Tag: Common mergansers

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From my kayak 9/27-10/24

Jane. Connecticut River. 10/21/24

We got out a few times in October, before the weather turned too cold. We saw some of our usual suspects: Common mergansers and mallards, loons, blackbirds and kingfishers, a hawk or two, a painted turtle and a beaver.

Loon. Kettle Pond 9/27/24
Common mergansers. Grafton Pond, 10/4/24
Common mergansers. Squam Lake 10/13/24
Mallard flying. Ompompanoosuc River, 10/3/24
Flock of mallards. Connecticut River 10/2/24
Common loon. Grafton Pond, 10/4/24
Common loon. Long Pond, 10/6/24
Red winged blackbirds. Ompompanoosuc River, 10/3/24
Kingfisher Connecticut River 10/2/24
Hawk. Ompompanoosuc River, 10/3/24
Young ring-billed gull. Grafton Pond, 10/4/24
Beaver. Kettle Pond 9/27/24
Painted turtle. Grafton Pond, 10/4/24

We also found a few interesting things: rocks that look like elephants, a large black ball with a handle, a log that looks like a wolf. The foliage turned colors and the leaves fell. The mornings were cold and the valley was full of fog.

Rock that looks like an elephant . Kettle Pond 9/27/24
Connecticut River. 10/21/24
The wolf log. Squam Lake 10/13/24
Mt. Cardigan. Grafton Pond, 10/4/24
Kettle Pond 9/27/24
Color on the point. Squam Lake 10/13/24
Long Pond, 10/6/24
Paddle to Great Island. Squam Lake 10/13/24
Sun thru the fog. Connecticut River 10/2/24
Rowing in the fog. Connecticut River 10/2/24
Jane in the fog. Connecticut River 10/2/24

Most of the birds have flown, and the kayaks have been put away for the winter. It was a good season.

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From my kayak: End of the season. 10/18-24

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 10/24/2020
Rick and Adam. Lake Fairlee, VT 10/18/2020
Connecticut River. 10/22/20
Rick 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
Immature eagle. Ompompanoosuc River 10/20/2020
Loon. Crystal Lake, Enfield, NH 10/24/2020
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From my kayak 9/24-10/12

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 10/5/2020
Black 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, 10/12/2020
River bend. Ompompanoosuc River 10/11/2020
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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
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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