We set out in the early afternoon down Pond Brook, out into the Housatonic and around the point into the Shephaug. The weather was fine with a partly cloudy sky, almost no wind, and a temperature around 70F. The water was still and almost smooth and there was no one else about.
As we neared the point we passed the chinkapin oak. S missed it and I promised to point it out on the return. We spotted a few Great Blue Herons.
I told S, as we approached the second wide spot, that this was a good area to spot an Eagle. Getting there, a Hawk called out repeatedly. We spotted it circling overhead. Then, we heard the distinct call of a Bald Eagle arriving overhead as well. The Eagle was an immature. The two birds scolded each other until the Eagle flew off up river.
But, the Eagle did not fly far. We soon spotted it making a dive for something on the water on the far side of the river. There was a line of first year Common Mergansers, but the Eagle did not seem to interested in them. Then, a mature Bald came in and took the perch from the younger Eagle. The Mergansers swam off at a leisurely pace. All of this occurred solely because I had told S to leave the binoculars at home because the bird watching is not particularly good in this stretch.
At the apple orchard, we turned back, both of us agreeing that it was an exceptional day, and a good trip for the spirit.
As we rounded the point I directed S to the chinkapin oak, having to point out an acorn with the tip of my paddle to prove that it was, in fact, an oak.
A speeding pontoon boat passed near throwing an unusually large wake for such a dunderheaded boat. I told S that the elderly boat driver surely wanted a Camaro when he was 15 years old, but ended up with a pontoon boat instead.
We crossed the river and headed back into Pond Brook to our start point.
No comments:
Post a Comment