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.