Serene Sunday Morning on the Sudbury

 

Got out on the Sudbury River at 6 am this morning launching from the Lincoln (MA) canoe launch.  By the time I reached Lee's Bridge (photo above) I'd already had several encounters with wildlife out and about to greet the new day: 

A blue heron...

Wood ducks...

White-tailed deer...

An eaglet exploring the outer confines of its nest...

...possibly a second eaglet can be seen just to the pictured eaglet's right...

...and a sleeping beaver...

At Weir Hill I found the plaque explaining the location's significance to be unreadable due to a layer of dirt...

A few minutes work with a wet rag brought it to the point where it could, once again, be viewed and read...

Portrayed on the plaque is a Native American spearing fish within the weir the site is named for.

The trail from the boat landing to the Great Meadows parking area is partially blocked by fallen trees...

Sunday mornings are usually quiet but this Sunday overperformed in that regard...

Didn't encounter any trash while out on the river but did find this bit at the edge of the parking lot...

A Still and Not So Still Still River

 

Arrived at the foot of Still River Depot Road in Harvard, MA at 6 am yesterday morning to find a CSX freight train parked on the mainline...

The train is designated as M427 and runs from Portland, ME to Selkirk Yard near Albany, NY.  Apparently, after passing through Hill Yard in Ayer, MA, its crew ran out of time and the train was awaiting the arrival of a fresh crew.  Other than the low rumbling of the idling diesel engines Still River was still.  Still River Depot long ago served the village of Still River.  The Harvard Reconnaissance Report prepared by the Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program describes the village: "Still River was an agricultural village formed as a linear settlement along the ridge overlooking the Nashua River".  

I launched just a short distance from the train at the Oxbow N.W.R. and paddled the short distance to the railroad trestle over the Nashua River...

...in hopes of seeing the train get underway, cross over the river, and continue its journey to Selkirk Yard near Albany, NY.    Because this train was occupying the single-track mainline and, by so doing, would block the Norfolk Southern's double-stacked container train from reaching its final destination at the Hill Yard, I figured M427 would get underway sooner rather than later.  However, it didn't and remained parked there for several more hours while I paddled downriver.  I'd later hear it get underway around 9:30 am.   

Did see this train of ducks passing by...

Nearly every fallen tree limb in this section of the Nashua had become a trash trap of sorts...

This particular stretch of the Nashua River is kind of like the Bermuda Triangle for the pesky little liquor bottles known as "nips".

My trash haul ended up including 257 of these "nip" bottles...

...which thanks to our outdated Bottle Bill have no monetary value.

Upon leaving the boat launch I discovered this elderly snapping turtle who'd sought some shade under my car...

Would like to have asked the turtle some questions but heard the train horn of the approaching double-stacked container train and watched it approaching the crossing at Still River Depot Road...

...hauling a good number of containers the last few miles to the Intermodal facility at Hill Yard...

...leaving the Still River Depot site still again. 

Assabet's Eaglet and Dame's Rockets

 

Got in another early morning paddle yesterday, this time, on the Assabet River launching from Sudbury Road in Stow, MA.  Conditions were ideal with bright blue skies and calm winds. 

One of my main objectives was to see if there were eaglets in the riverside nest.  No sign of activity on my first pass, but a few hours later there was this, now, good-sized eaglet...

Speaking of bird nests there was this well-built one that an eastern kingbird flew from...

Clusters of white, pink, and purple flowers were seen in several areas...

...which on close inspection were seen to have 4-petals...

Seeing this photo Mrs. Trashpaddler thought they might be phlox, but we would later learn that because of those 4 petals (rather than 5 petals as phlox have) these are Dame's Rocket.  According to Mass Audubon Dame's Rocket plants were brought from Europe by colonists.  These days they're considered an invasive plant.

Warmth from the sun was being enjoyed by this piggy-backed gang of turtles...

Trash was very light...

...and included an empty bag of "Scandinavian Swimmers" (a super sour gummy candy).

On that sour note, while on my way home I stopped near the Powder Mill Dam in Acton and found that access to the Assabet River upstream of the dam is no longer available.  An 8 foot high fence with barbed wire has been erected between Old High Street and the mill pond...

Portaging around the dam will now be even more of a challenge.  Folks have long fished from the shore here but it looks as though that will no longer be possible.

 

Sudbury River After the Blow

 

It was hard to believe the Sudbury River could be this calm less than 24 hours after the previous day's high winds, rain, and cold temperatures (40s F.).  I launched early on Sunday morning from Route 20 in Wayland, MA and paddled upriver towards Framingham.   Noted several herons had taken to the trees...

 

Also aloft and in the trees was this once airborne balloon or perhaps some sort of parachute...

White-tailed deer were out and about possibly to dry out...which reminded me of long ago being told by locals in Newfoundland that if I wanted to see a caribou I should venture out early in the morning after a rainstorm.  Guess the same applies to deer.  This one was soaking up some sunlight...

The deer's dark-colored winter coat has now lightened quite a bit.   

Around the next bend was this immature eagle...

...watching me like a hawk...er I mean like an eagle...

Went upriver about a half mile beyond the power lines.

The yellow flag are now blooming...

Trash of a mostly plastic nature included a truck-tire inner tube and 16 "nip" bottles...

Felt like a trapper returning with hides strapped to my boat's deck...

Naumkeag Waters to the Sound

 

Dipped my paddle blades into some salty waters for a change on Wednesday morning.  Launched before 7am from the George F. McCabe Marina and Recreation Area in Salem, MA and headed out of the Danvers River towards Salem Sound (photo above).  The morning was warm with temperatures predicted to reach the mid 80s F. and the tide was rising.  Winds were calm until about 8am when a westerly breeze kicked in.  On the way to Winter Island I passed under both the Essex Bridge carrying Route 1A (up high) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail bridge adjacent to it (down low)...

After passing Salem Willows and rounding Salem Neck I headed for Winter Island Light at the entrance to Salem Harbor...

...and a brief landfall at Waikiki Beach.

Then it was back to the Danvers River passing this sign showing current fuel costs for boaters...

Arrived at the railroad bridge just in time to see this MBTA train heading north to either Rockport or Newburyport...

...with one car in its consist decked out for our country's 250th anniversary...

With it now being high tide I paddled into and up the Bass River...

Once past ongoing construction work on the Hall Whitaker Bridge I reached a pond-like tidal basin...

According to historians the Bass River and the area around it was called Naumkeag by Native Americans. Mary Ellen Lepionka on the website HistoricIpswich.net provided this translation for the word Naumkeag: "Where there are eels" (referring to the Bass River in Beverly).

According to a 2015 article at WickedLocal.com (Herald Citizen) by John Goff, Looking Anew at Salem's and Beverly's Bass River, somewhere in this area a colonist named John Friendly built a Tide Mill for milling Indian corn back in the 1640s.  Tidal flow was harnessed for turning millstones.

The area is also noted for a gray seal nicknamed Shoebert who swam through a culvert into Shoe Pond where his antics entertained folks for several days back in 2022.  Saw no sign of him.  Did however see a loon, still in its winter colors...

...and several eider ducks...

A Google map showing the area where I spent my morning gunkholing the area...

This trip could be done from either the McCabe launch (as I did), or from the hand launch at Winter Island Park.  Bass River is best ascended at high tide (IMHO).

Trash recovered was found mostly on the shore where it'd been left by previous (higher) tides...