Paddle and Rookery Visit at Webb Wildlife Center

While our outing’s primary purpose is to kayak and explore Bluff Lake, Webb’s cypress-tupelo swamp, we'll also visit the very busy Rookery on the way to the put-in. Last year, the Rookery hosted cattle egrets, snowy egrets, great egrets, anghingas, little blue herons, and more. Bring binoculars if you have them; we will bring our scope. After visiting the rookery, we will launch at the Bluff Lake landing and paddle the marked canoe trail—and well beyond. Depending on how long we’ve stayed at the Rookery, we may lunch before the paddle, but the working plan is to picnic on dry ground deep in the swamp. Like the Rookery, the swamp is full of life. Keep a look out for prothonotary warblers, chickadees, white ibis, barred owls, anhingas, yellow-crowned night herons, osprey, red-shouldered hawks, yellow-bellied sliders, alligators, and more.

This trip will be led by April Childress and Jody Tinsley. Both are long-time adult educators and trip leaders, kayak instructors for Road Scholar programs in the Lowcountry, and Lowcountry Master Naturalists. They invite other

MN’s to enter the varied and delightful worlds of the Lowcountry found beyond the shorelines and river banks, to experience these rich aquatic environments up close rather than peer distantly at them from land.

Cost: $25 per person if you bring your own kayak and equipment; $60 per person if we bring a kayak for you (paddle and PFD included). You will sign up through the LCMNA website, but make your payment directly to April Childress via Venmo, PayPal, or personal check. Payment must be received to secure your spot on the trip. Once you have signed up, email April at woodsweg@gmail.com for mailing address or other payment details.

• COVID-19 concerns: We’re still in a pandemic, so all participants should practice social distancing and/or wear masks during group meet-up, instruction, and equipment fitting. We can remove masks while on the water, staying at appropriate distances. (April and Jody are both vaccinated and boosted.)
• Bring: Snack, bag lunch, and water bottle. In addition, bring your usual being-outdoors paraphernalia:  hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, sunglasses with strap, dry bag, binoculars, camera, rain jacket, etc.
• Note: This is a kayaking trip, so you'll be getting your feet, legs, and seat wet on launching, paddling, landing, and stopping for lunch.
• Wear:  synthetic clothes (no cotton, please) and water shoes that will stay on your feet (not Crocs or flip-flops, old tennis shoes are fine). Any clothes you’d wear for yoga, pickleball, running, or biking are fine. Layers are always good. All participants are required to wear a properly-fastened life vest.

Don't worry if you have no kayaking experience—Jody and April are seasoned guides and teachers and have lots of experience taking beginners out on the water.

Meet at the screened pavilion. When you enter Webb WMA, drive up the allee; follow the drive to the right, and circle around the office building. When you arrive, go ahead and walk to the check-in kiosk and fill out a hang-tag. (Every vehicle will need one.) At the far end of the screened building, you will find a restroom. This will be our last opportunity for indoor plumbing! From the screened pavilion, we will follow one another to the Rookery and put-in.