Up to Dividend Brook

I set out from Cromwell, heading up the Connecticut River.  It's a moderately big river in this stretch - 800 to 1000 feet wide.  It runs fast during high water, but most of the time it is calm and slow moving. The horizon is the tops of 60 foot hardwood trees growing along the bank.  I can see higher ground upriver where a glacial dam from the ice age formed.  Glacial Lake Hitchcock was behind that dam and it was big enough and deep enough that it depressed the ground beneath it.  The old shoreline actually runs at an angle descending as it goes upriver.  

It is calm, maybe 75F and mostly sunny.   

I cross over and follow the west side of Gildersleeve Island, a 3/4 mile long crescent shaped land in one of the bends of the Connecticut.  The island is forested and probably tops out at about 8 or 10 feet above the current river level, which means it is pretty much awash during high water events. 

From the top of the island I cross back to river-right. The purpose of the trip is to check on the beaver dam in Dividend Brook, and if I follow the river-right shore, I should run into it.  I pass a floating 8-point Deer carcass.  A ways on, I spot a Vulture and a Crow in a shoreline tree.  A little out of place, I find the reason about 50 yards away - a deer carcass that has reached the perfect state of decomposition for Vulture dinner.  

As it happens, Dividend Brook is the first inlet on that side of the river.  Unfortunately, it is shallow today.  I get in just far enough to know that I am in the right place, but the mud slog that is required to get up to the dam is not worth it.  I can come back when there is another 8 or 10 inches of water.  

I cross the river again and head back, following the other side of Gildersleeve Island.  There is a fair amount of willow growing at the water's edge, and the number of beaver peel sticks on the shore show that they are being well harvested.  Thin willow saplings are easy food for beaver, and the cut saplings send up new shoots after being cut.

And the bird report - half dozen Great Egrets, half Dozen Great Blue Herons, a couple Osprey, one Hawk, some Mallards.

East River

It has been awhile since I've been in the East River, a nearby and excellent river for a daytrip. I put in at Foote's Bridge.  The tide has been coming up for about an hour, and although there is 4 miles of lag (the tide chart is for the mouth of the river), the water is low, but just deep enough that I do not have to step out or wade at any of the usual shallows.  There is a big tide coefficient for the day - ratio of low to high tide levels, so it must have been almost bone dry here 2 hours ago.  It is a good day, mostly sunny going to clear sky, low humidity, and temperature in the mid 70's.  The prediction is for the light morning wind to ease up, but this seems doubtful.

I make it down and past the Gravel Flats without having to step out of the canoe.  There is a fairly strong wind, perhaps 10-15 mph.  It's tolerable in the forest section, but it could be a lot windier in the open marsh below Clapboard Hill Road.  I ease up and mull it over just above that road.  

Continuing down, the wind is lighter in the open marsh.  It's not the first time I've seen this happen.  There aren't any high hills near the forest, but for some reason wind is often funneled into the forest section of the river.  I find a flock of Yellow Legs at the first bend below the Clapboard Hill bridge.  There are a few Osprey, one Hawk soaring up high, and a solitary Yellow Crowned Night Heron just below the Big Bends.  Below the Post Road, a large flock of Laughing Gulls are resting on the dilapidated floating docks of the shithead-marina-that-never-opened-for-business (Madison really needs to clean that crap up).  

Below the railroad bridge, I duck into alternate Sneak as a orange plastic kayak comes my way.  No one is going to follow me very far into that increasingly narrow channel. I work through and return using the Sneak, deciding not to extend my wind wrestling anymore than necessary, and use the extra time to go up above my put-in.

The wind increases again as soo as I enter the forest section.  Go figure.  I continue on above my start point.  There's about a half mile of paddling in this upper section before the river gets shallow, which is also where frequent log hopping is required.  I turn back a little before that, just not feeling like pusing through the summer brush.  I kayaker appears behind me as I head back.  He's exploring, so I tell him some of what I know, and he continues.  I head out.   

Snowy Egret Day

I set out early in the afternoon, perhaps a short hour after high tide. But, today is a higher than average high tide, so I have plenty of time to work my way through the marsh.  I start at the refuge launch, which is right in the marsh. This way, I avoid the Seadoo moron fest that occurs on Friday afternoons.  

It is about 80F with a pleasant light wind from the SW.  Although there was a predicted chance of afternoon thunderstorms, the threat has gone around us, which is not unusual.  

Crossing the bottom of the marsh is typically bird-quiet at high tide.  I flush a Night Heron here and there.  Then I take the side channel to Nell's Channel upriver.  This side channel runs at a diagonal.  It is almost as wide as Nell's, but leads (coming down river) into the shallower internal marsh.  

After one misstep, I get into the maze. I start flushing NIght Herons and Mallards every 50 yards or so. When I get to the rootball, one of the only landmarks inside Nell's Island, a bunch of Egrets and Night Herons flush.  It might be 2 dozen birds total.  I make my way down and back into Nell;s Channel and turn upriver.

Nell's Channel is usually kind of quiet, but it seems that the Snowy Egrets are beginning to flock, and at one of the side inlets, I pass 3 dozen Snowy Egrets all collected within about 50 yards of shoreline.

I head to the top of the marsh, then down the side sneak that leads to the Central Phragmites Patch, then into the main outside channel. Egrets and Night Herons are finally beginning to perch in the trees on Cat Island.   

I head down the outer channel to my launch point.  

The Shephaug

I put in on Pond Brook for a trip up to the cascades at the head of the reservoir.  It is a quiet day, even the leaf blowers have taken a break.  It is in the 70's, with a very light wind and a partly sunny sky.  

I hug the shore as usual.  Mostly, this is because most of the interesting stuff happens where ecological patches meet. Here, one patch is the river and the other is the forested hillsides.  The birds here are on the shoreline as with the Great Blue Herons, or perched in the trees overhanging the river as in the Osprey, or soaring along the hillside with a clear view of the river... the Bald Eagles. The family of Mallards that I pass are dabbling in the weeds that grow in the shallows.   

This is one of the finer "lake" paddles in the area.  Although it is a river, the dam downstream makes it appear as a lake.  There are scattered houses, but most are high up on the hillside and much of the land along the lake is forest preserve - either state forest or Nature Conservancy or something of the sort.

I spot 2 immature Bald Eagles and one mature that flushes while I am staring at a Great Blue Heron.  I'll end up counting several Great Blue Herons and maybe 4 Osprey. The Osprey were actively fishing. 

I pass a few fishing boats along the way, almost all of them drifting motors off near the shallows where they might find a bass.

I pause briefly at the cascades before heading back out. 

Birdwatch Part 2

 It is another fine day with sun and a light SE wind coming up the river, and the temperature will stay in the 70's.  S joins me.  We are in no hurry with the tide peaking about half past ten.

We set out for a second trip into the Wheeler, just because the bird watching is currently so good. The trip down to the marsh is on slack water.  A barge heads out of the upper entrance as we arrive.  It is rebuilding a dock that the winter ice pushed over.  We take a clockwise route, heading into the inner channel that leads to the Central Phragmites Patch.  Flush a few Great Egrets and Yellow Crowned Night Herons as we go.  

We quietly approach the phragmites patch.  Yesterday, there were a good many Night Herons, but they were on the far side of the patch and flushed some distance from us.  Then, 2 Black Crowned Night Herons, another and another.  A total of 8 mature Black Crowns flush from the patch.

We back out and head down the east side.  As with yesterday, no birds perching in the the trees.  Then we head across the bottom of the marsh, staying within the spartina islands as the wind is rising.  With the tide still high, the route across the marsh is birdless.  

I make a couple wrong turns, the high tide changing the remembered view, but we get to Nell's Channel with little time lost.  Then, we head into the Maze.  We start flushing birds - Yellow Crowned Night Herons, Great Egrets and a good number of Snowy Egrets, and one Great Blue Heron.  We are talking and I miss a turn.  I haven't been misplaced in the Maze for quite some time.  It takes three attempts before I get us back on track.  Fortunately, the root ball with the failed Osprey nest can be seen, if one knows where to look.  It is the only landmark worth a shit for finding the clear route through.  We miss one more turn, then back on track through the narrow exit, I miss the last turn and take the longer exit into Nell's Channel.  There is something reassuring knowing that after dozens of trips through the maze, I can still misplace myself.  

With that, we head up the river, current against us, but a growing breeze behind. 

Paddling with a Friend

It is a fine day with plenty of sun, temperatures in the 70's and a light wind coming up the river.  I round up my friend, A, and we set out from under the highway for a tour of the marsh.  A likes to bird watch and is familiar with the marsh, but mostly from land.  I give a A a quick paddling lesson, and then we set out. The tide is near high and will start falling during the trip.

By the time we pass the drawbridge, A has the paddling down pretty good.  

We enter Nell's Island through the upper channel and in short order, begin flushing birds.  It is a lot of Night Herons, Great Egrets and Mallards, but we also flush a few Great Blue Herons that were standing close to each other.  All the way through the maze we have birds either flushing or flying past.

Coming out of the maze, we head up to Milford Point.  But, with the tide high, many of the birds that might be seen here in lower water are not around.  It is a quiet leg across to the east shore.  

Hoping to find Night Herons perched in the east side trees, we get blanked.  It happens.  So, I turn us into the almost invisible gap that leads towards the Central Phragmites Patch.  I warn A that this is a particularly good spot to find Black Crowned Night Herons, probably because of a small patch of slightly higher ground where the phragmites grow.  We do flush about 20 Night Herons, but they rise up from the far side of the patch. As we turn back, I spot a Harrier, which obliges us by staying nearby until we get out into the open where A can eyeball the bird with the binoculars.  It's a good sighting.  Harriers are common, but mostly when the Osprey are not nesting.  My guess is that Osprey eggs and young are prey for Harriers, so the Osprey won't tolerate their presence. 

With that, it is time to head back up river.  It has been a very good birding trip and the only thing left is to come back at lower tide to show A how different it can be. 

 

Breaking the Rules

I am occupied during the morning and set out early in the afternoon.  Normally, a late start means paddling with the motorboat types, but it is overcast and therefore, forbidden for motorboat drivers to leave shore.  I head down to the marsh on very calm air, seeing only one other boat in that mile of river.

Short Billed Dowitcher

It is low tide, or thereabouts.  I did not check the tide table close enough to exactly remember the timing.  I head into the marsh, paddling east through the upper channel.  Great Egrets, a couple Osprey, and a couple Short Billed Dowitchers guard the entrance along with numerous Yellow Legs.

 Halfway down the east side of the marsh is shallowest point, which is not passable at most low tides.  Not remembering the tide timing, I check for the current by pausing to look at any grass growing in the water.  At this location, if the current is flowing in my direction, the marsh is filling.  I keep moving and finally pass over the shallowest section, where I also pick up a light current in my direction.  All good, as long as I stick to the correct channel, I can complete the circle.  

There has been a good number of Yellow Crowned Night Herons, which is no surprise at this time of the year. Coming across the marsh, I find a couple dozen Laughing Gulls feeding on a school of small fish in the shallows.  I spy a Clapper Rail as it sneaks back into the spartina, and there is a flock of a dozen Snowy Egrets back up in one of the side channels.  The gnats are particularly annoying in this section, a result of warm calm air.

I head back via Nell's Channel finding a second Clapper Rail on the exposed mud flats up one of the side channels.