Lords Cove Ice Breakup

From the highway, I can see huge sheets of ice backed up against the railroad bridge.

I put in at Pilgrim Landing, stomping over a snowbank to get to the water. There are some ice floes and I start out busting through skim ice that formed in the night. The tide is coming in and will be behind me.  I wonder if any of that ice will come my way.  Most of the bigger stuff will stay out in the main river.  As I head in I make sure to check out the possible alternate take outs, just in case.  I spot two immature Bald Eagles and gawk at the scenery - clear sky, dried marsh plants and a rim of thick ice on the shoreline. It's too nice to worry about the ice until I have to.

There are a lot of Ducks, far more than I have seen in here.  Birds are definitely on the move, although I don't think they are migrating, yet.  My guess is that they are moving back to preferred areas as the ice breaks up.  A couple flocks of Canada Geese fly over, very high up.

Ring Neck Ducks

Nearing Coutes Hole,  I spot a mature Bald Eagle, which flies west to link up with a second mature Eagle.  Then, I flush 40 Buffleheads, 15 Common Mergansers, and at least 50 Ring Necks. I head around the hole to the east, flushing about a 150 Ring Necks.  The channel is choked with big floes and while it might be possible to get through, it might not possible to return as the tide moves in.  I back out and head to the west side of the hole.

The west side is open for a longer distance. I flush about 200 Ring Necks and 20 Common Mergansers before getting blocked by ice.

Male Ring Neck

I head back out, crossing the shallow Goose Bay to get to the main river.  What had looked like a rim of ice on the north side of Goose Bay is actually a sheet some 200 feet across.  I'm stretching my legs near the river when the Coast Guard comes by - a buoy tender/tug work boat.  They seem to be busting up ice sheets, but they might also be looking for buoys that got dragged off by the ice.  

Common Mergansers pretending to be a herd of Penguins

I head downriver and round Calves Island, mostly to make the trip last a bit longer. 

 

The Fog of Weather

It is a seasonably warm day only made unseasonable by the spate of cold weather that has preceded it. The sky is overcast and there is little wind. I head down to the marsh.

I enter the maze with the water lower than I expected. As I begin to drag bottom in the silt, I pause to think about whether I remembered the tide chart correctly, especially with the Daylight Savings time shift.  I don't want to be in any further if the water is dropping.  I pick out two nubs of grass that are sticking out of the water a half inch, and I watch them for the next few minutes. The water is rising, so I continue in. (The tide is about 1.5 ft)

On my first couple times through the maze, I had a longer more circuitous route than the one I currently use.  At that point, a 50 foot long deadfall tree drifted in and blocked the channel.  Curious, I turn towards the old route to see if things have changed.  The tree is still in place, but there is 30 inches of space underneath it, more than enough to get under.  I follow the old route to the bottom of the island.

I continue on a little past Milford Point before turning back.  I re-enter the maze and take the newer route that bypasses the deadfall, knowing that there won't be clearance anymore.  I flush two Harriers at the top of the island, and spot an immature Bald Eagle way off as I cross Nell's Channel. 

Two Rivers

The day will warm from near freezing to the lower 40's.  It will be sunny and near calm.  A good day for canoeing. 

I figured that that the East River might be open now that we have had a week of warmer weather.  I stomped through the snow from the edge of the road down to the river bank. The snow was hiding the uneven ground and I had no inclination to lose my footing and get pile driven by the canoe during my short carry.  

The river was open with thick slabs of ice stranded on the bank and in the cattails.  This part of the river is tidal freshwater and just like in the salt marshes, the tidal water saturates any snow that collects on the river ice, building a thick layer of soft ice in short order.  The snow on either side of the river made for a spectacular scene.

There were quite a few ice slabs in the Gravel Flats, but it was no problem to weave through them and continue.  The Gravel Flats is a ice choke point due to shallow water an slow currents.

The other choke point in the upper river is the Sawmill Bends, and here the ice was jammed and impassable.  It would be possible to portage on the right side through the cattails, but I knew that the ice would be jammed up against the Clapboard Hill Bridge.  That would be a 1/4 mile drag that would have to be repeated on the way out, likely with a dodgy exit and entry from the canoe to the river bank. It is better to give the rive another week.  

I headed back up and continued above my start point to check out the narrow upper section.  The water was ice free and I made it most of the way to the next bridge.  That made for an hour of paddling, so it was time for the 20 mile auto-portage.

I made the 20 mile auto-portage to the put-in under the highway on the Housatonic, then headed downriver at near peak tide.  

There is significantly less ice than on my last trip 4 days ago.  I made a clockwise circuit, using some interior channels that had cleared of ice since then.  I paddled the Nell's Island Maze in the upstream direction.  With the spatina down, it looked completely different and I was surprised to make it all the way through without making a wrong turn. 

A Second Good Day in the Marsh

It is another fine day of sun and calm wind with temperatures rising into the 40's. 

I get an earlier start, heading out about a 1/2 hour after the peak of a very high tide.  Even this soon after the peak, the downriver current is moving quite fast. It is an easy paddle down to the marsh.  There are several Ducks and a couple of Loons just downstream of the drawbridge where they always find a current to fish.

Upper entrance to the Maze

The water is still high and unlike yesterday, I can see across the marsh, especially with the spartina reduced to stubble by snow and ice.  There are just a very few ice slabs in the water, but there are a great many beached on top of the marsh. It makes for a spectacular view.

Blocking ice in the Maze

Canada Geese are scattered through out the marsh.  They are easy to see from a good distance with the spartina no longer standing.  

Six Hooded Mergansers near Cat Island

I head into the upper entrance of the Maze, half expecting it to be blocked at some point.  About 300 yards in, it is blocked by a few large sheets of ice. There's no point in trying to get past the blockage as there are narrower passages further in and they are most likely in a similar state.  I head out and over to locate an interior marsh channel that I found a few months back.

Ice in the east side of the marsh

Immature Bald Eagle

I end up circling the marsh counter clockwise.  There is more ice in the east where the tidal currents are much slower.  I spot four immature Bald Eagles and three Hawks.  It is probably good hunting with the usual spartina cover chopped down. 

 

After the Freeze

A heavy snowfall will knock down much of the tall spartina in the Wheeler Marsh. But, if that didn't do it, the heavy freeze did.  In tidal marshes, whether freshwater or saltwater, a sheet of ice will freeze around the vegetation, and clip it like a giant lawnmower once the ice drifts an inch. Last year, without any cold weather, the spartina stood all the way to spring when fresh growth gre up around it.  Today, the marsh looks much like a harvested soy bean field - just mud and plant stubble, except for the occasional ice flow perched high and dry.  At first, I take one to be a large drift log, but then realize that it is an ice flow that has collected enough shredded spartina to be in disguise.  

Winter showed up this year. It doesn't always do that. Last year, the so called winter months were ice free and almost without any snow.  About 6 weeks back, we had a freeze followed closely by 12-15 inches of snow.  This not only froze most of the inland fresh water routes, but it also started to freeze the salt water. There was even large drifting sheets of ice in Long Island Sound on many mornings. Tidal salt ice is a very different animal than the freshwater ice that I grew up around.  Freshwater ice is rigid and most often, when snow falls on it, the snow remains snow.  Tidal salt water ice is remarkably flexible to the point of draping over marsh hummocks as the tide drops (where freshwater ice would break into pieces). And, if snow collects on the top of the salt ice, the next tide will be soaked into the snow like a sponge, which becomes a very thick slab of ice in a day or two. That 12-15 inch snowfall became an 8-10 inch layer of ice in short order. Anyway, we had a cold spell that lasted 2 weeks and froze not only the salt marsh, but the main rivers all the way to the sound. A week ago, after a second 15 inch snowfall, I checked on the river, and while the main river was open, the access points were choked with ice flows. And, while going out is optional, getting back to land is required.

I put in under the highway bridge. The water temperature is somewhere in the low 30's, although still liquid, but the day is sunny and calm with a temperature nearing 40F. The launch is open with a few small sheets of ice nearby, but nothing that can't be pushed aside. I head downstream on a falling tide. 

Below the drawbridge are a collection of Ducks and Loons feeding in the river current. 

With the tide low and still dropping, I am limited to Nell's Channel and a few dead end side trips.  It will be enough paddling after a 6-week break.  One thing I notice is that today the marsh is noisy. There are large numbers of Canada Geese, often just sitting in the marsh stubble.  They honk warnings as I pass. Sometimes they flush, which flushes other Geese that are  farther off and unseen.  Gulls are circling as well, and making a fair amount of noise. 

I spot two Bald Eagles at the tip of Cat Island - one is mature.

As I near my start point, I spot a Golden Eye.  It is a handsome Duck, which shows up in these parts during colder weather. It reminds me of the first time I ever saw a Golden Eye.  That was a nesting pair in a sub-alpine lake in the Cascade Mountains on a backpacking trip with my wife. I take out, thinking about which birds and animals remind me of the places where I first saw them.

Golden Eye Duck

I turn back when I get to the bottom of Nell's Channel.  I don't feel like paddling the main river, and the water is too low to enter the main area of the marsh.  I spot some Mergansers 

The Big River

It is overcast and damp from overnight rain. But, it is in the mid-40's and calm, and a calm winter day is not to be sneezed at. 

I put in, again, from under the highway bridge on the far side of town.  Short winter days and being cautious about the weather, plus the ice conditions on rivers away from the Sound, keep me from ranging as far as I normally do in the warmer seasons. The tide is halfway out by the time I start, and there is a good, strong downriver current.

Male Long Tail Duck

I cross the river and follow the Stratford side.  I do this only a couple times each year as this side of the river is usually less interesting as well as being occupied by a few large marinas. It is also closer to the main boat channel.  Today it is quiet and I am impressed by the number of Loons and Ducks - a good many more than I would expect.  This side of the river is the outside of a very long bend, adding some distance to Milford Point.  I count at least 10 Common Loons and perhaps 20 Long Tail Ducks, along with a coupe dozen Buffleheads, and some Common Mergansers. The Loons are majestic, but the Long Tails make me happy - a quirky deep diving duck with a delightful call.  The Duck was once called an 'Old Squaw', which I imagine referred to the constant calling... which turned out to be coming only from the male Ducks! They disappear from the surface, and then pop up to the surface many seconds later. They are capable of diving to 200 feet. 

I cross the river at Milford Point, crabbing at a healthy angle to account for the ebb current.  Already the marsh is getting shallow.  I decide to make speed to the east shore.  It is not quite a mile in a straight line, although the marsh is never a straight line. By this time in the tide cycle, there is only one, or maybe two routes, and the trick is to not waste time in a look-alike dead end.  Once at the far shore, I have to continue a 1/4 mile upriver before resting.  This 1/4 mile point is where the tidal currents meet from either end of the marsh and it becomes mudflat at most any low tide.

Getting past the high ground, I pause for coffee and drift in an upriver direction, towards the marsh exit.  

When the Weather Smiles in Winter

It is a another calm day, this one a few degrees warmer than yesterday.  I wait for the tide to get favorable, putting in an hour or so before high tide.  Any current in the river for an hour or so on either side of the high (or low) tide is negligible.  I put in under the highway bridge, cross the river and head upstream. 

I use the channel between Carting and Peacock Islands, flushing about 2 dozen Black Ducks and Mallards as I go - 2 to 4 Ducks at a time.  A Harrier is busy working the four islands, crossing back and forth on the lookout for a meal. A Common Loon is fishing at the channel exit.

The current is slack and it is easy paddling.  I cross over to Great Flat and round it following the edge closely.  I spot a Mature Bald Eagle near the mouth of Garbage Lagoon. Then, back over to the west bank and head back.  

Flush 2 dozen Mallards and Blacks from the west side of Peacock Island. 2 Hawks have joined the Harrier, which is still working the islands.