North Hartland Lake – Nancy's Corner

August 22, 2022August 22, 2022

From my kayak, summer 2022

Jane and I have been out in our kayaks a 3-4 times a week all summer, mostly on the Connecticut River out of Wilder, VT; the Ompompanoosuc River in Norwich, VT; or North Hartland Lake in Hartland, VT. We also made trips to Goose Pond, Grafton Pond, Squam Lake, and Lake Tarleton.

We’ve seen the usual wildlife.

Ducks

A pile of common mergansers sleeping on a rock. Ompompanoosuc River 8/13/22

Momma mallard with young duckling. Connecticut River 7/8/22

Some herons

Great blue heron. North Hartland Lake 7/31/22

Great blue heron in a pine tree. North Hartland Lake 7/29/22

Some loons and cormorants.

Fish for breakfast. Adult loon feeding its chick. Grafton Pond. 8/5/22

Cormorant drying its wings. Connecticut River. 8/16/22

Some shore birds

Belted kingfisher. Ompompanoosuc River 7/30/22

Eagles

Bald eagle diving. North Hartland Lake 8/7/22

Some turtles.

Some mammals

Muskrat with leaves. North Hartland Lake 7/31/22

Doe behind the pickerel weeds. North Hartland Lake 7/29/22

We also saw some insects.

Hornet on a lily pad. Connecticut River 8/21/22

Hornets’ nest. Connecticut River 8/10/22.

Monarch butterfly on Joe Pye weed. North Hartland Lake 7/31/22

September 23, 2021

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 eating a fish. Mink Brook 8/24/21

loons,

other birds,

Turkey vultures. Ompompanoosuc River 9/19/21

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.

Waterfall with purple asters. Connecticut River 9/11/21

Jane’s sister Susy and her granddaughter, Emily. Ompompanoosuc River 8/27/21

August 24, 2021

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

Young green heron with fish. Connecticut River. 8/24/21

Loon baby waits for its parent (and a snack). Post Pond 8/20/21

Common mergansers in a line. Squam Lake 8/11/21

Sparrow eating berries. Connecticut River 8/16/21

Solitary sandpiper. Ompompanoosuc River 8/21/21

July 12, 2021

From my kayak 7/7-11

This week, our kayaks have taken us to the far reaches of Quechee Gorge, up the Pompy, and around Gilman Island into Mink Brook. We’ve seen several eagles and hawks:

Adult bald eagle. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

Immature bald eagle. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

I think this one is younger than the next picture. The eyes are darker and there is more white on the breast. The next one’s head is beginning to turn white and the eyes are lighter.

Broad winged hawk. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

We’ve seen some herons, both great blue and green.

Immature great blue heron with fish. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

Green heron in tree. Ompompanoosuc River. 7/7/21

and red-winged blackbirds.

Red winged blackbird. Ompompanoosuc River 7/7/21

We even saw a few ducks (mostly on the Connecticut and Mink Brook).

Mallard family preening. Connecticut River. 7/11/21

The painted turtles can be found on all three rivers.

Painted turtle. North Hartland Lake 7/12/21

Painted turtle surrounded by flies. Ompompanoosuc River 7/7/21

The damsel flies and dragon flies are flitting around.

Damsel fly drying wings. Ompompanoosuc River. 7/7/21

and we even saw a strange creature moving slowly through water.

Photographer’s blind. Ompompanoosuc River. 7/7/21

July 6, 2021

From my kayak 6/23-7/6

We have had a fair amount of rain and hot weather, but we did make it to the Connecticut River/Mink Brook, Ompompanoosuc River, North Hartland Lake, and Post Pond. We joined Jane’s family on Goose Pond.

Emily all bundled up in her Uncle Judson’s kayak. Goose Pond 7/5/21

The loons are around, some sitting on nests.

Loon on the nesting platform. Post Pond 6/29/21

Family watching a loon. Goose Pond 7/5/21

The eagles have fledged at North Hartland Lake, but the parents still hang around near the nest.

We also saw one on Goose Pond.

Bald eagle taking off. Goose Pond 7/5/21

At Goose Pond we found a couple of great blue herons.

Great blue heron in a tree. Goose Pond 7/5/21

The mallard drakes are hanging together while the hens are taking care of the ducklings.

Mallard and duckling. Mink Brook 6/25/21

At Post Pond we only saw one adult goose with one nearly grown gosling. Usually there are two adults with several goslings. We were wondering what happened to the others. Did a predator get them? if so which one?

Goose and gosling on the town beach. Post Pond, 6/29/21

We found at least 3 families of geese on Goose Pond with varying aged goslings.

Adult geese guard the goslings. Goose Pond 7/5/21

Kingfisher. North Hartland Lake, 6/26/21

And of course we found flowers.