

Today was our big trip. I kayaked to a pelican rookery with the group last year on July 19, 2024. That was a truly magical experience I was wanting to experience again.

While preparing to launch at the Island Oasis Pier, I spotted crabs on the piles. Perhaps they are getting ready to shed and become softshell crabs?
We launched from the pier and then paddled north to circumnavigate Queen Ridge and Goose Island. Along the way, we saw something very peculiar off in the distance to our west. None of us were able to figure it out but a week later, I reached out to the "Baltimore & Chesapeake Bay Ship Watchers" Facebook group and they provided me with an answer.
It is a Grimaldi Lines ship. The two squarish things on the right side are cranes. The photo makes it look like there are three totally separate things in the water, but the fact of the matter is that we were unable to see the lower part of the ship due to the curvature of the Earth and the ship being so far away. Mystery solved!

I came across various birds, including American oystercatchers.

On the south side of Queen Ridge, we saw the brown pelican rookery from a distance. As we approached the nests, I told folks to go tactical. So we were quiet and didn't make any sudden moves to avoid scaring away the birds.

Here's a view with both mature and immature brown pelicans. The ones without white on their head are immature.
Can you see the small white baby pelican on the nest?
Notice the unoccupied nests in the background.
Bright sunlight really brings out the red in the necks of the brown pelicans.
We were blessed with plenty of sunlight which made my photos all the better.

I could have easily spent a lot more time taking pictures at the rookery but I knew folks were wanting to get to a beach. Upon landing, I set out to do more birding. Here's a shot of an immature American white ibis with an oystercatcher photobombing the shoot.
Here's an oystercatcher (probably the photobomber) and the immature American white ibis. Notice the thigh jewelry on the oystercatcher.
From a distance, I snapped a picture of an immature little blue heron. Of course, at the time, I thought it was just another egret, so I didn't bother to try and get a good shot. But after I got home and saw what I had, I wished I had spent more time in getting a better quality photo.

This is a hole and sand pellets created by a fiddler crab. These are a byproduct of their feeding process. They sift through sand, extracting organic matter like algae and microbes, and then roll the remaining sand into small, round pellets. I did not actually see any fiddler crabs.
I found a raptor feather.
I spied upon bronzed tiger beetles. They were either mating or one of them is doing the Heimlich maneuver.
Folks cooled off in the water.
Here's a group shot. Ginzy was already on the water and Lori didn't join us because she was under the weather so she didn't paddle with us.
On the way back, Anisa was saying how she would have liked a piña colada. She wasn't with the crab feast group last night so she missed out on that.
Dr. Greg intentionally fell out of his boat so Ginzy could demonstrate a T-rescue which she performed flawlessly.
We arrived back at the pier. Dr. Greg made sure the boats were positioned just right for the evening.
We paddled 8.5 miles that day.

The plan was to do the crab feast on Friday and then eat at Lorraine's on Saturday. But some of our group wasn't much into crabs so they ate at Lorraine's both nights. This was my first time there. I heard the softshell crab was good so I was looking forward to trying one for the first time but they were out. Instead, I had a flounder sandwich which was mediocre.

Tom and Anisa were the new people in our group. Here they are trying Smith Island cake for the first time.
I went to bed early...too early. I should have stayed up and socialized with the group. I think it rained that night.

I was up early with the intention to go back to where I saw so many birds yesterday. But there were none.

The lighting was nice for taking pics but I could see dark clouds rolling in.
Here is the Waterman's Hideaway House cat which Charley called "Boots." Anisa made sure he was well fed during our stay.

I'm not totally certain where the Tangier Island Wildlife Management Area is located but I believe we paddled through it today.

We launched from the Island Oasis pier and paddled north to the next island. Once we were out in open water, there was a good bit of wave action. I used this to practice my kayak surfing, reaching a max speed of 10.7 miles per hour.

I saw a good number of birds on the shore but the water was too rough to take their photos.

Eventually, we entered a sheltered area. Here's Charley, who was my roommate for the trip. I don't know if I've ever met a more cheerful guy.
Here's Cheryl, Dr. Greg's girlfriend.
We only paddled four miles with no stops. We landed at Puge's and County Dock where we had to climb up a ladder and lift the boats about three feet to the pier.

We loaded up the boats and gear in the same boat that brought us to the island. Then we were off to Crisfield.
Upon landing, we got our stuff off the power boat like a well-oiled machine. Some people went back to the café for a meal while I headed home. Traffic was not as bad as I expected.

We got in a total of 16.9 miles of kayaking over the three days.
This was the club's first such trip to Tangier Island. Earlier in the year, folks paddled from Crisfield to Smith Island, stayed overnight, then paddled to Tangier Island and stayed overnight before returning to Crisfield. Unfortunately, I missed out on that trip but I hope to do it next year.