M and I did the 36 rod portage and set out into the sound. I haven't done this trip in a couple of years and it was M's first time. The day was cloudy and pleasant with a light SW wind. The trip was one way along the shore and then turning up into the Housatonic for a couple miles and I timed the trip to take advantage of a very high tide which would create some strong currents that we did not want to paddle against.
Normally, I'd expect small and well spaced waves on the sound given the wind but instead we were met with a relentless chop. Tidal currents are generally light in this area except at river mouths and narrows. But with the very high tide and wind direction we were getting a steady tidal chop. Usually, this abates once we get around a point and into a shallow bay, but today we had a stiff chop all the way to Milford Harbor. Even then it was present to a lesser degree but at the point we were paddling head on into it. The chop and the headwind slowed us a good deal and we were behind by an hour when we reached the river mouth. That put us up against a pretty stiff ebb current. Crossing the sand bar at the mouth we spotted a large flock of Sanderlings with a Harrier skimming the surface not far behind. Even better was seeing a dense flock of three dozen Oyster Catchers. Outside of a nesting spot I've never seen that many in one place. Unfortunately, the tide rip we were paddling/surfing in at the time kept my camera secured in its waterproof box.
We took a short break for lunch and leg stretching on Milford Point. From there we headed into the marsh for calm smooth paddling. We spotted some Snowy Egrets, Osprey, a Great Egret and several Night Herons.
We took out well cooked after a steady five hour paddle.
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