Thursday, October 9, 2014

New Dam on the Assabet


Approaching Gleasondale via the Assabet River late this morning I was surprised to find a well constructed beaver dam holding back a good portion of the river's flow.  The nocturnal engineers wisely chose a narrow spot (about 25 ' across) and took advantage of the low water levels of late.
While portaging around their structure I stopped to take a closer look from above...

A few more moonlit nights and they might seal the deal.

This stinkpot turtle (I think) seemed lost in thought...

  Above the dam a small painted turtle was unconcerned by my presence...
 
 
A great egret was seen near Sudbury Road...
 
 
Blue herons, mute swans, and wood ducks were also encountered.
 
Fall foliage was colorful in places...
 
 
Today's trash haul...
 
A 5-gallon Poland Springs bottle stood head and shoulders above the rest.
 
YTD = 4936




2 comments:

Dan F. said...

I paddled the same stretch later in the afternoon, and was pretty surprised when I came upon the beaver dam. I didn't attempt to portage. Picked up three pieces of trash on the paddle back to Magazu's Landing.

Al said...

Dan, The portage is an easy one on the left side going upriver. It'll be interesting to see if the dam survives the next heavy rain event.