It had been some time since I'd been out with L, and I had never canoed with A. But, my canoe is large enough for three, if one of them sits on the bottom in the middle, and is content to be a passenger. In fact, with the extra weight the canoe moves faster through the water and carries through with the inertia when one coasts.
The birds have quieted down quite a bit in the East marsh. This years osprey chicks are all flying well enough that they aren't discerned from the adults. The willets have hatched their young and are no longer as defensive as they were a month ago, so quiet prevails and the warning calls come much less often. Also, it is high tide, so there is less open bank to expose the shore birds. We did pass a little blue heron almost as soon as we set out.
After we pass the first bridges (the RR, the Post Road and I95) L and A ask about eagles and I reply that I have seen bald eagles here now and then. And, a bald eagle takes wing from a nearby tree. Eagles, although not in numbers, will be the bird of the day with at least a dozen sightings, although likely it is just two or three individual birds. But, they don't seem inclined to move far from the river due to our presence.
 |
| sawmill dam |
We stop at the sawmill dam for a rest in the shade before continuing upstream flushing an occasional eagle, and occasional kingfisher and a few great blue herons. At pocket-knife bend, I spot a pair of green herons who move away in short flights, staying in sight for some time before heading on to the more forested upper river. We turn around at the sharp bend just past the Foote Bridge, flushing an eagle one more time.
 |
| green heron |
No comments:
Post a Comment