First Snowy Egret

I put in at the harbor to make my not so often expedition to one of the town's four rivers. It is just short of high tide with a light wind and partly sunny day of near 60 degrees.  This trip has to be timed with the tides.  Gulf Pond is scratchy at low tide and three of the bridges are impassable at very high tides.  The railroad bridge is a nasty wade at low tide with a current that can be much to strong to beat if one is paddling against the tide.  Once past the railroad bridge, I have about two hours to mess around before having to leave.

At the mouth of the harbor I turn left into Gulf Pond.  The last of the flood current zooms me under the first bridge.  It occurred to me that if this shallow pond was dredged, it would have made a good harbor.  , I imagine the wonders of commerce made it so that Milford had a large enough harbor as is and the cities of Bridgeport and New Haven took the brunt of shoreline abuse. The pond is nearly cut in two by a road that is mostly causeway.  The lower section is mostly open water with the upper half containing mush more marsh land on either side.  The wildlife seems to know this.

Third Bridge

I duck under the third bridge, which takes me into a tiny pond where I pick up the stiff current that runs up through the narrow railroad bridge and shoots me into the Indian River.  The railroad bridges are older than many of the road bridges and their placement and sometimes foundations are usually pre-1900.  Unfortunately, little thought was given to natural water movement (other than as a problem) or the need to preserve such flows.  I know several tidal bays that have been almost cutoff from the tides.  It's my guess that the next section, the Indian River, was once part of Gulf Pond, at least as far up as Interstate 95.

Canada Goose Nest

This upper section is probably the best for wildlife.  Foot access is difficult and it necks down to an actual river.  Today, I find some Ducks and Geese and my first sighting of a Canada Goose Nest this year.  I've seen Bitterns in here, which are the only Bitterns I've ever seen.  Just for that, the trip is worthwhile.

I manage to get all the way up to the fish ladder.  A nasty tree blockage that fell three years ago has rotted enough that I got by without difficulty.  On the return, I have to lay down in the canoe to clear the uppermost bridge.  Not sure why they didn't spend an extra hundred dollars to raise these bridges one foot, but that's how it is.