Rather than grow old and grey waiting for the sun to come out, I went ahead and trash patrolled the lower Sudbury River and the Assabet to Nashoba Brook in today's cloudy/drizzly conditions. It was actually kind of nice out there on the water and I saw not another soul.
After launching into the Sudbury River, I paddled the final mile down to Egg Rock and recovered 29 pieces of trash. Nearly all of it was from the area where the Reformatory Branch of the B & M Railroad once crossed the Sudbury. The source appeared to be shore fishermen based upon the bait containers, etc.
At Egg Rock I began ascending the Assabet River which, thanks to recent rains, is back to its full width and depth. Trash was slow at first but began picking up as I neared Route 2. Just before the bridge, I recovered a plastic cooler and 8 plastic bottles at one snag. I landed on the river's east side and rearranged the 67 pieces of trash now onboard. Just a little further upriver from the bridge I headed into a backwater to retrieve a bottle and came upon a doe and her very recently born fawn. The fawn, with its large white spots, is hard to see as it follows its mother into the brush...
Picked up another 15 pieces of trash between Route 2 and Nashoba Brook where I turned around.
Heading downriver I encountered this Muscovy duck...
A wood duck has it all over this guy in the looks department!
Nearing the Leaning Hemlocks, I picked up my belted kingfisher escort for the stretch to Egg Rock. I reached my takeout site on the Sudbury with a trash count of 91. Of these 56 were recyclable (44 redeemable) and 35 were miscellaneous rubbish such as styrofoam, plastic bags, monofilament fishing line etc. As they assembled for a photo, the sun made a very brief appearance (but apparently disappeared before I clicked the shutter)...
My YTD total stands at 2431.
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