The Lieutenant, Connecticut and Blackhall

I put in on the Lieutenant River, a favorite for almost as long as I have lived here. I remember coming here for the first time and finding far more than I ever expected. That is what a good river does, and it does it over and over.

It is a fine day with mostly sun, a temperature in the lower 60's, and just a little wind coming up from the sea. The tide has bottomed out, so I head downriver, planning ahead for the return.

Coming out of the Lieutenant I take the left hand turn at the fork. This is the inside channel, a sometimes meandering, sometimes narrow route through the salt marsh that lies on the east side of the Connecticut River. The big boats are out in the main channel, which is quite wide and open.

The Phragmites Corridor

The first 1/3 of a mile is a corridor through a phragmites marsh. Phragmites is a non-native invasive reed that isn't all that bad to look at, but unfortunately is poor habitat for marsh birds and mammals. That ends not too far upstream from Watch Rocks, a small island in a narrows between  Marvin Island and the mainland. This is where the action begins.

Below Watch Rocks

Aside from the full contingent of Osprey, which probably numbers at 40 pairs, I start spotting Yellow Legs and Willets, a few Mergansers, and lots of Gulls. There is a small flock of Green Wing Teal, which, as usual, flushes before I can get close enough to ID them... but I managed to get a telephoto shot before they got wise to me. With the low tide, I paddle all the way down to the Sound before turning up the Blackhall River. I can add about a half dozen Snowy Egrets and a few more than that of Great Egrets, and couple Oystercatchers. There are four Willets engaged in a mating or territorial beef, and they are making enough noise that one could easily imagine there to be two dozen birds. It is that time of the year for them, after all. The bird life today is quite diverse.

Green Wing Teal

I go up the Blackhall as far as the second bridge. I just don't feel like paddling against the tide on the way back.When I turn up the inner channel, I now have the current at my back. 

Oystercatcher

I take the Back River, which as I have said before, is not a river, but just the channel between Great and Marvin Islands. I suppose it may have gotten that name long ago, Back River meaning the back channel of the river. Many of the marshes here are also labeled, "meadow", which seems to be a carryover from British use of the word. I explore one of the side channels in the Back. It dead ends, but it does take me directly past a couple of Osprey nests. Then, it is out into the main river.

As usual, the main river is choppy, and surprisingly few critters show up on the shoreline - they know where the good stuff is. Then, I head up the Lieutenant and past my put-in as I decide to head up and see how the Eagle nest at Boulder Swamp is faring. The homeowners under the nest are doing an extensive remodel. This nest is always a bit hard to see through the trees, but I think that I see some motion up there, so hopefully the construction hasn't disturbed them.

With that, I head back.