Thursday, March 25, 2010

Annisquam River was the Antidote


After a few weeks of being hemmed-in by local river bridges having little or no clearance, this morning I found the cure. Of course it took working a graveyard shift at a plant near the north shore of Massachusetts to make it happen. Getting off work at 7:30am put me within easy striking distance of the Annisquam River and both the tide and weather were fair. I launched into the Jones River not far from Wingaersheek Beach and headed towards the nearby Annisquam. Where the two rivers join, this house boat provided testament to the severity of the past winter's nor'easters...

On the way to Wigwam Point, I passed this gull happily ensconced in its waterfront home having the very lucky address and color...

Reaching Wigwam Point, I took in this view of Annisquam Lighthouse...

At this point I turned around and paddled against the outgoing tide to reach the spot where I took the opening photo of the A Piatt Andrew Bridge. On the way I passed several groups of ducks. One small group of mergansers consisted of three males competing for the affections of 2 females. My uneducated guess is that they were red-breasted mergansers. Also seen were common eiders and several large groups of these ducks or geese...

Possibly, they're Brant? They were quite talkative!
Not much of a trash patrol today as I didn't see anything other than a television set someone kindly left at the launch site. Hard to believe it floated there but I suppose it's possible.
Just as the first high clouds started to appear I was out of the water and on the way home. A cured man!
Note: Clicking on any photo produces a larger image. A second click zooms in even more.

1 comment:

Dixit et Fecit said...

Being afloat so early, were you tempted to paddle in to Woodman's for lunch? A few Oysters on the half shell? Fried Lobster? A dark Beer or Ale to help you on your way home?
Can that magnificent new tool be modified to view the drain area of a gutter so as to pluck pine cones inhibiting drainage? The world awaits your answer.