Category Archives: Canoeing

First Paddle

Nearly mid-June and I just launched the Hornbeck canoe this morning for the first time. Too many other activities, chores, excuses but it was a great beginning. I went early to our local Wrightsville Reservoir and being a weekday and early, only one sculler was on the water.

Dozens of bird calls kept me occupied as I headed north on the quiet water with a few beavers objecting to my presence with loud slaps. Then, up ahead, I saw the white head of an Osprey or Bald Eagle in a craggy tree and carefully approaching it, saw that it was my first bald eagle of the year.

I sat at a distance and watched him for some time and then carefully paddled away leaving him undisturbed.

The inlet of the reservoir is the North Branch of the Winooski River and for a short period, it gets scenic and is a great paddle.

I came upon a Common Merganser with her chicks resting on a sandbar and she slipped into the stream and led them away as I tried to steady the boat and take some photos.

The eagle was still there on the return trip and I saw/heard over thirty species, got a nice workout, and finished up before 8 o’clock. Good to be on the water again.

A Therapeutic Paddle

After several weeks dealing with triple-digit temperatures and a couple of hot, humid days back here in Vermont as I mowed our cow pasture aka lawn and bush-hogged our woods trails, it was great to strap the boat on Mary’s newly inspected car and head out early this morning with the air temperature 60. I was on the water before 6:30 and had the reservoir to myself.

You may recall that we bought our Hornbeck boats last summer

You may recall that we bought our Hornbeck boats last summer

As I drove in, I saw a mama Mallard and her crew foraging along the shoreline. I launched the boat, paddled easily over towards them as she drew them into the lake, and listened to her cluck to them as I drifted, shooting with the long lens, and they motored on. I left them  to enjoy the rest of their morning.

Mama was just ahead of them, outside the camera frame. She seemed calm but attentive to this potential predator.

Mama was just ahead of them, outside the camera frame. She seemed calm but attentive to this potential predator.

Being a weekend, the highway noise was nothing and I just moved easily along with no ear buds, FitBit, or other distractions other than the birding gear. It was very refreshing, physically and mentally, and I listened to the Belted Kingfishers, the Common Yellowthroats, the Veery, some Cedar Waxwings, and a couple of flycatchers, just poking along on a cool misty Vermont summer morning.

The lighting was terrible for photography and I was rusty. I spooked several birds when I brought the camera up too fast, and missed others trying to control the boat speed and direction and doing neither well. It wasn’t a big deal – but I remembered that much of my birding in the last few months has been at preserves and locations where the birds seem more used to people, and tend to sit a little more still.

There was an Osprey perched right over the reservoir on a craggy dead tree who seemed quite uninterested in me. The camera shots were not ready for prime time. The water level was higher than it often is this time of year and so I could cover some areas that are normally mudflats.

The inlet to the reservoir is the North Branch of the Winooski and it offers a short stretch of quiet paddling with ledges, overhanging trees, and on this occasion, a family of beavers. They were very active and I was on their turf and they let me know. I felt comfortable but they were very close, as you can see here.

This guy had a stick in its mouth, then it reversed direction and .....

This guy had a stick in its mouth, then it reversed direction and …..

this image is not cropped. I got wet from it.

this image is not cropped. I got wet from it.

Four Great Blue Herons, probably this year’s youngsters, accompanied me part of the way back, squawking to one another all the way. The boat handled well — it felt good to get a little upper body workout — and Penny had slept after her morning walk and breakfast and was ready for the next item on the day’s agenda when I got home.  The next project turned out to be to remove the hundreds of baked-on bugs 0n the Airstream Interstate that I picked up in the 12,000 miles I’ve put on it since April. But I was in a good mood from the lovely paddle and it went well. Now to get some better early morning light for photography.

Paddling Lake Attitash

After four days of rain showers with some thunderstorms, we finally are getting a day or two of muggy but cloudy weather. Yesterday morning, I asked our grandson Mac if he wanted to paddle for a bit and when Mary graciously offered to watch the dog, we were off to the local lake.

Lake Attitash’s chief feature for us is that it is only a few miles away. It is shallow, small (360 acres) and extensively developed; roads and cottages, two or three rows deep in places, virtually ring the entire lake, as well as a summer boys’ camp, and at least two boat docks. There are literally hundreds of boats of all types and sizes but most just are active in the evening and on weekends. It was rather quiet today but the south wind gave us a steady chop to deal with.

Mac used my boat and I squeezed into Mary's ten-footer.

We just had launched when we saw a Bald Eagle cruising past. The waves were hitting us from the stern quarter so I was more focused on paddling than grabbing for the camera. Ten minutes later, a Great Blue Heron lifted off from the bushes right in front of us, followed by an active Belted Kingfisher who delighted us by diving rather close by the boats.

There is a long inlet that is very shallow and full of water lilies, water hyacinths, and many aquatic weeds. It is protected from the wind and often has a lot of waterfowl. We spotted our Great Blue Heron, or his brother, fishing in the shallows.

This may have been the GBH that we flushed earlier.

Further ahead, I spotted this trio of young Mallards cruising just so they kept ahead of us.

These ducks were wary but never flushed as we kept our distance.

The inlet has a protective boom to supposedly keep nutrients and algae out of the lake. It once may have been a good idea but as Mac says, "Doesn’t look like they maintain it." Sticks and branches pushed sections to allow water to just move over the top – and looking at the lake, it appears to be a lost cause. This lake is eutrophication with a capitol E.

The Gunderboom may have seen better days.

Heading back down the inlet, we saw a Mute Swan family again – having seen the adults earlier. The cygnets are nearly full-grown but still grey and fuzzy-looking.

MSwans1W

 

MSwans2W

Heading back into the wind, the paddling was a little slower but the boats tracked better. We ended the outing with a flyover by an Osprey. It was a fun outing with my fourteen-year-old grandson who is a pretty good paddler/birder. Good birding.