Hunting Bird Day

I set out from the town formally known as Pettipaug.  The tide is bottoming out so I head out through the marina as the preferred exit from the North Cove will be a wade for the next hour.  It is going to be about 85F today, but it is very humid and already feels warmer than it is.  It is partly cloudy with little wind and a chance of rain or thunderstorms in the afternoon.

I head up the west shore, but the temptation to paddle in the shade of the forest on the other side of the river is too much.  I cross over on the old Ely Ferry route. I flush 2 juvenile Bald Eagles while heading up the shoreline.

Adolescent Bald Eagle

Juveniles often appear larger than adults because they have longer flight feathers, and both of these fit the bill. I find a third standing in the water near Joshua Creek.  The main river is active right now.  Fish are rising to the surface and several times a large striped bass comes clear out of the water.  The Osprey and Great Blue Herons are taking advantage of this.  I come across a Heron about every 1/4 mile, and most of the Osprey that are flying by or perched in nearby trees have a small fish in their talons.

The Selden channel is calm and quiet. In fact, at one point I hear the Essex steam engine, which is a half mile away with 200 feet of forested hill between us.  I see several Osprey in the channel and an immature Hawk - either a Red-Shouldered or a Broad Wing. At the top of the channel, I decide to turn back and stay in the channel instead of going out onto the main river. Having the channel to myself is just too good.

 

Note how the Osprey's eyes can rotate to look straight ahead - a handy trait when diving for fish

The wide part of the river near the former Brockway Ferry crossing is choppy again.  Although this section is 3000 feet wide, there is a lot of rip-rap banks, cliffs, and sea walls and wakes rebound back into the main channel.  The result is that you get small waves meeting at an angle from different directions.  There's no rhythm to it and it makes the paddling laborious. As soon as I reach the natural shorelines below Brockway Island, the phenomena disappears as the gravel, sand and spartina shorelines dissipate the wave energy.

 

Wither a young Red Shouldered or Broad Wing Hawk, perched above an Osprey nest 

I get 2 more adolescent Bald Eagle sightings in North Cove - that makes 3 juveniles and 3 adolescents for the day.  It was a good trip, but I am glad to be off the water...it's not the heat, it's the humidity.