Shephaug

A hen Wood Duck with two Ducklings

 
I put in on Pond Brook. The day is overcast and humid, but the temperature is about 80F, so it is overall fairly comfortable. There is no wind, the water is glassy, and the slightest touch of the paddle on the canoe echoes back from the wooded hillsides. There are some large schools of minnow-sized fish and with the smooth water, I can spot them fifty yards or more away.

I head down and around the point and up into the Shephaug arm, a route that I am more likely than any to do when I start from Pond Brook. Distant trees have a gray wash - the result of the moisture in the air. I pass a couple of Great Blue Herons and go a full hour before seeing any other people. I reach the Shephaug cascades without seeing any other boats.

While taking a break, a motorboat comes into the last bend before the cascades. I've never seen anyone do this before. It is a good place to destroy a boat propeller due to a scattering of boulders that lie just below the surface. Anyway, he's just fishing and I follow him out from a good distance, and then pass him to leave him fishing for whatever he is fishing for. A light wind has developed. It is hardly worth mentioning except that it feels good on such a humid day.

I spot a mature Bald Eagle across from the private marina/park. While I'm checking a photo that I'd just taken, I hear a Bald Eagle call from a moving bird and look up to see where that Eagle is headed. But instead, I see a very young Eagle fly past. It's call is a hoarse whistle, much more raspy than normal. It is probably the fledgling of the mature Eagle. I know there is a nest back in the trees. I don't believe it is visible from the water, but I have heard the young Eagles squealing for dinner on past trips. The mature Eagle stays perched while the noisy youngster disappears into the forest.