Things to Do

You know, there's always things that you should be doing. Over coffee and breakfast, I thought about the things I should be doing. And then, I loaded up my canoe and went canoeing, because I was wondering what I might miss seeing.

It is a very nice day, perfect for canoeing aside from a little more wind than is ideal. By the end of the trip, as I head back upstream, I should have the wind in my face and the tidal current at my back.

With the tide out, I keep my eyes peeled for Clapper Rails. The best place to look for them is on the mudflats between stands of spartina that serve for cover. I head down Nell's Channel and spot a Rail in one of the first mud flat openings. Then, I veer off of Nell's and take the Left of Nell's Channel Channel. There is a good number of Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets. The Snowys often feed by shuffling their feet on the bottom to kick up little edible critters. The low tide is perfect for them. 

Liquor bottle ca 1920 or earlier

I cut across over to Nell's as I get near Milford Point, and then return up Nell's. My short trip gets interrupted when I spot a bottle. It is 2 ft. down in a cut bank, so it can be used for estimating deposition. It's mold formed with large bubbles in the glass, and the glass is not particularly thick. It is embossed with the volume, 1qt. 9 fluid oz. Part of the cork is inside. It's probably not a beer or wine bottle, most likely a liquor bottle and no newer than 1920 (large glass bubbles are a pre-1920 thing). It dovetails right into my estimate of 50 years to the foot for deposition. 

Home Brewing bottle

I take my usual side route out of Nell's, and find another bottle. It is marked Home Brewing, Bridgeport. It is in a cut bank that appears to have settled. The bottle design should date it to the 1950's or 60's...and it should be a beer bottle. Right across the channel is another bottle, a liquor bottle from about the same period, but it is out of the bank, so it is useless for deposition.

Borden's milk bottle

I exit the shortcut and turn out toward the river...and spot another bottle. It is square, well embedded in the cut bank and about 15 inches deep. It is a Borden's milk bottle, with the "Borden's" printed on the glass. I have to do a little research, but I'm guessing it will be one of the last of the glass milk bottles - probably 1960's or so. 

From there, I power into the wind a mile back to my starting point.