The ducklings have arrived this week,
along with other birds,
a variety of turtles,
swimming mammals,
and flowers.
The ducklings have arrived this week,
along with other birds,
a variety of turtles,
swimming mammals,
and flowers.
This week found us on several of our favorite waters. Of course we saw ducks,
great blue herons,
phoebes,
kingfishers,
and kingbirds.
We also saw turtles,
muskrats,
and flowers.
On July 1, we had a flooding event. The Wilder dam opened its floodgates,making for unsafe paddling conditions. Above the dam it was either mudflat or strong current filled with floating debris. Finally on Wednesday, the river was back to normal levels so we went out.
The next day, we headed to North Hartland Dam. Here, the water levels had risen about 4 feet, leaving a bath tub ring of mud on the plants around the lake. They were busy dredging the outlet of the dam, trying to get rid of accumulated silt and debris.
We saw a number of birds of prey: eagles,
a couple of osprey,
a great blue heron
as well as a red-winged blackbird.
After a ducky day on the Connecticut,
we returned to North Hartland.
We’ve had a busy week paddling. Wednesday found us on the Pompy. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, but it is always a pleasant paddle.
North Hartland Lake was our next outing. We saw our first great blue heron of the year as well as the usual sandpipers, a cormorant, turtles and a grackle. We were serenaded by songs birds, but didn’t see many. The yellow and blue flags were in full bloom.
Today we went to Grafton Pond. We found loons, including a young chick.
One of the loons tried to fly right at us, but decided the runway was too short, so stopped and dove.
This was a week of herons and sandpipers,