Pettipaug

The sky has been thick, really thick, with smoke for the past two days. It was thick and heavy enough that not only could I smell it, but I could actually taste it. The smoke comes from large forest fires in Quebec. Although, in a cloud sense, the weather has been clear, today is the first day that any blue sky can be seen since Monday. Even so, there is still a gray haze if one's view is long enough.

I set out from the North Cove of Pettipaug. Pettipaug has been known as "Essex", since early in the 19th century. And, if one is walking around the colonial town, the name Essex probably fits. But, from the canoe, especially on days when the yachts are all tucked away in their boat parking lots, when I am paddling up against the marsh and forest that hems in the big river and out of sight from the colonial buildings, "Pettipaug" makes much more sense. So, Pettipaug it will be.

The tide is out and the shallow gap in bar that creates the North Cove will be too shallow and, from previous experience, too muddy to pass through. Instead, I head down through the marina, chatting briefly with a marina worker about the smoke, of course.

I head across the river and turn upstream. There are quite a few Osprey either in the air or perched in shoreline trees and snags. There are some nests in the immediate area, but I suppose that most of them come the mile or so up from Great Island, where there are more than thirty nests. Some fish have been rising to the surface, although no where near what the big menhaden runs do. But, there is food for the Osprey.

Just short of the old trading house at Ely's Ferry, a large Bald Eagle flies in and takes over a perch from another large Bald Eagle. I suspect, based on the sizes, that these two are the Eagle pair that nests deep in Lords Cove. That nest is about a 1/2 mile away by air, or a solid five miles by canoe. I spot a third mature Bald Eagle just before the mouth of Hamburg cove. I should add that Great Blue Herons are also common, with one in sight at most any time during the trip.

The mouth of Hamburg Cove

I head up Hamburg Cove all the way to the Joshua Town Road Bridge. There are some Canada Geese up in this area, and one pair with five goslings that may be two weeks or so old.

From there, I turn back and head out, spotting a fourth Bald Eagle at the mouth of the cove, then crossing the river below Brockway Island and following the shore back to the North Cove. I pass close by eight or ten Turkey Vultures, wondering what they have found on the shoreline and thinking that I had forgotten how large they are.