Crop Rotation

The heat has let up some. I head out for the Salmon River, and as I drive, I seem to be chasing rain. The roads are wet as if it rained 15 minutes ago, but I never catch up with it. Rain and possible thunderstorms remain in the forecast, and with the thick overcast and humidity, it is not hard to imagine.

I put in on the Connecticut River, right at the bottom of Salmon Cove. No one else seems to be around. The air is very still, and whenever I set my paddle down on the gunwhales, the echo bounces back clearly from hillsides a hundred yards or more away. The tide is out, and I suspect that the river migh be running a bit lower than normal. This makes for good feeding for the Egrets and Great Blue Herons. I spot three Great Egrets and seven Great Blues paddling up the cove. A few are out in the middle of the water. At this tide level, most of the cove is 6-18 inches deep, and that is the big difference on this visit, I paddle well out from the shore in a meandering deep channel up to where the river enters.

A mature Bald Eagle comes down the river and takes a perch high over the lowest of the riverside cabins.

With the low water, I make my way up the river to the Leesville Dam. There is more water coming over the dam than I expected. It is a low head dam and water is topping it all of the way across. I take a shore break and enjoy the scenery before turning back.

Pine Brook - this used to be a stand of wild rice

Next, I head into Pine Brook to check on the wild rice. Last year in July, we had a major flood that raised the water level six or eight feet in this area for over two weeks. Wild rice can survive the normal tidal range of two feet or so, but being topped by six more feet of water for a two week period... well, that killed it off well before the seed was ready. The bottom of Pine Brook normally has a dense stand of wild rice - about 500 x 100 feet - a bit more than an acre. Today, there is nothing but six inch deep water. I had wondered if the wild rice would reseed itself, perhaps from dormant seed that was left behind... or some other magic. Wild rice is actually a grass, and since it was unable to seed itself last year, there is no wild rice this year, and there won't be much next year either. I find a few plants farther up the brook, but it's ones and twos scattered in the cattails and shoreline shrubs. I figure it is less than 1/10 of 1% of the historical crop. It is an important bird food, and unfortunately, it is going to take a while to return. It looks like I get to observe how quickly a handful of wild rice plants will propagate. 

The Moodus

 

I take the side trip up the Moodus River, as I usually do. The tide has risen by now, and I glide over the two old submerged beaver dams. I spot a couple Kingfishers. There are a lot of wild grapes on this river, and I find one that looks ripe for a taste. It has as much flavor and sweetness as a piece of cardboard, and I propagate the seeds into the river.

 

Adolescent Bald Eagle

Heading down the cove, I spot another Bald Eagle. It is polite enough to give me a good look, and while it has a white head, the tail still has some dark feathers and the breast is a bit patchy. So, it is probably 2-3 year-old. 

The sun comes out for the last half hour, and with the overhead clouds and humidity, it feels downright oppressive. Better now than earlier.