Stretching the Eyes

In the morning, I was busy in my studio, but by noon it was time to stretch the eyes. I pulled in at the usual launch site, under the highway bridge on the far side of town. Today is one of very high tides, and even though it is just a short hour past the peak, the ebb current is already speeding by. On top of that is a north wind, and the prospect of returning to this spot against the current and into a 15 mph wind is... not preferred. I head down to the Wildlife Refuge launch site instead.

This launch site puts me directly into the marsh and I use it less often mainly because the extra two miles of river travel give me more time in the water. With the tide dropping, I have something like three hours to mess around. After that, getting out will involve some mud slogging. It is plenty of time to do some exploring.

I head up to try the back side passage around Cat Island. You won't find Cat Island listed on any map. I got the name from a friend who grew up in the area, and I am pretty sure that the name doesn't go too far beyond him and the childhood friends that explored the island. Today, I can't make the passage. The spartina has been growing thicker with each year, and it's just too dense to get through, at least until winter.

I head out, take one of my known sneaks into the middle of the marsh, head down to bottom, check the depth at my put-in... I have a good hour left to wander, head into another sneak and come back around to call it a day. I didn't see many birds today. With the high water, the best feeding is away from the channels. I saw a Harrier, 2 Kingfishers, 4 Swans, 1 Canada Goose, 1 juvenile Night Heron, a few Ducks and a few Cormorants.

Looking for Change

It is another windy day...such is autumn.  I went up above the Shelton Dam, putting in at the Eagle Scout launch. With the wind is out of the north at 15 mph with gusts as high as 25 mph, this narrow valley of the river will be about as good as it gets, with a lot of the smaller rivers and creeks running pretty shallow. I have not been in here since the flash floods that blew out a part of the access route, although that was above the launch site.

The launch site is on a small creek that only has enough water to float a canoe for the last 50 yards. There is a strong, low autumn sun, and as I settle into the canoe, it causes the sand on the bottom of the creek to shine golden. I paddle out through a floating carpet of orange and yellow leaves. My outlook on the day soars.

I head upriver into the wind.  I've been wanting to check this section of the river to see the effect of the floods. It is a bit of a grind into the wind, but only for short spells. Just as often, the forested hillside absorbs the breeze and I end up moving along quite well. 
The first sign of the floods is near the Shelf, a bank to bank cobble bar that I am more than familiar with. The current is accelerated as it passes over the Shelf, and in high water it can be impossible to get up past it. A large pile of drift wood and whole trees is on the river left bank. It is a good ten feet high, and there is a large tree, roots and all, in the yard in front of the nearest house.

I continue up noting a good number of trees that washed down and were caught by the edge of the forest. It looks like the water in this narrow section might have been six or eight feet higher, and it would certainly have been a torrent.

The rapids section comes next. This is a minor class 1 (if that) rapids of maybe 200 yards in length. From shore it would look the same as it always has, but from the canoe it is different. The water has fewer eddies or pillows, the area around the boulders that cause the disturbances being filled in with gravels and sand, at least for the short term. A hundred yards into that and I can see the cause. There is a new metal bridge, which looks temporary to me, on RT 34. A ravine that I never before noticed flooded and blew the entire road away leaving piles of sand with large fragments of asphalt next to the river. A shadow overtakes me, and I look up and watch a Bald Eagle head upriver to a perch. There is a second Eagle nearby.

Short Day in the Wind

I put in on what I call, Housatonic 3. It is the stretch of river above the second dam, with the tidal section being Housatonic 1. Also known as Lake Zoar, the touristy paddling websites will tell you that it is one of the better places to go canoeing. It is not. While it does have some forest preserve shoreline, it does not make up for the rather junky shoreline development that most likely started as cabins fifty or sixty years ago, each of which seems to have a beat up dock and a pile of neglected small boats, lawn furniture and float toys. I tolerate this a couple times of year, just to check out an interesting tributary or some of the coves.

Today, the main interest was to check out the shoreline for signs of the flash floods that occurred a month or so ago. I put in at the state boat ramp, planning to head down to Kettletown State Park. I sometimes launch at the park, but it is closed indefinitely as the road leading to the park was blown away during the floods, as was Route 34, which I normally use to reach this area and the next river section above.

It is a particularly fine day to be outside, but it might not be so good for canoeing as it is quite windy. I cross the river to the shelter of the far shore. The wind is no big deal up close to the forested hillside. I paddle close by dozens of junk docks. As I pass the last dock, a Great Blue Heron flushes from nearby. When I get down to Kettletown, I turn out to cross the river. Then, the wind hits me. The waves are no problem, the wind is just skittering across the surface at something close to 20 mph. It is an upwind paddle to get back, and I decide to get going in that direction just in case the wind gets worse.

About half of the way back is a bit of a claw, the rest being unusually protected. Across from my start, I assess the situation again. I have something I'd like to check upriver, but it is a mile of straight into the wind to do it. Time to call it a day. A pair of Red Tail Hawks fly over as I turn towards the put-in.

Mattebasset with E

My artist friend, E, joined me today. We met a couple years ago and I don't think we've seen each other more than one time since. I also had some artwork to return to her, and it turns out that I have paddle past her house before.

We put in on the Coginchaug. It is a sunny day, but autumn is here and the temperature will hit a high of 60F. There is also a stiff wind, maybe a dozen mph or so, but it is coming down the Mattebasset, so it will make for an easy return. The water level is low right now, as we've had little rain in the Connecticut River watershed. As I tell E, the Connecticut River rules as far as the water levels in the Cogichaug and Mattebasset. If the Connecticut is high, these two rivers just back up, sometimes to the point that you can leave the river and paddle through the bottom land forest.

The Coginchaug is just to shallow right now for an upstream trip of any length, so we head down. We're going to talk a lot, about a lot of different stuff. I've been taking new art friends canoeing for several years, precisely because being in a canoe together, and working as a team, seems to make the conversation flow. Besides the art-stuff and what-your-background-is-stuff, I'll give E a good introduction to the marsh, as this is my kind of turf.

The Big Lodge seems to be in use. The beaver were flooded out by repeated floods last year, and while the lodge is a little ramshackle on the outside, there is a fresh trail leading up the side of the lodge, a sign that the beaver have been adding material.

We spot the first Great Blue Heron, of maybe a dozen that we see on the trip.

We turn up the Mattebasset when we get there and fight the wind through the open area known as the Great Meadow, to people that look at old maps. There is a bank burrow just as we get to the trees. I'd seen this before, but couldn't be sure if it was in use. I explain why and how the burrow was made by the beaver, and how to spot one - they look like a pile of dumped tree prunings. This one is being mud fortified with a defensive branch pile in the water, which should be protecting an entrance tunnel that is exposed by the low water.

We continue up the wooded section of the river. The Point Lodge is in use. This lodge was built after the flooding and it has grown some in size. There are fresh clipped branches with green leaves in the food stash next to the lodge.

We continue up to the higher put-in by the Dunkin Donuts. With that, we turn around and get the wind at our back.  More Herons, one Flicker, one Kingfisher, a female Wood Duck, a pretty nice trip.

As a bonus I get treated to an excellent grilled cheese sandwich.

The Unexpected

The intention was to visit the main entrance channel leading into the center of Nell's Island. I made it through the maze of pannes and channels on my last trip, and noticed that the entrance channels had cut banks due to fairly strong tidal currents. I am using old glass bottles as a dating method for estimating the rate of soil deposition in the marsh, and cut banks are ideal as I can measure the depth of the bound bottle.

The tide has been coming in for about an hour. It is sunny, 60F, with a light west wind. The lower angle of the sun at this time of year makes the Egrets look even more spectacular than usual.

But, canoes are not the ideal vessel for getting things to go as planned. Not far into my paddle down Nell's Channel, I begin finding new specimens. 

Specimen 17
100 yards down Nell's Chan. River-left, 15 inches deep
Brown glass crown top beer bottle

Specimen 18
Half way down upper island in Nell's Chan. River-left (west side of island), 18 inches deep, clear glass screw top Owens-Illinois bottle, possibly pharmaceutical - reminds me of a big vitamin bottle

Specimen 18

Specimen 19
50 Yards down from #18 and same side of island, 18 inches deep, found in a near vertical orientation (this is unusual) clear glass Owens-Illinois crown top soda bottle

Specimen 20
River-right on Nell's Island where the channel bends west. Glass Snapple bottle, 3 inches deep.

There are a dozen or so Great Egrets and a couple Snowy Egrets in this area. Fish striking the surface shows that there might be a schooling of smaller fish. I turn up the main interior entrance channel to Nell's Island. I come across a large sandpiper type bird, larger than a Willet, and rather tame in that it tolerates me within a couple canoe lengths. It is most definitely an unexpected sighting.

Juvenile Hudsonian Godwit

Specimen 21
Nell's main interior entrance channel, about 200 yards in, river-right, 14 inches deep, plastic 6-pack ring

Specimen 22
Nell's main interior channel, about 50 yards in, river-left, 7 inches deep, fragments of a glass Coca-Cola bottle

I exit Nell's Island and head back upriver, taking the side entry channel, as I usually do.

Specimen 23
Nell's Side channel entrance, river-right, 6 inches deep, another plastic 6-pack ring, with one ring torn.

Specimen 24
River-right, triangle cut-off at the top of the marsh, estimated 5 inches deep in a partially slumped bank, green glass crown top soda bottle

The Nell's Island Maze

I headed into the Wheeler Marsh. I'm making a map and needed a better idea of where the cut banks are and where the shoreline tends toward mudflat. I put in about 2 hours before high tide on a sunny day with a fresh breeze coming downriver. 

When I reach the marsh, I realize that this isn't the best time to be assessing the banks, as they are already mostly submerged.

I head up my inner sneak to the Central Phragmites patsh, finding a drift log blocking the last fifty yards. It is not really a drift log, it just looks like one. There is a rusty eyebolt and hook on the back side of the log, and it would be a pretty rare occurrence for a log to get where it is. Hunting season is just starting and I am pretty sure that this is a "road block" from the fish and game people. This location is a popular site for the Night Herons, and the log is probably a clever way to prevent someone from setting up a hunting blind on Night Heron turf. 

Mylar balloon stabathon...before and after

 

Night Herons are definitely the most numerous bird today, and i will spot a total of about fifty. Most are young, but there are also some adults - both Yellow Crowns and Black Crowns. 

I head out and continue around the marsh. I find a pair of Goose hunters in the lower marsh. They are wading about for some unknown reason, and figuring out that they don't want to wade in the Wheeler muck. I continue on to Nell's Channel. With the tide still rising, this is a perfect time to explore the interior of the island, which is a maze of channels and ponds. And, it really is a maze.

It is possible to cross the island, and I have done it west to east.  It is more challenging east to west, however. There are a good number of birds on the island - largely because I am probably the only person to come in here in a month or more. I flush a flock of 10 Green Wing Teal, many more Night Herons, severl Mallards, and when I stand up to see if I can find the exit channel, eight Great Blue Herons from a fairly small area. I do notice that the main interior channel on the island has cut banks, so I need to come in here when the water is lower.

After a half dozen wrong guesses, I find my way out into the main river , and head back upstream.

Up to Wooster Island

My last canoe trip was one of continuous beaver dam crossings - twenty two crossings in just six and a half miles. I barely had time to paddle before having to step out and pull the canoe over a dam. I picked today's route accordingly.

I put in under the highway bridge on the far side of town. The tide was coming in and had about 2 hours to go. I would have both the light wind and the tide at my back as I headed upriver. I cut across to the narrow channel between Peacock and Carting Islands, spotting six Great Egrets and two Great Blue Herons on the way. I wondered if it would be a Great Bird day. In the narrow channel, I flushed a few Mallards, and one Green Heron, which would fly ahead a hundred yards at a time, until I reached the top of the islands. 

I recrossed the river just because I prefer the quieter channel east of Fowler Island.

I saw few birds until I got up to the nameless island above the 15 bridge. There were good numbers of Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and one Snowy Egret, for good measure. Between here and the top of Wooster Island, a distance of two miles, I spotted about two dozen each of the Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. Ripples in the water told why they were here. There were large schools of small fish, perfect food for the waders. And they were waiting... for the tide to go out. The high water was up against the bank, but as it dropped, the fish would be easy prey from the shore.

I took a turn around Wooster Island and headed back, following the opposite shore from my trip up. It made for a four hour trip without having to get out of the canoe.