We have been out on various local lakes and rivers a couple of times a week and have seen a lot: ducks, herons, other birds, deer, beaver, and flowers etc.
We were late starting kayaking this year, what with rain, cold water temperatures and doctors’ appointments, but on May 23 we made it to McDaniels Marsh. It was a chilly morning. We were hoping to see the frogs that Jane had seen a few days earlier when it was up to around 80 F, but it was too cold for them.
We did go out on North Hartland Lake, the Connecticut and the Pompy a few times in June. In mid May we saw a large family of mallards from the shore and again a few weeks later from the kayak.
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.
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.
Most of the birds have flown, and the kayaks have been put away for the winter. It was a good season.
The end of the summer has come. Many mornings are foggy, the leaves are changing color, and we are using coverings on our legs to keep warm. We paddled several times on the Connecticut and the Pompy and once on Indian Pond, seeing the usual suspects.
We have been out in our kayaks several times this week. Saturday we started out in a heavy mist, paddling out of Wilder.
On Tuesday we headed to Grafton pond. There were plenty of dragonflies and damsel flies. The goose family was near the boat launch. We only saw three loons: a single adult in the middle of the lake and a pair near the boat launch as we were taking out. We also found a turtle and some laurel and sundew.
This morning we headed back to the Connecticut and Mink Brook. We saw at least 5 families of ducks, mostly around Kilowatt park.
