Eggs in the Baskets

 

After seeing a pair of adult eagles tending their egg-laden nest in the Sudbury River last Sunday I decided to check the status of the Assabet River eagle nest this past Friday.  Upon arrival I found an adult eagle in the nest performing the same duty.  Thus, once again, we have two active nests within 8 miles of each other (as the eagle flies).  In the above photo that's the adult eagle's head to the right side of the nest. 

Other wildlife seen were an osprey, blue birds, wood ducks, and this group of common goldeneyes...

  Still a good flow over the Ben Smith Dam...

Saw this four-prop plane flying over Crow Island but noted it being just a little too tippy to have been the real thing...

Trash was relatively light...

Brook Like a River

 

Found myself in Westford, MA yesterday following a trip to the dentist.  Given it was the first day of spring and the sun was shining I couldn't resist launching my boat into Stony Brook in the village of Graniteville.  How could I resist such a unique boat launch sign?   Water levels remain high from last week's nor'easter allowing my boat and me to pass over nearly all of the usual obstacles on the brook such as beaver dams and fallen trees.  Stony Brook flows northward from Forge Pond in Westford to the Merrimack River in North Chelmsford.

Headed a short distance upstream to the dam which long ago served the Abbot Worsted Mill located on North Main Street... 

The old mill's tailrace outlet can be seen to the right of my boat's bow.

The 2-story mill built of local granite has an elegant bell tower and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...

Heading downstream the brook's usual channel was hard to determine due to the high water levels...

Went downstream alongside the nearly 400 acre Stony Brook Conservation Land to the Stony Brook Railroad's (now CSX) still active bridge over the brook...

Trash included 15 miniature alcohol bottles along with a new player in the miniature alcohol container market seen at the bottom of the photo (the orb-shaped reddish container)...

It's a miniature cocktail container holding 187 ml (about 7 ounces) compared to the 50 ml (about 2 ounces) of a traditional miniature bottle.  Both are marked with the recycle triangle #1 pete which stands for polyethylene teraphthalate.  The miniature cocktail container has what looks like an aluminum top that opens like a beer or soda can.  Here the two miniature containers are seen side by side...

The miniature cocktail container has a 5-cent redemption value in Iowa and Vermont as well as a 15-cent redemption value in Maine.   The container is labeled "Made with 15% recycled plastic". The "traditional" miniature spiced rum bottle on the right has 5-cent redemption value in Maine (only).  Unfortunately neither container has a redemption value here in Massachusetts.

Interestingly the manufacturer of the miniature cocktail orb states on their website that they've partnered with a recycling entity, and offer a program whereby they encourage their consumers to "send their empty containers" to this entity so they can be recycled.  Does anybody really see that happening?...or am I just becoming more and more cynical?

Water Water Everywhere

 

Thanks to Tuesday's nor'easter a surplus of water was the theme of yesterday's paddle on the Sudbury River in Concord, MA.

The Egg Rock inscription was nowhere to be seen...

The stone boathouse could have accommodated a small submarine...

Well Meadow's beaver dams were submerged leaving the area open to navigation...

The river's eagles nest was serving its intended purpose...

...with both parents taking turns in tending to the egg(s)...

Encountered fellow-paddler Chris in his very swift Van Dusen Mohican...

Yesterday's trash haul reflected the high water levels allowing access to areas not usually accessible alongside Route 2...

Some Oxbow Sanctity

 

Paid a pre-nor'easter visit to the Oxbow NWR in Harvard, MA yesterday and found things all-quiet on the Western Front (aka the Fort Devens Firing Range).  So quiet that 3 white-tailed deer were encountered near where the Union Turnpike long ago crossed the river.  About 2 miles downriver I came to where a fallen tree straddled the full width of the river about a month ago.  Thanks to someone's recent saw work, cutting about a dozen tree limbs, passage was once again possible...

After paddling upriver to a small stone chapel (belonging to Saint Benedicts Abbey?), I headed back to the takeout and on the way came upon a lone CSX RR locomotive (7517) crossing above the river and heading eastbound on the Worcester Main...

Shortly the locomotive's horn would sound for Still River Depot Road briefly piercing the valley's serenity.

Of the waterways in my local paddling network this particular stretch of the Nashua River is the one that just keeps on giving in regards to trash...

...and yesterday's gathering eventually included 96 nip bottles.  Also included a fair amount of green for the upcoming Saint Patrick's Day.

Nonetheless a beautiful place to spend some time...

Casting the Assabet

 

Got out on the Assabet yesterday in Stow and tried out my new telescoping fishing rod for the first time.  I haven't fished in many a year for a variety of reasons...the first being that I never had much luck catching fish and, secondly, when I did catch one, it often had swallowed the hook leaving me to regret having caused the fish needless suffering.  Don't get me wrong...I have nothing against catching fish, and understand that skilled fishermen routinely catch and release fish with minimal damage to the fish. However, what I honestly enjoyed the most about fishing was the simple act of casting and reeling in my lure.    

My new telescoping rod allows having the rod and reel aboard my boat and readily at hand.  The lure I ended up using the most yesterday was a floating jitterbug...with no hooks.  My hope is to see a fish either wildly attack my jitterbug or perhaps just follow it back to my boat.  After such an encounter both the fish and I can go about our business...no harm, no foul.  Another benefit of lures without hooks will be far less snags (I hope).  

Between casts a pair of bluebirds swooped in allowing me to get a photo of one of them...

 

The eagle nest along the river stands "at the ready"...

The pair of adult eagles was seen in flight nearby.

The winds of late were finally calming down and the Assabet looked "at the ready" for the upcoming season of growth...

Trash included a baker's dozen of nip bottles...

Looked Like Winter, Felt Like Spring

 

Got out on the Assabet River Wednesday morning to welcome the arrival of meteorological spring.  While the day may have had the look of winter it also had the feel of spring.  Temperatures were approaching 40 degrees F. by paddle's end.  Robins were all over the place and red-winged blackbirds were silently out and about.  Still have yet to hear their distinctive call which truly confirms springtime.

The Main Street bridge in West Concord, MA with a few hanging icicles to avoid...

The Pine Street bridge...

The only place I found to be iced-in was the no-longer used mill race exiting from Damon Mill...

The first step of a critter upon exiting the river...

...perhaps an otter?

A Mass DOT locomotive decked-out in my preferred colors pushing an inbound train across the Assabet...

The small amount of trash was light-footed to boot...

March Through February

 

Out on the Concord River yesterday morning things continue to have a look and feel more typical of March than February

Believe this is the first red-winged blackbird I've seen this year...

...with its red epaulets hidden.   Large numbers of robins were seen as well as blue jays, grackles, and woodpeckers.  Additionally, a solitary marsh hawk was seen.  It's apparent that the birds think that spring has sprung.

This mink patrolled the river's shoreline near the area Thoreau called the "Holt"...

On my trip back upriver piers supporting the Old North Bridge framed the boathouse near the Old Manse...

Could this be the boathouse where Nathaniel Hawthorne kept the boat he got from H. D. Thoreau? It would have been the boat built by Henry and his brother John and used by them during their week on the Concord and Merrimack rivers.   Thoreau named it "Musketaquid".  Hawthorne would later name it "Pond Lily".

Back at Egg Rock the whole transcription could be read...

...and looks to be in good shape for the upcoming season.

Trash included Wilson, a dozen nip bottles, and an elusive blue-colored fishing bobber...

 

More Real Every Day

 

The concept of an early spring gets more real with each passing day.  Here we are midway through February and hearing that maple sap started running as much as 2 weeks ago.   Yesterday on another day where the temperature exceeded 55 degrees F. I got out on the Nashua River at Oxbow NWR in Harvard, MA.  Could real springtime be just around the next bend in the river? 

Headed downriver for 1.7 miles until further passage was blocked by this fallen tree...

Turned about and headed upriver past the railroad bridge...

...which only a few hours earlier had conveyed a 100 plus car freight train across the river.

Plastic trash also having made a downriver journey was gathered up... 

...it included 88 nip bottles.

Good Fortune on the Assabet

 

Yesterday morning on the Assabet River in Stow, MA the most ice I encountered was in a slough near the launch site.  The river itself was ice-free with a steady current.

In the area of the Assabet eagle nest was this mated pair of eagles perched shoulder-to-shoulder a couple of days before Valentine's Day...

A little further on I encountered my first-ever river fortune cookie...

I couldn't resist opening it to see what it said.  Here are the words of wisdom the cookie contained...

...which certainly makes good sense to me.

This interesting tent-like structure may have been created by the recent rise and fall in the river's water level...

Trash gathered up included 24 nip bottles...

Speaking of good fortune, I read an article in last Friday's Boston Globe: "Rare Eagle returns to Maine for second winter" by Kate Armanini.  The article explains the unlikely return of this very rare eagle from far-off lands.  I recall first hearing of the Steller's sea eagle last spring from fellow paddler Maury.  He went to Maine last winter and photographed the large eagle.  Though Maury has since passed away, I'm sure he'd be glad to know that this rare bird has returned.