M wanted to see birds. So, with 6 Eagle sightings the previous day, we returned to a put-in just a bit downriver from where I started yesterday. We set out in a dense fog that obscured Great Island and only the nearest of Osprey nest boxes could be seen. The sun broke through within 45 minutes, but up until that moment navigation took some thought as I tried to recognize the close up landmarks that don't normally need to be remembered.
The sun burned through before we reached the Watch Rocks. It became a pleasant warm day although I carefully reminded M that the water was still dangerously cold.
Osprey were in sight at all times. They are particularly common on this section of the river with something like 30 nest sites on Great Island. There were also a few Great Egrets, Redwing Blackbirds, Ducks, and a suspected flock of Dunlin, although we were too far off to be positive.
About a mile up the Lieutenant River we spotted two Turkey Vultures right where I had flushed an immature Bald Eagle the day before. I suspect that there was something dead hidden in the rocks, especially since the Vultures showed no interest in leaving even though we were just 25 feet away.
We reached Boulder Swamp with the water a bit higher than when I was here the day before. There was one Eagle on the nest and we could just barely see it. It turned out to be the only Eagle sighting of the day.
We returned the way that we came with a stiff and growing head wind developing during the last half mile bringing with it cold air and low misting fog off of the sound.
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