Skunked

We put in on the Menunketusuck River.  The canoeable section is all salt marsh - shaped like a trident with the river in the center and two meandering arms that makes for a couple hours of paddling.  The forest fire smoky haze has finally cleared out and the skies are blue with a temperature in the upper 70's and a light wind.  S hasn't been out in the canoe for over a month.

Right after the first bend, a first year Little Blue Heron flies over.  One of the main reasons to come here is to see Little Blue Herons and Glossy Ibises.  

As we get down into the widest part of the marsh, it seems that we aren't going to have a great bird day.  There are quite a few Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets, a couple of Cormorants, a few Willets and more Yellow Legs, which have returned from their nesting sites.  There are also a good number of Semipalmated Plovers.  But, there don't seem to be any Glossy Ibises or Little Blue Herons (other than the one we saw earlier).  Our bird trip is getting skunked.

Osprey scolding a Bald Eagle

We check out the length of the west arm, finding just Egrets and the mentioned shore birds.  We come out and head down to the railroad bridge. Again, Egrets, shorebirds, and on a Osprey nest box,  a young Osprey strengthening its wing muscles by flapping.  The East arm is the same, until we return when we hear and then spot a mature Bald Eagle.  It takes the usual perch over the opera singer's house.  An Osprey comes in to give it the business - showing the Eagle that it is being watched.  The Eagle's perch not only gives it a 270 degree view of the marsh, but also a clear line of sight to the Osprey nest box.

With that, we head back out.  We get a good close-up view of an immature Little Blue Heron working the bank.  It might be the same one that overflew us on the way in. 

Immature Little Blue Heron - note the two-toned bill and greenish legs