First Harrier of Late Summer

It is a fine morning with a near maximum high tide sometime around noon. In the lowest few miles of the Housatonic, the incoming tide reverses the river current, and not just by a little.

Today's trip is perfectly timed to have me paddling against a 4 mph incoming flood tide. this isn't as hard as it might seem, at first. All that one has to do is hug the shore and hop from eddy to eddy until reaching the marsh. What surprises me today is that with the especially high tide and stronger than normal current, the entire east shoreline, all the way to the marsh, is one big eddy. I make the mile to the marsh in under ten minutes. 

It is still early with almost three hours to high tide, but even now the marsh is fairly well flooded. I head in to the center using my shortcut to approach the central phragmites patch, always a good spot to see birds. I end up flushing at least fifteen Black Crowned Night Herons, several Yellow Crowned Night Herons, one Great Blue Heron, and a Clapper Rail. Seeing that many Black Crowns is unusual, as is the Clapper Rail sighting.

Black Crowned Night Heron

As I continue, I spot a Harrier actively hunting. It's skimming low over the marsh, pulls up into a brief hover to look at something, but then continues on with its low level hunt. It's been several months since I've seen a Harrier. It might be that the Osprey keep them away during their nesting season.

Harrier

I hear a kayak navy setting sale from the wildlife refuge launch, so I lay low and head back into the inner channels. until they've moved on. I reverse my track as best as I can, finally locating the "impenetrable" weed mat - one of the few landmarks in the marsh. That connects me to known channels. I head out and ride the flood current back up river.