Up to the Ice Edge

There are two bird watchers at my put-in when I get there. We chat and they tell me that they've seen four Bald Eagles and a pair of Golden Eagles. Four Bald Eagles is pretty much normal for this time of year and this place, but the Golden Eagles, that's a bit of a rare sighting.  There's a Loon out in mid stream and as I set out, there is a flock of Common Mergansers some distance up river.

The temperature is in the low 30's with a minor wind of no consequence. The sky is mostly cloudy, but opens up more as I paddle.

I follow the east shore up. My plan was to head into Hamburg Cove if the ice allowed, as it freezes first, being calm and protected with little current. The bird guys told me that it was open, at least where you can see it from the road. I love this first half mile up to the cove. The forested hillside looms over as I paddle along a shoreline that is either sand and gravel beach or sloping bedrock glazed with a thin layer of ice.

Golden Eagle

As I cross over to the far side of the cove's entrance, a large Eagle flies into sight. I decide it must be the big female from the Lord Cove nest - I've seen enough Eagles to know that this is a large one. But, I get a better view and better light as it turns, and it is not the big female. In fact, it is not a Bald Eagle at all, being all brown toned and much too large to  be and immature. It is one of the Golden Eagles.  My trip is paid for, so to speak.

I do find thin sheet ice in the cove in large patches but it is mostly open water. So, I just make a few minor detours to the plan and continue.

Ice fills the cove shore to shore starting about a half mile before the Joshuatown Bridge. So, I head back out.

I head a little upstream before remembering that I haven't paddled the shoreline below the put-in for several months. So, I turn and head down. Not far below the put-in is a property where the owner has been doing habitat restoration. Before he bought it, at least some of the land was owned by a collective of people for use as a private shoreline campsite (this riverside land is often unbuildable). I see these operations here and there in Connecticut. What may have sounded like a good idea usually ends up looking like a meth lab. The members haul in lawn furniture and barbecues, and leave it, too lazy to put it away after a weekend of partying. Wind and weather takes its toll and pretty soon there are small piles of broken lawn furniture, beach toys and barbecue parts laying in the surrounding forest. Anyway, ever since the new guy took over, the junk is gone and native plants are replacing invasives. This time, I especially notice that the forest in the upstream end of the property has been brushed out with problem plants cleared to promote proper forest development.

I get downriver about a 1/2 hour and then head back.