Yesterday it rained and last night it blew like the dickens, so a calm and sunny morning was nice to wake up to. I thought about heading over to the East River, but with last weeks cold snap, there is still a chance of ice jammed up in the upper section. Even after the ice starts breaking up, it tends to get caught in the tighter bends below the Gravel Flats, and that makes for a very short trip.
I put in, again, under the highway bridge. The shoreline is piled with reeds and drift wood from last night's windstorm. High tide peaks in 15 minutes, so the current is slack. I'll head upriver today and ride the ebb current on my return. My fingertips hurt from the cold, but I know they will be warm by the time I get to the top of the islands. The winter outdoor guy adage is, "cold is normal, sweating is bad, and numb is bad."
I cross the river right away and follow the west shore, heading into the four islands, passing under a perched immature Bald Eagle, and spotting a second one soaring high overhead. The sky becomes overcast. I use the channel between Peacock and Carting Islands, flushing a half dozen Black Ducks while I am in there.
A bigass H-53 helicopter flies by heading downriver. It is a huge helicopter.
I hear a boat coming from behind. It'll be the first I see today. The motor noise becomes helicopter noise as it nears. It gets very loud coming up behind me and I wonder if I'll get any rotor wash from it. But, it passes over about 250 feet up, politely clearing the electrical powerlines. The overcast has passed and the sun returns.
I cross the river at the dragonfly factory and follow the east shore back, flushing a mature Bald Eagle near Great Flat. Then recross the river and continue down behind Peacock Island before returning to my start point, flushing 2 dozen Buffleheads along the way.
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