Great Swamp

Weather came through yesterday and it was a cold and windy one at that, but today is calm and sunny.  It is a day to take full advantage of - I head to the Great Swamp.  It may be my last trip of the summer there as the waters usually become weed bound with non-native invasive things as the summer comes on.  

I set out from Green Chimneys.  The temperature dipped to about 40F last night, but it is already in the upper 50's by the tie the canoe is set in the river. It is obvious that I am the first one here, and as I say, "first one in sees the most wildlife".  The water is down from my last trip, as it should be, but it is more lor less normal for this time of year.  Man, is the sky ever blue or what.

I pass a fluffy brown mammal - perhaps groundhog sized, but I don't get a good enough look to identify it.  As I haed up, I find that the first 2 beaver dams have been breached.  I think about it for awhile and figure that it was probably the Green Chimneys summer school program, to make it easier for the kids to get in to the swamp.  The next dam is a almost 2 feet high and intact.  Into the wild!

Just before entering the forest section, I flush a Bittern.  It's a nice sighting as I often go a whole year without seeing one.  They are rather secretive.  Unfortunately, I don't see it until it is airborne, so my camera is not ready. 

Things go pretty good up to the half-way log jam.  I portage that, then do a log step over a 1/4 mile later.   

I don't see anyone else until I am within 20 minutes of Patterson.

I turn at Patterson and head back.  The minor current is a noticeable addition to my cruising speed. It will be a 13 mile trip.

I don't see anyone else until I am in the forest section, passing a half dozen Barcalounger kayakers that managed to cross that 2 foot high beaver dam.  Two more watch me cross that same dam when I get to it and ask me questions about the route, in heavy New York City accents.  

It was a very god day. 

 

Looking for the Little Blue Heron

It is not a bad day at all with a temperature around 70F and plenty of sun.  However, the wind is all over the map, when looking at the map.  A moderate wind is predicted most everywhere, but inland, gusty weather is on the list.  There is a change coming sometime later today.

We put in on the Menunketusuck.  The paddle-able section is only a mile and a half long, but there are two equally long dead end arms to explore as well.  So, it makes a decent day trip, without considering the particularly interesting birdlife that visits.

The wind is not too bad at all. It goes calm at times, then rises enough to push the canoe around for a minute or two.  We spot three Glossy Ibises right after starting between the 2nd and 3rd bends.

Little Blue Heron - mature

As we continue down, it seems that Glossy Ibises are scattered around through the marsh.  Before we get down to Operas Singer Point, we spot 3 mature Little Blue Herons.  They are feeding about 50 yards away in a low spot such that their heads pop up every once in awhile.

We head all the way up the west arm.  More glossy Ibises and a couple Little Blue Herons, plus some Canada Geese, Mallards, Red Wing Blackbirds, a couple Least Terns, and a few Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets. There are Osprey overhead at most any time.

We head down to the railroad bridge.  It is the Elinor Roosevelt line - not really, but it is a fact that Elinor Roosevelt would take this train out here from New York.  The train would stop and drop her off about 50 yards from the river where she would hike through the woods to visit two friends that lived here.  Those friends donated their land to become mush of this wildlife refuge.

It is a grind back from the bridge with both the wind and ebb current against us.  

We find more Little Blue Herons and Great Egrets up in the east arm.  The wind is increasing, so we only go as far as the Opera Singer House before turning back.

One interesting note is that all the Little Blue Herons we saw were mature - no white or piebald phase birds.

 

High Tide - East River

I put in at Foote's Bridge with the tide high, temperature around 70F, and with a mild but unsettled wind.  

I spot a Green Heron soon after starting.  It flies down river and disappears into the trees. The river is coated with what looks like pollen.

As I paddled away from the Clapboard Hill Bridge, I got to thinking that I haven't seen, or at least remember seeing, any Marsh Wrens.  Of course, as soon as that thought arrived, my ears tuned in to numerous Marsh Wrens calling out from nearly every patch of phragmites or standing cattails.  It did not take much longer to find a nest.

There are a few Willets in the Big Bends, which is pretty much as high up the river they come.  I flush a half dozen Yellow Legs from the island in the second bend.

Below the railroad bridge, I head into the Sneak and then into the Long Cut, which takes me to Bailey Creek.  From there, I paddle down and head into the Sneak again, although this time from the lower end, deciding to spend some time exploring some of the side channels rather than doing the full loop down to the Neck and lower East River. The clouds are dramatic - cumulus with enough gray to show that they are carrying potential rain.   

At the top of the Big Bends I spot three white tail deer way over on the edge of the marsh.  I head into the brook entrance just above the top bend, spotting a single Glossy Ibis feeding in the spartina.  I paddle up the brook until it becomes too narrow and twisting to continue.  

Spot the deer again on my way out. They had circled around behind me.  They trot off when they notice me.  The Glossy Ibis remains put.

In there lies the Parmalee sawmill dam ruins

I stop briefly at the Parmalee dam ruins, then pause again under the trees just up from the French-Indian war grave when it rains some particularly cold rain for a few minutes.  As soon as I dig out and don my rain jacket, it stops raining.  And with that, I paddle the last half mile. 

Ruddy Turnstone Migration - East River

It has been rainy and windy for the last couple days. It was stay-indoors-weather that was too grim for a hike let alone a canoe trip.  So a cloudy day with a threat of modest rain, no wind, and warm temperatures was welcome.

I headed over to the East River, putting in at Foote Bridge.  The sky was a heavy overcast and so, no one else was around, until the guy with the e-bike arrived.  I've seen him many times before.  He comes here for short hikes in the East Woods and we talked for a couple minutes, both of us relieved to finally be outside.

The tide was heading out and had been for almost 3 hours, so there was a easy downriver current but still plenty of depth so that dodging rocks was not necessary.  The forest section had several Snowy and Great Egrets, a couple Osprey, Red Wing Blackbirds, and Swallows snagging flying bugs.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Spotted a young Yellow Crown Night Heron near the old trolley line.

Willet

Below the railroad, many Osprey perched in the few trees or on old posts.  Of course, the Willets were about as usual.  I thought about trying the Sneak, but figured it was more likely that I would have to portage part of it, and it wouldn't be so bad except for the unbelievably strenuous mucking from the water to the good footing of the spartina.  I continue downriver. 

Ruddy Turnstones

I continue all the way to the mouth of the river just in case there are interesting birds at the point. And, there are.  I find about three dozen Ruddy Turnstones.  This is the only place I've ever seen them, having spotted them here a few years ago. They are migrating to the Arctic coast in Canada.  It is a very pretty bird with colorful plumage that makes it blend in with the cobbles and gravels that it likes to feed in. They are also not particularly shy and let me float 20 or 25 feet away.  Anyway, they were quite busy turning over rocks and digging in the gravel.

As I head back, I flush a flock of 2 dozen Dunlin. 

The weather continues to improve, and while I have the river to myself, when I get back to my start point, people have arrived to hike the forest 

Bantam Lake, Bantam River and Butternut Brook

I wanted to return to the Bantam and explore farther up Butternut Brook than I did on my last trip.  The day is cloudy - a solid and somewhat dark overcast with the temperature in the 50's and climbing not too much more.  But, there is little wind this time, so I can set out from the bottom of the lake.

It is an ordinary lake, but I don't paddle lakes too often in this area.  I tell myself as I start that I might see Oprah's pontoon boat, or Paul and Edie's matching Wave Runners, or Dustin's 15 foot aluminum Lund with a smoky 4 hp outboard.  But there seems to be no one else on the lake other than a work barge putting out docks just barely in time for Memorial Day weekend.  

Unexpected #1 is a Red Throated Loon just a 1/3 of a mile into the trip.  I usually see them earlier in the spring in the tidal rivers as they migrate north, and did not expect to see one at all.  Four birds congregated out in the center of the lake notify me by calling that they are Common Loons.  I'm sure that I've never seen four all together like that.  I also get the rare diving Great Blue Heron - it launches itself off of the end of a dock and nabs a palm-sized flat fish.  The Heron flies a few feet to another dock and begins to choke the fish down.  If you've seen this before, no doubt you wonder why you don't see dead Great Blue Herons with fish jammed in their throats. 

Approaching the lowest dam on Butternut Brook

I head down the Bantam a short ways before turning up Butternut Brook.  The first beaver dam has recent wood additions (since my last trip).  This time, I cross it and continue up.  I flush a large White Tail Deer.  The second dam looks less maintained and although it is solid, it is also rather porous.  Beaver do pack mud into the dams to make them hold water.  The third dam is a ruin.  The brook at this point is getting fairly narrow and looking less like a marshland brook and more like a drainage canal.  A tangled log jam where the brook is barely 4 feet across is the end of the ascent - maybe a few hundred feet short of the route 202 bridge, just short of a mile from the lake.  I spot a couple Sandpipers.  I think they are Stilt Sandpipers on migration.  The white rump and greenish legs stand out. 

The second dam on Butternut Brook

I return to the lake and paddle over to the where the Bantam enters, and head up.  Lots of beaver sign, of course, a few more Great Blue Herons, a couple of muskrats.  I cross 3 dams to get up to Little Pond, although the 3rd dam is awash - a result of the newer second dam.  I continue up beyond Little Pond, which eventually enters a golf course before coming to a log jam.  I'm about 3 miles up the Bantam, and this will make for a 5 hour trip, so it seems a good point to head out. 

 

Ground Hog Day

It's the middle of a short springtime heat wave that will, as it often happens, bring afternoon gusty winds.  I start early, stay close to home, and plan to be off the water before the temperature climbs into the 80's.

I set out from O'Sullivan's Island near the top of the tidal section of the Housatonic.  The tide is well out and very low today.  Right away, I can spot extensive gravel bars upstream that I don't remember from past trips.  So, I head upriver toward the Shelton Dam.

I am surprised to find that the deep water channel is so serpentine.  The other surprise is the number of birds.  I count 8 or maybe 10 Great Blue Herons, a Black Crowned Night Heron, a Green Heron, half a dozen Mergansers, a few Mallards, an Osprey, and a completely unexpected ground hog.  

They, except the ground hog, are mostly busy fishing the shallows around the exposed gravel bars.  Looking down into the deep water, I spot more than two dozen large fish - which I guess are striped bass.  They seem to be in the couple hundred yards near the three bridges that cross the river in this section.

I head up to the island below the dam before turning back down.  When I get to the mouth of the Naugatuck, I head up a short ways.  From everything I've seen, the Naugatuck is shallow and bony and probably fairly steep over much of its length.  It also seems hard to access with a canoe, which is why I say "from everything I've seen".  I can't get much more than 200 yards up before running into fast and shallow water, which is no surprise. 

The Shelton Dam

I head down river again.  It is really quite peaceful today.  Low tide is a trip in the first couple of decades of the industrial revolution.  Old pilings, old bridge foundations, rotting pier remains, and a long wooden seawall stand out from the forested riverside.  The seawall is pinned with square steel bars, not the round rods that one might expect from a more modern construction.  The square bars are just about the same dimensions of railroad spikes, except for the length of course.  It is easy to imagine that a railroad spike producer might have gotten a contract to make the bars for the seawall.  The seawall is , no doubt, pretty old and survives because it is submerged most of every day.

I spot a couple more Great Blue Herons and a few Great Egrets below Two Mile Island, where I turn around and head out.

Housatonic 1

I've been in the car too much this week, so although it is a super fine day, I stay close to home and make do with familiar waters.

I put in from O'Sullivan's Island, which is near the top of the tidal reach of the Housatonic, and head down river following the west shore.  It is sunny, maybe 70F, and windier than predicted, although this might be due to the local geography.  

I pass a few boats here and there. Mostly, they are fishermen, but there are a few of the goofball variety.  But overall, it is fairly peaceful.  

The wind is coming stiff up the river once I get down a couple of bends.  I'll check the weather report later, but that only shows that it is blowing 6-9 mph at the ariport, which is a good 4 miles downriver.  It is pretty darn close to 20mph where I am at.

I cross the river a 1/4 mile below Wooster Island and return following the east shore.  This side is in the wind shadow, so I don't get too much of a tailwind, and the wind overall dies down in the last mile or so. 

Gray Weather in the Wheeler Marsh

There were things to do and it took a while for me to get going, so it was a late start and a put-in on the far side of town.  The tide was on its way out, so it was an easy and quick paddle down to the marsh. It is overcast with a chance of thunderstorms, but from the looks of it, not much of a chance, yet.  The temperature is in the upper 50's with no wind.

I head into the Nell's Island maze.  It starts to sprinkle.  I put on my rain gear as I have already got one fine soaking earlier this week.  This time I use science - it is a well known fact that if you put your rain gear on, it will not rain.  This theory does work and although it is not instantaneous, the sprinkle dissipates during the next 20 minutes.  I find my way through the maze with no trouble even though my solution seems to have some segments that are new to me.  I end up where I am going.  Spot several Willets in the maze.  

Coming out of the maze a large flock of Black Bellied Plover flushes on the other side of Nell's Channel.  I suppose it to be a hundred birds.  Near Milford Point are about 200 Brandts.  Looking out over the marsh, there are flocks of Plovers and Sandpipers moving around - far too distant to be identified though.  I come east across the mud flat section, well away from where most of the birds should be, but I want to check out some of the tiny islands along the way. All the way over to the east side, I get an up close view of a Black Bellied Plover, a Least Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Plover.  The Egrets seem to be over here on the east edge.  I can see a dozen all at once - half Snowys and half Greats.  

Semipalmated Plover

I head up Beaver Creek - not too much going on in there other than a 2nd Year bald Eagle.  It is in that mottled plumage between a dark first year and a mature with white head and tail feathers.

Least Sandpiper

I head back upriver passing a Green Heron and 2 Yellow Crowned Night Herons along the way.

It has been a good trip. My part of the world is right side up again. 

By accident, I lock my keys in my car. I think about it for a few minutes. Then, I find a wiffle bat in the weeds. I stomp the wiffle bat flat, which splits the brittle plastic.  Then finish whittling it with my pocket knife into a crude 3/4 inch wide strip  so that I have 30-some inch strip of stiff plastic.  I slip it in the top of the door and push the door lock button.  It takes less than 10 minutes.  It feels like a notable accomplishment.

Plover Day

I headed down river from the usual spot for a quick paddle around the Wheeler Marsh.  It is in the upper 60's, the tide has been rising for about an hour and a half, there is no wind, and the sky is dramatic without being threatening.  It looks like it might rain some time later, or not, depending on which way the clouds move.

I head down Nell's Channel.  Near the lower mouth of that channel is a flock of 75 Brandts.  As I head towards Milford Point, I spot 6 Oyster Catchers that are staying together as a small flock, and another 75 Brandts.  Brandts are all around today and I figure I will see about 300 by the time I head out.

As I cross the mudflat area, with about 8 inches of water, I spot a Black Bellied Plover.  I get a photo of a second one, and photograph a distant handful of sandpiper type birds that turn out to be Semi-Palmated Plovers. This is the first time this spring that I've seen the Plovers. Both types are migrating through to farther north nesting grounds.

Black Bellied Plover

I head up the east side and back, riding the flood current. 

Semi Palmated Plover

A Rain Day

I put in at Indian Well.  Rain was predicted one hundred percent, but it was far less windy than the previous days.  There was also a chance of thunderstorms, which is one of the reasons I put in on this section of the Housatonic as it is in a forested valley and if need be, I can stand on shore and be very much not the tallest thing in the area.  In fact, I have sat out a thunderstorm here before.

It is overcast and rather dark.  Aside from some bass boat dudes that are fishing in the opposite direction, no one else is on the water.  I head upstream with a light tailwind.  I spot a pair of yellow Warblers, which stand out from the fifty Sparrows that, no doubt, I've passed without seeing more than one or two.  I did not see it until I was directly underneath, but a large immature Bald Eagle flushes and heads upriver.  Immatures are larger than young mature Eagles, having thicker and longer feathers.

The waterline on shore shows that the dam people are letting a good amount of water out.  The old waterline is about a foot higher than current. lI spot a good sized mature Bald Eagle. 

I get up to the easy whitewater below the dam.  I only get about halfway up before calling it.  It is so dark that I can't see submerged boulders unless they are creating a wave, and I know there are some that I'd rather not hit.  It starts to rain.  It is nice that the rain has held out until I am halfway through an out-n-back trip.    

It rains steady as I paddle against a light headwind all the way back to my put-in.  It's pretty wet, but it is not cold, and there has not been any thunder and lightning.  Not a bad day at all. 

Just a Clever Ruse

A moderate wind was predicted for the day, but I suspected a clever ruse and headed to smaller waters.  I put in on the Menunketusuck at the usual spot and headed down river.  The tide was all the way out and I picked my way through the narrow deeper channel for a hundred yards or so.  There is nothing like scrapping the canoe on oyster and mussel shells to encourage some thinking. After that, there is plenty of depth. It is sunny, in the upper 50's and yes, it is windier than predicted, clever ruse confirmed. (the wind is 15 to 18 mph and gusting to 25)

This river is Little Blue Heron and Glossy Ibis territory.  Of course, there are other birds, but this is one of the best places to come to spot those first two.  There is a rookery island in the sound not far away and this is a good feeding zone for them.

Willet

There are lots of Yellow Legs, pretty much can see at least one at most any time during the trip.  I spot a few widely scattered Willets.  There's always a few, but this is not a major nesting site like the East River.  Add a few Mallards and frequent sightings of tiny Least Sandpipers, and high overhead is a mature Bald Eagle soaring and circling over the forest that leads to Opera Singer Point.  I first imagine that it might be hunting as its soaring location gives it a good view of two fingers of this three-pronged marsh.  But, it drifts with the wind off to the east. It was just a clever ruse to get some free mileage. 

Least Sandpiper - about the size of a wren

I paddle down to the railroad bridge and then head back to go over into the west arm of the marsh.  I've been out a short hour and I spot my first Glossy Ibis flying past.  Then a second and a few more.  So, they are around.

Glossy Ibises

Over in the far end of the west arm, I pause to reset my camera, which has ended up with a bunch of weird settings... a result of fumbling with it while paddling.  There are a good many terrapins, often sunning in groups of 8 or 10 on the exposed mud bank.  They spot my arrival from a surprising distance and slide off into the water.  Then, a flock of fifteen Glossy Ibises fly in and settle about 75 yards away.  As I head out, another group of thirteen comes in.  I'm not sure why they are showing up all of a sudden.  Maybe it is the temperature, or the tide coming in, but here they are.

Glossy Ibises

I head up the east arm.  There are several Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets.  I have to look cloely at the Snowys as young Little Blue Herons are very similar.  The wind is increasing and I head back.

No Little Blue Herons today, but a good number of Glossy Ibises.   

Yellow Bird Day - Bantam

I intended to put in at the bottom of the lake and paddle up to and into the Bantam River.  But, the wind was not in agreement with the weather forecast being something double the predicted 8 mph, with gusts on top of that, and I did not fancy paddling up a rather ordinary lake, especially with the possibility of worse conditions on the return.  I diverted to a rough launch right on the river.

I headed downriver toward the lake.  Right away spooked some Wood Ducks and a Green Heron, but it was the yellow birds that were dominating.  These were all probably Warblers and while my yellow bird identification skills rarely get exercise, the first one that I photographed was obviously a Yellow Warbler, which is the most yellow of all the Warblers.

This is a 3 ft tall scent mound, It is not a lodge.

It still amazes me how many beaver lodges are on this river.  Half of them are large - 20 feet in diamter at the water level and 5 feet high.  It was also scent-mound-o-rama with dozens and dozens of the dirt mounds everywhere, and when you figure in the number of beaver drags, peel sticks and feed spots, if anyone ever wanted to learn about beaver, this would be a good place to begin.  I surprise a large beaver near one of the large lodges.  It dives before I can get a photo, and with the lodge just 20 feet away, I am sure it will not resurface.  

Butternut Brook

Water snake sunning on an abandoned beaver lodge

I cross a known and well-built beaver dam just before the lake.  Then, I follow the shoreline east, rounding a point and heading into the outflowing reach of the Bantam.  I take a run up Butternut Brook almost to the first road crossing, and then down the Bantam to the human-built dam.  This area is all new to me and I am very happy to spend the time here instead of crossing a rather ordinary lake.  I definitely want to go farther up Butternut Brook next time.

This is beaver poo.  About 2 inches across. Lots of roughage!

With that, I retrace my route. 

Marsh Coyote

I mow the lawn, and then put in for a high tide trip through the Wheeler.  It is cloudy with a quartering headwind coming up the river, and it is colder than I expected. 

A few Willets and a flock of 15 Yellow Legs greet me at the top of the marsh.  The water is very high and most of the marsh is flooded.  I head out into the middle of it following any open water channel that I desire.  At most water levels, even high tide, most of these channels are either too shallow to use, or they dead end.  

Yellow Legs

There is a large flock of Canada Geese in the lower marsh - I see them fly off from a fair distance.  I can hear that there are also a bunch of Brandts - they have a distinct and unmistak, mall flocks of Yellow Legs.  The one thing about being in the marsh at high tide is that the birds are "compressed".  With limited dry ground to stand on, one might see a lot more birds, birds that might actually be in the marsh at lower water levels, but widely dispersed - so a high tide count might be quite a bit more than a low tide count even though the actual number is equal.  

I stop at the Central Phragmites Patch and dig out my rarely used rain jacket to use as a wind breaker. 

I spot a Coyote as I head up the east side of the marsh.  It had to swim to get where it is, but it has been there long enough for its fur to dry.  We watch each other for fifteen minutes.  Eastern coyotes are a bit different than the western coyotes that I am more familiar with.  This one almost looks a little like a very large fox, but it behaves like a coyote, keeping an eye on me until I leave.

The wind has shifted and I have a quartering headwind as I head upriver.  This is nice on top of the 3mph ebb current.  I hug the shore taking advantage of slack water and eddies.