From my kayak 6/25-27

One of our favorite paddling spots, North Hartland Lake, is now open Wednesday-Sunday! The eagles have built a nest, but we didn’t see any evidence of eaglets.

Bald eagle. Hartland, VT 6/25/20

We saw the usual painted turtles and spotted sandpipers and were treated with some deer.

Painted turtle. Hartland, VT 6/25/20
Spotted sandpiper on the boom. North Hartland Dam, Hartland, VT 6/25/20
Deer. Hartland, VT 6/25/20

The next day, on the Connecticut River, we came across a large snapping turtle sunning himself. Over the years, we have seen him a few times before, but always underwater.

Snapping turtle and dragon fly. Lebanon, NH 6/26/20

The kingbirds are trying for a second clutch of eggs in at least two nests.

Kingbird with nest. Hanover, NH 6/26/20

And the damselflies are out and about.

Damselfly on my kayak. Hanover, NH 6/26/20

Today on the Ompompanoosuc, we found the family of geese, now getting their adult feathers.

Canada goose with half grown goslings. Norwich, VT 6/27/20

We also saw a family of common mergansers.

Common merganser family. Norwich, VT 6/27/20

From my kayak 9/17-10/14

It has been a beautiful fall: some rain, some sun and dropping temperatures.

Storm’s a-coming. Connecticut River, Orford, NH 9/24/19

We continued to paddle a few times a week.

Reflections. Connecticut River, Fairlee, VT 9/24/19
Rick. Lake Katherine, Piermont, NH 9/21/19
Barb with yellow tree. Squam Lake, Holderness, NH 10/13/19
Colorful trees across the cove. Squam Lake, Holderness, NH 10/12/19

We haven’t seen a lot of wildlife: a few ducks, geese, a green heron…

Mallard flying. Connecticut River, Fairlee, VT 9/24/19
Green heron. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/18/19
Bald eagle. Squam Lake, Holderness, NH 10/13/19
Loon in winter garb. Goose Pond, Canaan, NH 10/14/19
Hornet’s nest. Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 10/5/19
Chipmunk. Connecticut River, Norwich, VT 9/28/19
Geese flying. Goose Pond, Canaan, NH 10/14/19
Moose Mountain. Goose Pond, Canaan, NH 10/14/19

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. The water is now below 50 and because we don’t have wet/dry suits, we have put the kayaks away for the season.

From my kayak 8/13-26

We have been out eight times in the past two weeks to our usual haunts: North Hartland Lake, Grafton Pond and the Connecticut River near Wilder, VT. We have seen birds:

as well as other animals and plants.

From my kayak 7/27-8/11

We have spent the month on our local lakes/rivers with an occasional foray to more distant bodies of water.

Eagles here and there (and other stuff) 6/15-19

We have seen eagles everywhere we paddled this week, as well as other interesting stuff.