A Quiet Morning on the Upper Concord

The serenity I found this morning at the Old North Bridge in Concord will, in a few weeks, be replaced by the sounds of fife and drum with muskets firing as the 1775 battle is re-enacted one more time. 
After launching at Lowell Road and passing under the "rude bridge", I continued downriver and under Monument Street, where this mink tipped me off to some 'March Madness' ahead...

Sure enough, another 2 plastic bags filled with empty beer cans were found.  This larger of the 2 contained more than 30 empty cans...

This is a recurring problem just downstream from the Monument Street bridge and is, perhaps, due to under-age drinking.  I can understand the culprits not wanting to be caught with the empties, but placing them in a plastic bag and dropping them into the river is not the best solution.  Hopefully, they will someday realize that this is a "don't do", especially considering this stretch of river has been designated as "Wild and Scenic".  There has to be someplace, other than the river, where they could ditch cans in the future.

Reaching Great Meadows, another curious mink was seen patrolling the water's edge...

Only one other boat was seen on the water today and it was a small outboard manned with US Fish and Wildlife officers. 

Wildlife, in addition to the 2 minks, were wood ducks, mallards, Canada geese, red-winged blackbirds, small woodpeckers, a musquash, and a red-tailed hawk.

Near Ball's Hill, everyone went ashore for a short conference before we began heading back to Lowell Road...

There were 54 recyclable containers (44 redeemable) and 33 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, nip bottles, and several plastic pails.  YTD = 1223

Recently, a photograph of a sign along the Housatonic River, warning of PCB contamination was posted.  In fairness, here's a photo (taken 3/22) of a sign typical of those seen along the Concord and Sudbury Rivers warning of mercury contamination.  In both situations the contaminants are found in the bottom sediment and, unfortunately, will be around for a long time to come.