Thursday, August 13, 2015

Canoe on the Codorus

Tonight Laura and I put a canoe in at Bantz Park in York City and paddled down to the boat basin and back. The high banks of the Codorus, dug out by the Army Corp of Engineers for flood control make this stretch a bit less beautiful than it otherwise might be, but the highlight was definitely the wildlife spotted nonetheless, especially the birds. We saw: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black Crowned Night Heron, Killdeer, and a likely Sharp Shinned Hawk and Kingfisher. We also saw plenty of groundhogs, cats, and two water snakes. The canoeing was easy in light to minimal current, besides at the riffle at Tyler Run Creek, which we bumped through going down and portaged on the way back. The sediment bar that forms there was greatly reduced by the ACE just a month or two ago. While we won't re-visit this stretch any time soon, it's fun to see downtown York from the water.