Beaver, High Water, and Beaver

The Connecticut River was still in a freshet with the Hartford gauge at 12 feet.  It was another day to go explore one of the tributaries as the lower ends of those rivers are backed up with high water.

I put in at the old tavern launch.  The river is well into the trees but with no current.  When the Connecticut, a few miles down river, is high it just backs up the bottom of the Mattabesset.  Last time I paddled these conditions I went upriver, so this time I set out downriver for the Coginchaug.  

Soon enough, curiosity drew the canoe off into the trees and I began looking for shortcuts across the broad meanders.  The forest was about three feet deep in water and I continued through to push into the marsh grasses. There was more than enough water and forcing through the grass was the only work.  After a couple hundred yards I got into some grass that wouldn't yield so easily, so I backtracked to the river.

The first sighting, other than Great Blue Herons, was one of the largest beaver that I've ever seen.  It was huddled a few feet above the bank and I looked at it for more than a few moments wondering if it was a large dog or the back of a deer. 

Then it turned its head to eyeball me.  The head and neck were almost as big around as my thigh and I figure it weighed 30 pounds or more.  With the high water, the lodges are all flooded, so the beaver have been camping in the rough for several days.  I'm unaware of any lodges in this area, so it either has a bank burrow or a lodge farther back from the river. I moved off without leaving it to continue basking. 

A third of a mile downstream is the Tepee Lodge.  Only a foot of it was above water, which gauges the river at five or six feet above normal.

I passed through the large open marsh noting that there is no pickerelweed (which is blooming now) in sight...it's submerged.  Then I headed up the Coginchaug.  High water makes the narrow, forested Coginchaug a treat because you can skirt the blow downs.  I spot one beaver on the way in and it tail slaps me.  A large bank to bank blow down stops me before the usual high point (where the river gets bony, fast and pointless).  I head back out and turn upstream toward my start.  I spot a Glossy Ibis on my way through the big marsh.

At the Tepee Lodge I stop to check and see if it has collapsed or if it is at full height, and it seems intact.  Then I get two tail slaps on the another side of the river, which is also the primary feed zone for this colony. 

One of the Tepee Lodge beaver

It's three beaver, but I spot only two - they are idling in the water keeping an eye on me.  Then, I notice that there is a bank burrow behind them.  That's something new to me.  In my experience, it's really too close to the Tepee Lodge and I wonder if the colony has gotten tired of being flooded out and built a new lodge. 

New bank burrow in Tepee Lodge territory

When I get back to the put-in, I keep going just because there is no reason not to. This is the sixth day in a row of canoeing and even though these are day trips, the rhythm of a longer tour is kicking in.  The high water gets me above the highway bridge without wading.  Then I feel like returning.

Five beaver and a Glossy Ibis...a good day.