It has been a while since I posted; we had internet problems. We have continued to go kayaking 3-4 times a week mostly at our usual haunts: the Connecticut River north of Wilder, the Ompompanoosuc River, North Hartland Lake before it closed for the season, as well as Grafton Pond and Reservoir Pond in New Hampshire. We have seen eagles,
We’ve been out several times in the last couple of weeks. After my old camera went for an unfortunate swim, I’ve been getting used to my new Z50. We have seen the usual suspects: eagles, great blue herons, green herons, loons, cormorants, sandpipers, turtles and dragonflies.
I spent the week at Squam Lake with my family. My sons, Uriah and Nabil, along with Uri’s girlfriend, Anne, flew in from Portland, OR.
Monday morning I woke up to a scarlet sun shining in my window. I ran down to the dock, not even stopping to put my glasses on, to take some pictures.
That whole day, was smoky from wild fires in the West. Nabil and I went kayaking around Great Island and could hardly see the mountains.
We sat on the dock, swam and kayaked,
and slept.
On Tuesday evening, my sisters started to arrive: Jain and Renny from Colorado, Ruthe from Arizona and Barb and Gene from Newfoundland.
We had a good time catching up (we hadn’t seen Barb and Gene for two years because of COVID).
Barb, Anne and I went kayaking and saw stuff including blueberries.
We also climbed Mt. Rattlesnake, which has the best views for the amount of effort.
Anne, Nabil, Nancy and Barb on Mt. Rattlesnake. 7/30/21
Anne had wanted to go sailing and waterskiing sometime over the week. She and Renny tried to get the Sunfishes ready to go, but Renny forgot he was over 70 and overestimated his strength and pulled a muscle, so Anne had to wait until Barb showed up to help teach her. By the time the Sunfishes were ready, the wind had picked up to the point that only the most experienced sailers would be able to handle it, so they didn’t go.
Rigging the Sunfish
Jennifer Bellows arrived Friday night during an all point picnic with our cousins the Ingrams and the Smiths. The next morning, Anne got her chance at waterskiing before the wind came up.
The kayaks are put away for the winter, but we had several trips out in late October, a couple with Jane’s family.
Rick and Susie. Crystal Lake, Enfield, NH 10/24/2020Rick and Adam. Lake Fairlee, VT 10/18/2020Connecticut River. 10/22/20Rick and Jamie. Crystal Lake, Enfield, NH 10/24/2020
Reflections. Lake Fairlee, VT 10/18/2020
The water fowl are skittish, and harder to find.
Common merganser. Connecticut River, 10/22/2020
Hooded mergansers take off. Mink Brook 10/22/2020
Mallard. Mink Brook. 10/20/2020
Canada goose. Crystal Lake, Enfield, NH 10/24/2020
but there are other birds to be found.
Great blue heron. Mink Brook, 10/22/2020
White throated sparrow. Connecticut River, VT 10/18/2020
We have had a lovely fall. Plenty of sun, reasonable temperatures, not much wind. We saw some of the standbys: cormorants, loons, mergansers, eagles, ospreys and mallards.
Cormorant Squam Lake 10/12/2020
Common loon getting winter plumage. Squam Lake, 10/12/2020
Common merganser. Ompompanoosuc River 10/11/2020
Mallard drake. Connecticut River. 10/5/2020
Osprey. Connecticut River 9/24/20
This time of year, we see some more unusual birds, many passing through.
Pied bill grebe. Connecticut River 10/5/2020Black ducks. Connecticut River. 10/5/2020
White throated sparrow. Connecticut River, 10/14/2020
Yellow rumped warbler. Ompompanoosuc River, 10/1/2020
Red tailed hawk with a snake wrapped around its leg. Hartford, VT, 10/1/2020
The foliage has been lovely.
Leaf. Connecticut River, 10/1/2020
Jane on Mink Brook. 9/24/2020
Lower Baker Pond, 10/3/2020
Railroad bridge. Ompompanoosuc River 9/28/2020
Great Island. Squam Lake, 10/12/2020River bend. Ompompanoosuc River 10/11/2020