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From my kayak 8/24-9/19

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,

Eagle with fish. North Hartland Lake 8/25/21
Immature eagle. North Hartland Lake. 8/25/21

herons, both great blue and green,

Great blue heron. North Hartland Lake 8/25/21
Great blue heron. Connecticut River 8/24/21
Great blue heron. North Hartland Lake 9/4/21
Great blue heron. Connecticut River 9/5/21
Green heron. Connecticut River 9/17/21
Green heron. Connecticut River 9/1/21
Green heron eating a fish. Mink Brook 8/24/21

loons,

Loon and chick. Grafton Pond 8/31/21
Loon stretch. Connecticut River 9/17/21

other birds,

Turkey vultures. Ompompanoosuc River 9/19/21
Cormorant. North Hartland Lake 9/4/21
Spotted sandpiper. Connecticut River 9/5/21
Waterthrush. Reservoir Pond,Lyme, NH, 9/14/21

some turtles,

Wood turtle. Ompompanoosuc River. 9/19/21
Painted turtles. North Hartland Lake 9/4/21

and some other interesting things.

Duck feather. Connecticut River 9/18/21
Waterfall with purple asters. Connecticut River 9/11/21
Jane’s sister Susy and her granddaughter, Emily. Ompompanoosuc River 8/27/21
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From my kayak 8/10-24

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.

Immature bald eagle. North Hartland Lake 8/15/21
Immature eagle flying. North Hartland Lake. 8/15/21
Young great blue heron. Post Pond 8/20/21
Great blue heron. Connecticut River. 8/24/21
Green heron. Connecticut River. 8/24/21
Young green heron with fish. Connecticut River. 8/24/21
Loon. Post Pond 8/20/21
Loon baby waits for its parent (and a snack). Post Pond 8/20/21
Common mergansers in a line. Squam Lake 8/11/21
Mallards. Mink Brook 8/24/21
Cormorant. Squam Lake 8/11/21
Sparrow eating berries. Connecticut River 8/16/21
Solitary sandpiper. Ompompanoosuc River 8/21/21
Painted turtle. Mink Brook 8/16/21
A red dragonfly. Squam Lake 8/11/21
The pompy. Ompompanoosuc River 8/21/21
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From my kayak 7/18-23

The last several trips have been to the Connecticut River.

On 7/18 we planned on going to the Pompy, but the water was so low at the boat launch, we decided to try going up the Connecticut instead. We hadn’t been there for a couple of years because the banks are fairly densely populated and the Pompy is so nice, but we were pleasantly surprised on the amount of wildlife we saw.

Great blue heron. Connecticut River 7/22/21
Great blue heron landing. Connecticut River 7/22/21
Muskrat with camouflage. Ompompanoosuc River 7/22/21
Muskrat. Connecticut River 7/22/21

We have seen raptors: osprey and eagle.

Osprey on the top of a tree. Connecticut River 7/18/21
Eagle. Connecticut River 7/18/21

Herons, both great blue and green.

Green heron. Connecticut River 7/23/21
Great blue heron flying. Connecticut River 7/23/21

and ducks, crows and sandpipers.

Ducks preening. Connecticut River 7/18/21
Mallard with ducklings. Connecticut River 7/23/21
Crows. Connecticut River 7/18/21
Spotted sandpiper. Connecticut River 7/23/21

and damsel flies.

Damsel flies. Connecticut River 7/18/21
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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.

Deer. Kilowatt Park, Wilder, VT 9/14/20

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
Northern phalarope. Ompompanoosuc River, Norwich, VT 9/10/20
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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. North Hartland Lake. 8/22/2020
Coyote digging. North Hartland Lake. 8/22/2020

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

Freya.

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
Merlin. North Hartland Lake, 8/22/2020
Painted turtles on a log. North Hartland Lake, 8/15/2020