What I thought were large seeds were all over the beach. I emailed Tony Amos asking if he knew what they are. Here's his reply:

"These are not seeds at all but the bulbous, fleshy, buoyant stalks of the Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). I wrote about this invasive plant in my last Jetty article. They wash ashore every year."

nov3 838a returning from cattail pond I observed this bird in a tree above the bridge to cattail pond

my first sight of this bird was from its back.
at first glance it looked like a woodpecker due to the checkered pattern of the wings then when it came around and allowed me to photograph it, it looked more like a jay....

then to my surprise when I looked at the photos ... what is that? it has a mask around the eyes, another lower stripe, a crest on the head and checked wings! its the size of a jay, any ideas?

when it flew away It had a distinct 3 flap glide 3 flap glide 3 flap glide flight pattern.

I have seen some strange things this summer from bald headed cardinals & crows to cardinals with blue black wings but this I have no clue

I believe this is some type of marsh grass, found about a foot deep in the St. Mary's river, covered in marsh periwinkles and about 5 feet away from the shore. Identification help would be much appreciated!!