Post-winter Survey

At this time of the year I head out to many of my favorite places to see the changes that occur over the winter.  I especially make an effort to visit prime bird nesting spots and beaver habitat.  

The day turned out fine with sun and a light wind out of the south with temperatures predicted to near 70F. I put in below Salmon Cove.  The water level was higher than I expected, but not out of the ordinary for April.  Right away, I made a short side trip into the cedar swamp that buffers the cove from the main river.  With the cattails and other swamp plants still dormant, the side channels are easy to spot and twice as wide as in summer.  

Continuing up the cove, I follow the edge of the cedar swamp.  I know of two beaver lodges, and know that there must be a few more in there.  The beaver have even built dams, which are unusual in that they don't hold a flowing current, but rather catch high water events on the Connecticut River.  At least for a few days, the dams make a difference.  The first lodge has doubled in height and tripled in volume during the winter.  I've seen this before and it has always been a sign that the mated pair are now breeding.  The second lodge has grown as well, doubling in size by the addition of an attached second lodge.  It kind of looks like a beaver condominium.  I am not sure if both modules are in use or if the second one is just a replacement.  In this same stretch there are two active Osprey nests and one that is not being used, except by a half dozen Cormorants perching there when I pass. Nests in this area were damaged and blown down a few years back by a strong wind storm.  The rebuilt nests - all in new locations, have fallen out of use.  These two current nests look like earnest nesting attempts.

I follow the shoreline up the cove, spotting an immature Bald Eagle at the point where the cove becomes the Salmon River.  From there, I continue up taking the back channels around islands. Just down from the fish hatchery, I watch an Osprey on the hunt, circling and hovering.  Finally, it signals prey sighted.  I probably had time to get my camera up, but it would've ruined the experience.  The Osprey dives deep into the river just 50 or 60 ft in front of me.  It's a miss and the Osprey flies off with a couple of quick shimmies to shake off some water.  

The Moodus blow-downs

I paddle up to the Leesville Dam via the culvert channel.  There is a full span of water coming over the dam, but even with the extra flow, the water has been quite clear - a good day to scan the bottom for stuff.  I play in the current for ten minutes before heading back out.

I take a second side trip back into Pine Brook.  The entrance is 200 ft wide and clear of marsh plants.  I'm more use to this being a narrow meander, but the marsh plant that creates the meanders is wild rice, which dies back completely during winter.  I find  and collect a large vertebrae from about 3 ft deep right near the turn back point.

The third side trip is back into the Moodus River.  The blow downs that prevent access to the last 1/2 mile are almost passable and by next summer it might be possible to squeeze past without much effort.  There is a lot of beaver sign - trimmed plants, cut trees, one obvious lodge and a submerged dam.  As I head out I see a small beaver slip off the bank.  I stop and wait for it to come up, but instead, a fairly large beaver surfaces and begins to check me out.  Then, a muskrat comes speeding downriver and heads off into the bank.  The beaver eventually slips past me and I find it watching me from the other side.  Then we, more or less, agree to disappear from each other and I head out.