Up to Wooster Island

My last canoe trip was one of continuous beaver dam crossings - twenty two crossings in just six and a half miles. I barely had time to paddle before having to step out and pull the canoe over a dam. I picked today's route accordingly.

I put in under the highway bridge on the far side of town. The tide was coming in and had about 2 hours to go. I would have both the light wind and the tide at my back as I headed upriver. I cut across to the narrow channel between Peacock and Carting Islands, spotting six Great Egrets and two Great Blue Herons on the way. I wondered if it would be a Great Bird day. In the narrow channel, I flushed a few Mallards, and one Green Heron, which would fly ahead a hundred yards at a time, until I reached the top of the islands. 

I recrossed the river just because I prefer the quieter channel east of Fowler Island.

I saw few birds until I got up to the nameless island above the 15 bridge. There were good numbers of Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and one Snowy Egret, for good measure. Between here and the top of Wooster Island, a distance of two miles, I spotted about two dozen each of the Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. Ripples in the water told why they were here. There were large schools of small fish, perfect food for the waders. And they were waiting... for the tide to go out. The high water was up against the bank, but as it dropped, the fish would be easy prey from the shore.

I took a turn around Wooster Island and headed back, following the opposite shore from my trip up. It made for a four hour trip without having to get out of the canoe.