Not So Wild Waters

I set out upstream from the Feral Cat Park on a humid but not too hot of a day.  The sky was overcast and would pretty much remain so.  The very high tide had been falling for a short time, so the tidal current added to the normal river current was not a bother.

 I stayed to the east shoreline as it is more wooded and backed by wide margins of wetland.  The opposite side of the big river has a road that runs along not far from the bank.

This was not an especially peaceful trip.  There was a fair amount of large boat traffic, at least for a cloudy October weekend.  Worse were the small herd of jet skis that followed the larger boats around jumping off the wakes and generally making a lot of noise.  My friend M told me one day that jet sk drivers almost always had the same body type.  She was correct....I observed that the drivers were balding un-athletic 30-45 year old males who whooped and hollered a lot.  Kind of an idiot fest.

I went three islands upriver, about an hour and a half one way.  There were quite a few Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets and most of the time there was a Kingfisher somewhere near.  On the beach by the Dragonfly Factory I spotted a Greater Yellow Legs.  I usually dump Greaters and Lessers into one pile, but this time I was able to see the slightly upturned bill.

On the return I followed the west shore once I was below the Dragonfly Factory.  The current flowing over the bedrock shore creates some interesting boils and eddies.

Mad Hawk

 I set out up the west side of the big river following the shoreline fairly closely.  A crow lets out an odd call.  It flies out from the trees with a Coopers Hawk in hot pursuit, tail fanned wide, wings fully spread, a slow speed highly maneuverable chase.  The hawk is giving that crow hell.  The crow takes a quick perch under a branch to shake off the hawk.  Then the crow retreats, not far, but a retreat none the less.  The hawk disappears into the trees, not too far off but out of my view.

The Essex Steam Engine

I head into a tributary that I've only gone into once before...maybe last year or the year before.  The bottom 1/3 of a mile or so is a big boat parking lot.  They have to be somewhere, but it isn't what you set out in a canoe to see.  On that last trip I went up to where the boats ended just to see if there was more.  At the railroad bridge, where the boats end, I flush a Great Blue Heron.  Then, three swans, one is a cygnet.  Another few hundred yards takes me to the road bridge.  Two hundred Red-Wing Blackbirds are feeding in what is left of the wild rice.  Passing under the bridge for the first time, I see that this is a good spot for them.  There are tens of acres of wild rice upstream of the bridge although there is little rice left on the plants.  The river takes a few wide meanders as it passes through the rice marsh before it narrows and becomes forested.  The current picks up a bit, but it is not preventing upstream travel, yet.  I cross a gravel bar and note ceramic remnants, a pretty typical sighting when nearing towns in Connecticut.  I collect an old beer can, old enough to have been opened using a church key.  The river narrows more and picks up speed.  I recognize the buildings up above as the town of Chester.

While on my way back to the take out, I paddle back out and turn up a small river that leads to Deep River .  I 've been in here before, a small river that goes from marsh to forest to town.  It's just a pleasant diversion to make the trip last a little longer.

Cormorant

I don't need to see you
No reason to look over my shoulder
I know who you are
I know your wing beats on the surface of the water
No one else does that
People ask me if you're a loon
But you hold your chin too high
Too proud

Tall Spartina at mid tide

I set out clockwise around the Wheeler Marsh in a southeast wind, comfortable temperatures and a sky with dark clouds around the edges... a forecast of rain for a time after I take out.  The tide is mid level and rising, an ideal time for canoeing in this marsh as you can get mired at low tide and the wading birds take tree perches as the water rises.  I make frequent sightings of Night Herons and Great Egrets all of the way out to Milford Point. 

Snowy Egret at right

From there I head down the inside of Nell's Island where there are few birds other than a congregation of five Great Egrets and one Snowy Egret - the only Snowy sighting of the day.  At the top of the marsh I flush a few Great Blue Herons from the edges of the tall spartina.  This marsh is almost all the tall spartina variety...it gets washed over on almost every high tide.  The short version grows on higher ground that only gets flushed during the highest high tides.  Coming up the edge of the marsh close to the launch site, I start seeing the Night Herons taking their perches in the trees.  The numerous Snowy Egrets that I saw earlier in the month are absent.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Old Coots Day

I woke up in the middle of the night with a rough draft of a poem running through my mind and this all seemed to be a solid signal that I should go canoeing in some body of water that was geographically fitting for the poem.

In the Mattabesset River

A short, older and more grizzled man drags his kayak by a rope from the parking lot down the rough stone path to the water while I am gathering my gear.  I do the short 75 yard portage and find that guy already gone, which is a surprise since the typical recreation boater usually takes something like an hour to get their boat launched.  I head out downriver, the water high with rain runoff and the current faster than normal, but still gentle.  It is a pleasant day, heavy overcast in the sky and temperatures in the low 70's.

I catch up with that guy in about a half mile as he comes out of a backwater.  He is a good paddler and I pace him from behind.  I sense that we both want to paddle alone and I am giving it a bit of time to see if he maintains his pace.  He eases up in a few hundred yards and I go ahead.

At the beaver cut place there are three lodges where I seem to remember only two.  One is a crude bank burrow, one has had recent home repairs of added mud, so it is definitely occupied. The third is the one I don't remember, so it may be new.

In the big open marsh below the forest I spot three Great Blue Herons and two Mute Swans.  A short way farther on I sight a Harrier prowling.  Their hinting style really is an airborne prowl.  It weaves and dips, skimming across the tops of cattails and wild rice.  I've seen quite a few Harriers this year and I do not know why I have not noticed them as often in the past.

I pass another old coot in a kayak coming the other way.  We exchange a few brief pleasantries.

At the first point below where the tributary enters, the air is thick and heavy with the scent of beaver castoreum.  The humid still air is holding odors in place.  I spot a couple of swans ahead and a large fish splashes behind me.  After a minute, I begin to wonder if that splash might have been a beaver tail slap.

Near the railroad bridge I spot six wild turkeys.  At the bridge I spook a Green Heron.

At the big river I take a turn around the long island, there is almost always an island where tributaries come in.  The island will extend the trip to a length where I can be farther away than I am.  It also give the other old coots a chance to be alone on their trips.

I don't see all of it, but that beaver confirms its presence by making a diving leap from the bank into the river.  It surfaces and we watch each other for awhile.  As I head on, I spot another Green Heron back in a small inlet.

Autumn Light

I told S that I would be putting in at Foote Bridge and probably wading a bunch until I got down past the Gravel Flats.  But, lower tides are usually good for animal sightings, so I don't mind the wet feet.  It's a bit of surprise to find the river high and running fast when I put in.  We had several inches of rain on Tuesday and another day of rain on Thursday.  The East River drainage is clearly catching a lot of runoff.  I set out and find a swift run with dry feet.

To add to that change in conditions, there are almost no birds.  When I get to the end of the Gravel Flats (about 10 minutes), I have heard one Kingfisher and spotted one Osprey.  Contrast that to  earlier in the month when I would have seen 15 or 20 birds in that same stretch.

Yellow Legs

I spot two more Osprey in the middle marsh.  I start spotting Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons in this area as well.  Of the latter two, it is about the same number as I expect during summer. 

It is a spectacular day with temperatures in the upper 60's and a light wind coming down the river.  The tide is rising by the time I start but the tidal current is weak.  I make my way down the East River to the confluence with the Neck adding quite a few Great Egret sightings plus a few Snowy Egrets.  I suspect that most of the Snowy's are on the move south.  Of note, I have seen no Green Herons or Night Herons.

The Sneak

My unplanned timing has worked out well enough that I can return through the Sneak.  So, I head up the Neck, up Bailey Creek and into the unusually brushy Sneak.  With the tide only half way up, I expect it to be narrow, but it also seems that the tall spartina is encroaching on the channel.  This may be due to the heavy rains adding to the normal tidal runoff.  I've observed that there is a glacial flow to the spartina.  Looking at older maps shows that the channels are remarkably stable in path and width.  But, old main made items such as farmer corduroy road have been pushed down and probably out toward to the river bank.  I think that the silt builds up on the marsh surface and pushes it down and out.  The banks often show crevasses at the top of the banks, just as glaciers do.

The rest of the return is uneventful unless one wants to count a beautiful day with low fall light that kaleidoscopes the surrounding forest.

Wheeler Marsh

S suggests a turn around the Wheeler Marsh to see the large numbers of Egrets and Night Herons that I witnessed two days ago.  I check the tide charts and try to time our put in for about 2 hours before high tide.  Not only does the Wheeler Marsh need an above mid tide level for easy paddling, but I figure that the rising tide will be moving the birds out of the large marsh and into the trees that line the east shore.

We arrive at the put-in a little early.  I tell S that we can go, but we will be shin deep in mud to get the canoe in the water.  We retreat to a local bakery for a half hour.

When we return, the water level is just right and the put-in clean and easy.  There are no birds in the trees, yet.  We paddle counter clockwise flushing a few Green Herons at first, then a Night Heron or Egret every once in awhile.

At the far upstream end of the marsh we head up the Nell's Island channel.  Some light motorboat traffic ahead of us is sure to eliminate most bird sighting possibilities, so I take is into one of the side channels.   There, we start to flush Night Herons with frequency.  It is a mix of adults and juveniles, and seems to be all Black Crowned Night Herons.  Our Channel dead ends after a quarter mile and we retreat. 

Juvenile Night Heron

When we get up to the long sand spit, Milford Point, I point out to S that there are dozens of Egrets perchd in the trees on the far side of the marsh, which is also where we started.  As we paddle that way, more and more Night Herons leave the marsh and we track them over to the trees.

Great Day with a Friend

I set out with M from Ely's Ferry and headed upriver following the east shoreline.  We talked about a lot of things as we always do...art, science, nature, friends.  As we neared the mouth of Hamburg Cove a mature Bald Eagle flew by.

The Selden  Channel was near glassy smooth.  In fact, it was a still and quiet day with little boat traffic anywhere.  We just paddled in peace.

From the top of Selden Island, where another Eagle was perched, we continued upriver to the Chester Hadlyme Ferry where we beached the canoe and made the hike up to Gillette Castle, since M had never seen the entirely bizarre "castle".  There is a fine view of the Connecticut River from that point also.  Gillette may have built a weird house, but he sure did know location.

We returned to the canoe, skimmed the cliffs so that M could see the remains of Gillettes miniature train rail system, which featured trestles that ran out and along the cliff faces overlooking the river.
Then, we returned down the main channel of the river.  ...a great day with a friend.