From my kayak 6/7-10

We had 4 days of beautiful weather– bluebird skies, air temperatures around 80º, water temps in the mid to upper 50’s, so we headed for some of our favorite rivers.

We didn’t find any herons and only a few ducks and geese, but there was still a lot to see and hear. The frog sounds were so loud that it drowned out the traffic noise on the Pompy.

9/16-30

We are still kayaking, though more in the afternoons and are still seeing wildlife; some migrant and some resident. 

 

Mallard with breeding plumage. Connecticut River 9/16/18
Common mergansers. Ompompanoosuc River 9/30/18
Common mergansers. Ompompanoosuc River 9/30/18
Hooded merganser taking off. Mink Brook 9/23/18
Common loon with a fish for baby. Grafton Pond 9/29/18
Young loon. Grafton Pond 9/29/18
Great blue heron. Grafton Pond 9/29/18
Bald eagle. Connecticut River 9/17/18
Swimming squirrel. Connecticut River 9/17/18
Deer in the garden. Hartford, VT 9/20/18
Floating leaf. Connecticut River 9/27/18

From my kayak 9/7-15


We have been out a few times this week, on the Connecticut River and the Pompy. (North Hartland Lake is closed for the season.)

Jane and Mardrey.  Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/15/18

We saw a few mammals, great blue herons, mallards, mergansers, some turtles, and a hornets’ nest.

Chipmunk.
Connecticut River, Lebanon, NH 9/7/18
Grey squirrel .
Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/15/18
Great blue heron caught a big fish.
Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT. 9/15/18
Great blue heron flying off with his catch. 
Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/15/18

Mallard clapping?.
Connecticut River. 9/13/18
Common merganser with a muddy face. 
Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/15/18


Painted turtle.
Mink Brook, Hanover, NH 9/13/18
Hornet nest.
Mink Brook, Hanover, NH 9/7/19

Connecticut River and North Hartland Lake 7/14-15

On Saturday, Jane and I headed to the Connecticut River in Wilder. We started in a light rain, which stopped by the time we got to Mink Brook and cleared by the time we returned to Wilder.

The ducklings are growing. One family is nearly adult sized.

Ducks
Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 7/14/18

We watched a couple of muskrats snacking, sitting on a log, then leaving to get some more goodies.

2 muskrats.
Connecticut River, Hanover, NH 7/14/18

Mallard.
Connecticut River, Wilder, VT 7/14/18

We returned to the Wilder boat launch to find a family of young ducklings settling in for a nap.

Time for a nap. Mallard ducklings.
Connecticut River, Wilder, VT 7/14/18

Sunday, we went to North Hartland Lake.

Jane Svetaka spots a great blue heron.
North Hartland Lake, NH 7/15/18

Great blue Heron
North Hartland Lake, VT 7/15/18

Pickerel weed
North Hartland Lake, VT 7/15/18

Song sparrow
North Hartland Lake, NH 7/15/18

Spotted sandpiper.
North Hartland Lake, NH 7/15/18

Sept. 26 – Oct.4

Fall has come.

Red trees --Ompompanoosuc River 10/4/16
Red trees –Ompompanoosuc River 10/4/16

Duck hunting season has started and the ducks seem to know it. For the most part, they are more skittish and more adept at hiding, but there were a few exceptions. A female merganser let us get quite close and even followed us when we paddled downriver.

Merganser -- Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16
Merganser — Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16

Merganser -- Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16
Merganser — Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16

Merganser -- Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16
Merganser — Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16

Merganser -- Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16
Merganser — Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/26/16

Wood ducks --Connecticut River , NH 10/3/16
Wood ducks –Connecticut River , NH 10/3/16

Mallards taking flight. Connecticut River, NH, 10/3/16
Mallards taking flight. Connecticut River, NH, 10/3/16

Mallard splashing --Connecticut River, Wilder, VT 10/3/16
Mallard splashing –Connecticut River, Wilder, VT 10/3/16

We also saw a great blue heron,

Great blue heron  --Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 10/4/16
Great blue heron –Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 10/4/16

a cormorant,

Cormorant  -- Connecticut River, NH 10/3/16
Cormorant — Connecticut River, NH 10/3/16

and some song birds.