North Hartland Lake – Page 2

July 12, 2021

From my kayak 7/7-11

This week, our kayaks have taken us to the far reaches of Quechee Gorge, up the Pompy, and around Gilman Island into Mink Brook. We’ve seen several eagles and hawks:

Adult bald eagle. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

Immature bald eagle. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

I think this one is younger than the next picture. The eyes are darker and there is more white on the breast. The next one’s head is beginning to turn white and the eyes are lighter.

Broad winged hawk. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

We’ve seen some herons, both great blue and green.

Immature great blue heron with fish. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

Green heron in tree. Ompompanoosuc River. 7/7/21

and red-winged blackbirds.

Red winged blackbird. Ompompanoosuc River 7/7/21

We even saw a few ducks (mostly on the Connecticut and Mink Brook).

Mallard family preening. Connecticut River. 7/11/21

The painted turtles can be found on all three rivers.

Painted turtle. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

Painted turtle surrounded by flies. Ompompanoosuc River 7/7/21

The damsel flies and dragon flies are flitting around.

Damsel fly drying wings. Ompompanoosuc River. 7/7/21

and we even saw a strange creature moving slowly through water.

Photographer’s blind. Ompompanoosuc River. 7/7/21

July 6, 2021

We have had a fair amount of rain and hot weather, but we did make it to the Connecticut River/Mink Brook, Ompompanoosuc River, North Hartland Lake, and Post Pond. We joined Jane’s family on Goose Pond.

Emily all bundled up in her Uncle Judson’s kayak. Goose Pond 7/5/21

The loons are around, some sitting on nests.

Loon on the nesting platform. Post Pond 6/29/21

Family watching a loon. Goose Pond 7/5/21

The eagles have fledged at North Hartland Lake, but the parents still hang around near the nest.

We also saw one on Goose Pond.

Bald eagle taking off. Goose Pond 7/5/21

At Goose Pond we found a couple of great blue herons.

Great blue heron in a tree. Goose Pond 7/5/21

The mallard drakes are hanging together while the hens are taking care of the ducklings.

Mallard and duckling. Mink Brook 6/25/21

At Post Pond we only saw one adult goose with one nearly grown gosling. Usually there are two adults with several goslings. We were wondering what happened to the others. Did a predator get them? if so which one?

Goose and gosling on the town beach. Post Pond, 6/29/21

We found at least 3 families of geese on Goose Pond with varying aged goslings.

Adult geese guard the goslings. Goose Pond 7/5/21

Kingfisher. North Hartland Lake, 6/26/21

And of course we found flowers.

September 14, 2020

Mostly from my kayak 9/5-14

It has been an interesting few weeks since my last post. My sons visited from Portland, OR. My husband had a heart attack (he is doing well). Instead of a week at Squam Lake we had planned, I was there for just 2 days. But I have been able to paddle my kayak and see some wildlife.

North Hartland Lake closed for the season on Labor Day. We went out on that Saturday and caught our last peeks at the eagles, cormorants and of course turtles.

Cormorant on the boom at North Hartland Lake. 9/5/20

Immature eagle and its parents. North Hartland Lake, VT 9/5/20

Painted turtle. North Hartland Lake, VT 9/5/20

The ducks are molting into their breeding colors.

Wood ducks. Mink Brook, Hanover, NH 9/13/2020

We found herons on all 3 of the rivers we paddle.

Green heron. Mink Brook, Hanover, NH 9/13/2020

Green heron. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/10/20

Great blue heron. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/10/20

and small birds and large.

Phoebe with web. Mink Brook, Hanover, NH 9/13/2020

Broad winged hawk. Ompompanoosuc River, 9/8/20

We saw a muskrat for the first time this year on the Pompy.

Muskrat. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/10/20

and a young deer running across the playing field at Kilowatt Park.

The most unusual animal we saw was a Northern phalarope as it was passing through. It nests in the Arctic and winters to the south.

Northern phalarope. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/10/20

August 29, 2020

From my kayak 8/13-8/24

We saw some unusual wildlife (for us) recently. At North Hartland Lake we came upon a bear swimming across the lake.

Black bear crossing the river. North Hartland Lake, 8/15/2020

The next time we were there, we saw a couple of coyotes.

Coyote digging. North Hartland Lake. 8/22/2020

They looked and acted so much like my dog Freya, it was uncanny.

We have been watching green herons, both on the Connecticut and the Pompy.

Green heron. Connecticut River, Wilder, VT 8/24

Green heron yawning. Connecticut River 8/17/2020

We also saw some of the more usual wildlife: cormorants, ducks, geese, a merlin and of course, painted turtles.

Cormorants. North Hartland Lake, 9/15/2020

Wood duck. Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 8/17/2020

Mallard beginning to get breeding colors. Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 8/13/2020

Mallards preening. Connecticut River, Wilder, VT 8/23/2020

“Sentry” Canada goose. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 8/20/2020

Painted turtles on a log. North Hartland Lake, 8/15/2020

August 12, 2020August 13, 2020

From my kayak 7/25-8/11

We have been to our usual rivers in the last few weeks and have seen some changes. We found a kingbird and its nest on 7/19 and have seen the nestlings grow and leave the nest.

Kingbird and nest. Connecticut River, Lebanon, NH 7/19/2020

Kingbird with nestlings. Connecticut River 7/25/2020

Kingbird fledglings. Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 8/2/2020

We’ve seen cormorants.

Cormorant on the boom. North Hartland Lake, VT 8/1/2020

Cormorant taking off. Connecticut River, Lebanon, NH 7/25/2020

The red-winged blackbirds are out of their nests.

Young red-winged blackbird. North Hartland Lake, VT 8/1/2020

Wood duck with 3 mergansers Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 8/10/2020

The herons are always fun to watch. On the Pompy the other day we came across what looked like a log, but wasn’t. We stopped paddling and drifted about the same speed as the green heron was walking. At first it was a little annoyed with us, but soon relaxed and continued fishing. By this time I had drifted into shore and it walked within just a few feet of me.

Tag: North Hartland Lake

From my kayak 7/7-11

From my kayak 6/23-7/6

Mostly from my kayak 9/5-14

From my kayak 8/13-8/24

From my kayak 7/25-8/11