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. 

An Almost Tropical Assabet

 

Yesterday sure didn't look or feel like mid-February.  The only things serving as a reminder of last Saturday's ten below zero temps were the many ice shelves left attached to trees.  The one pictured shows exactly how much river water levels have dropped over the past 6 days...

My non-scientifically certified thermometer shows how warm things felt under the direct rays of the  noontime sun...

Actual air temperature ranged between 55 and 60 degrees F and there was a gusty wind.  Nonetheless, as far as I'm concerned, it felt like a day in the tropics!

Also enjoying the day's warm conditions was a pair of hooded mergansers.

The female...

..and the nearly hidden male...

Trash gathered up between Concord Junction and Willow Island...

...which included 10 nip bottles. The day was nothing but net!

Before the Big Freeze

 

The declaration of an early spring was made yesterday by our Massachusetts official groundhog, Ms. G, at 10 am under cloudy skies at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA.  I waited until high noon and welcomed  shadows galore on the Nashua River in Harvard, MA... 

Rounded up the following trash in a 1 mile stretch upstream from the boat launch...

The 113 nip bottles confirmed the day to be a little on the nippy side.    Despite the impending Artic Blast it's comforting to know there's only 26 days until the arrival of meteorological spring.