This past Monday's paddling of the Sudbury River in Wayland saw my boat's hull scraping bottom more than ever before. I'd launched at River Road with plans for paddling upriver to Indian Point. At Pelham Island Road Bridge beavers have built a dam beneath the bridge that spans all but 2 feet of the channel...just enough room to squeeze through. Once past the Greenway I encountered a river reduced to little more than a trickle behind Wayland High School (opening photo), and did a lot of pulling and sliding to reach Indian Point. Continuing past the point brought me to another beaver dam located beyond Heard Pond...
The dam's construction includes an automobile tire/wheel...
...which left me to wonder if it was the beaver's doing!
The exposed sections of river bottom attracted many killdeer such as this guy...
This freshwater mussel had been left out to dry...
...while his neighbors had a little more time...
A marsh hawk was seen not far from River Road...
Found this plastic fire hydrant in the exposed mud...
...as well as this other debris...
Hopefully the rains predicted for this week will remedy the situation, though I hate to see one of the longest stretches of great weather I can recall come to an end.
2 comments:
We didn't paddle today, but we did drive by several rivers and streams. Amazing the flow growth overnight! Be careful over the next few days.
Sounds likes good advice where we've gone from famine to feast in short order.
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