Out with the Ice

 I put out into more wind than the weatherman had predicted, but it was sunny and the 30 degree air was slowly warming.  

I cut across the channel and followed the west shore until an attached layer of skim ice sent me back to the other side.  A hawk crossed the channel.  Then, I spotted a whitish bird perched in a tree several hundred yards ahead.  In summer, that would be an Egret for sure.  I could not identify it, but it was a "raptor-ish" bird just by watching it fly off. I entertain the idea that it might have been a Snowy Owl.

The beaver lodge that has been here for a couple of years is well winterized.  Unexpectedly, there is a smaller second lodge not 6 feet from the original.  Beaver are territorial and I've never seen two lodges so close to each other.  But, both are winterized with a recent packing of mud, so they must both be occupied and I guess that they are kin.

The Double Beaver Lodge

Nearing the point where the cove turns, I hear a large number of Canada Geese honking.  I spot them mixed in with the Mute Swans that are typical here in cold weather.  The Geese flush when I am still some 400 yards away.  They go up as a few large flocks and it looks to total about 300.  They climb higher and circle in their V formations until flying off to other open water.  A few minutes later, the hundred plus Swans just move short distance to another spot in the cove.  

Immature Bald Eagle

 I find open water on the NW shore, so I cross the cove again.  Four Great Blue Herons take off from a spot that looks perfect for sunning.  Watching them I almost miss the immature Bald Eagle perched among them.  There are a few Buffleheads, some Black Ducks, and a flock of two dozen Common Mergansers.  The Mergansers are an easy identification even at long distance, the males in tuxedo colors and the females in a grey-brown drab with a deranged lady hair-do.  There's also a decent flock of dark medium sized ducks that I can't get a close look at - might be Ring Necks.

At the top of the cove I find both the Salmon and Moodus Rivers glazed over.  We've had cold still nights and even the currents have failed to keep a bit of open water to paddle through.  So, I circle the cove following the ice edge until I am forced back to the NW shore.  When I get back down to the point, my open water lead has disappeared.  The ice has been moving much more than I guesses.  I cut through about a 100 yards of thin ice, mostly 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  It's fairly easy as far as ice breaking goes.  I notice that I am actually cutting through two layers of ice.  There is a thin layer moving up the cove in the current with an equally thin layer moving down the cove with the wind.  When I stop in the weeds to write my notes, I can hear the ice coming up from behind as it crushes against shore.