Thursday, August 5, 2010

Sudbury River - Sherman's Bridge to Lee's Bridge & Back

Early this morning, instead of heading to my client's Ice Cream plant as I usually do on weekdays, I reported to the Sudbury River for a trash patrol.  The Ice Cream plant cancelled production due to too much inventory.  Even with all the heat we've had, demand for ice cream is low?  Low, too, are water levels in the river. 
The air was heavy with humidity and a brief shower provided a little welcome cooling.
The opening photo, if clicked on to enlarge, shows two blue herons that appear to be acting as crossing guards for 6 Canada geese.
I launched at Sherman's Bridge and headed downriver.  A pair of red-tailed hawks were patrolling the skies between the river and Round Hill.  This was cause for concern to the many killdeer that were present today...

 Approaching Weir Hill, I came upon this group of ducks that appeared to be waiting for a bus...
 A liitle ways upstream of Lee's Bridge this Great Blue Heron had just finished a display that had wings outstretched while head held high...
 On the return trip upriver, I spotted what I believe is a green heron near the outfall of Pantry Brook...
It is the first one of these I've seen this season.
Other wildlife seen today were eastern kingbirds, a belted kingfisher, tree swallows, goldfinches, turtles, some acrobatic bass, and a large carp in the shallows.
When, at the patrol's conclusion, I arrived back at Sherman's Bridge, I encountered Susan K. and her canine friend, Isabella Rossellini.  They were conducting a terrestrial trash patrol in the area of the bridge.  The bridge is pictured...
We chatted about the river and how water levels have swung from one extreme to the other.  Susan recalled paddling her kayak across the roadway on either side of the bridge back in March.  She also recalled how the passageways between trestles had been blocked by a thick mat of river grasses.  So thick, in fact, that heavy equipment was used to remove it and lessen the strain on the bridge's piers.
Today's trashy haul posed on the small beach...
They numbered 44 in all.  Of that total, 26 were recyclable (21 redeemable) and 18 were miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, solo cups, some fishing line, and a cigarette lighter.
These are combined with 15 pieces from last Friday's terrestrial patrol on the Nashua River Rail Trail and 90 pieces from a Sudbury River patrol conducted in Framingham, last Saturday.  An account of that patrol is in the works.  YTD total now stands at 3851.
Until my next patrol, I'll be working on my "Rain Dance"!

4 comments:

Erik Eckilson said...

I'll be doing that Rain Dance with you. We got a little spike from yesterday's rain, but its dropping fast.

Dixit e Fecit said...

Last evening, I was presented a book from an old friend who patrols areas where books are thrown away.
(Oh,~ the sin!) I have in my hand to present to the Trash Paddler a pristine copy of "the CONCORD SUDBURY and ASSABET RIVERS" by Ron McAdow. Illustrated by Gorden Morrison. A first edition, published 1990.
A brief review does not present any views on Rain dances.

Al said...

Dixit et Fecit, That is THE definitive guidebook for the SuAsCo waters. I have a well used copy of my own but would be glad to find a home for the one you have. I agree that it would be a sin for it to go unused.

My Rain Dance worked a little but I'm afraid it's going to require someone dancing up a real storm to get the rivers flowing again.

Tom Cooper said...

Isabella Rossellini, the Papillon not the actress, reports her haul:

Two traffic cones, one Bud Light (the Prince of Beers?), one Poland Springs, plastic, and miscellaneous fishing line and hooks. Recovered on 8/7/10 next to and under Sherman Bridge. See it at http://gallery.mac.com/tgcooper#100248/_MG_5399