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In the 40's, gray, and breezy from the SE.
Today I got to try my new portage cart out. I bought an almost new Trek bike trailer at Goodwill for $13, took it apart and put it back together as a portage cart. So, today I walked the mile down the hill and put in at the South end of Portage Bay. There were two small bald eagles in the air, one mature and one still without white feathers. I paddled through the cut (photo). An ancient portage once existed just south of here. No pleasure boats out today. Then I went CW around the bay. Saw a dead mallard hen in the water. The swan carcass has been dragged farther inland and is still feeding something. Paddled into the wind to the S shore and back through the E channel next to the burial island. Loaded my canoe on the cart and walked home. It's the first time I haven't had to start and finish at the same spot.
In the mid 40's today. It was dead calm when I got into the water, but the sun broke through right then and put just enough breeze on the water to break the glassy surface. Here's the biggest of the beaver lodges on the bay. It is about 9 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. I headed counter-clockwise around the bay today. I saw three eagles today, one on the log boom, one on the west shore and the third at the lunch counter perch. As I paddled too close to one, it got up and made a run at some ducks that were a few hundred yards out. I've noticed this behavior, that they seem to be content to sit, but if you disturb them they will take advantage of it and go ahead and try their luck at hunting. The dead swan has now been dragged onto the shore and scavangers continue to work at it. I still don't think that a coyote has found it, I would expect a coyote to rip it up pretty good. There was a coyote scat pile about 20 yards from the swan, but no telling how old it was. It was a territorial marker, conveniently dumped on an old plastic coffee can lid.
In the 30's, there is thin ice in the marsh. I pick small sheets of it out of the water. It is clear and window glass thick. I head out east of the burial island and find a barrel floating in the water, which I haul out. Both eagles are on the burial island perch. I see three otters near the north point perch. The scavenger is continuing to chew on the neck of the dead swan, which has been pulled to one side of the carcass since yesterday. One eagle is now at the lunch counter perch. I haven't seen them hunt today. I pick up an annoying tire and drift with the wind, drinking coffee and passing a falcon sitting in a tree on one of the islands. I sit still and the falcon stays and lets me pass.
I'd rather paddle somewhere else today, but I needed to check on stuff from two days back. It looks like the two raccoons that were in the live traps are free. I head over to the dead swan. Someone or something has laid the head back on the body and there is a wound at the back of the head/neck. If it is a scavenger, it is a small one - but it has to be big enough to pull the head and neck out of the water, so who knows... One eagle is at the lunch counter perch and the other is on the Foster Island perch. They are taking runs at flocks of ducks every once in awhile, so they haven't eaten today. I see two attacks, but no kills. The eagle in the photo (it's at the lunch counter) was quite busy and I drifted for several minutes to see if it had a catch, but it was just busy drinking water.
It is almost sunny and 39 degrees today. The bay appears as it really is. I should be making art, but I need to get out and procrastinate, so, I do. I paddle straight across the bay to check on the swan carcass and it is as it was. Then, I do the log dance and retrieve one of the abandoned buoys for the garbage heap. I decide to go back and get the last of the abandoned buoys and dump it also. These things are PVC plastic, about 4-1/2 feet long with about 50 lbs of ballast in the bottom. They cut loose from their moorings several years ago and have been sitting in the marsh since. Now, there are no more. Paddling over to the garbage cans with some foam chunks, I spot two sad raccoons stuck in the nutrea live traps. They should be out tomorrow. The third, which might be a mother is about 40 yds further along the shore. Then I head home.
Today, I write as I paddle.
There is a thick fog where I put in.
The heron is where it usually is and it flies off even though it has no reason on account of me, but it always does that.
Nearly all of the bark is off of a birch to my right, the beaver has been busy. I have paddled 50 yards.
I cut between the workbench and the big lodge to see if there are beaver tracks. I have plaster with me today. Beaver seldom leave paw prints.
Fog Changes the view. It is almost like a new place to me.
I use my compass to steer a straight course across the bay.
Even in this little bay I am out of sight of house and road for some time.
Ducks are just barely visible. Their safe distance is almost the same as my visible distance.
I put my wool gloves on. A slight breeze makes just enough difference.
I stop in mid bay to drift for awhile.
A duck surfaces in front of me. It seems to be 200 yards off, which means that it is 3 feet tall.
Fog confuses time and space.
I find shore at the point where the eagles and hawks perch.
My only chore today is to check on the carcass of the dead swan. It is as it was.
As I near the lunch counter, I hear the swans before seeing them. I drift and let them swim away.
Both eagles are perched on the little island near the lunch counter.
One eagle flies off after some ducks and they all quickly disappear, the outcome is a secret.
The ducks are very near shore today, something they would not do if it was clear.
The eagle returns and the two of them chirp at each other.
I am shooting lots of photos today in directions that I normally would not. The bay appears the way I like to think of it.
Paddling by the west islands, I startle the three immature swans.
I recover an Amazing Spiderman rod and reel from the depths. Actually, only 18 inches. The water is very cold. As long as my hand is freezing, I pick up some golf balls.
A
nother fine day, almost 50F, sunny and a light wind. I put in on the north side of Elliot Bay today, out in the sound. A few buffleheads, hooded mergansers and goldeneyes are around. I head west, out towards the main sound, but when I get to 4 mile rock (photo) the wind is stronger and while it is not so strong to keep me from making headway, I don't feel like fighting with anything. So, I turn around and paddle through the giant boat parking lot (how many boats in any marina actually move?). I spot a pair of harlequin ducks, of which the male is very striking. A cormorant surfaces from a feeding dive not 5 feet from me. We are both surprised... Then I return around the outside of the parking lot. Many herons out on the breakwater. The gentle bobbing on the swells and wakes from distant ships washes me from the inside out.
