Trashpaddler: June 2026

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.

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...