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.

January, a Wrap

 

After last year's lower than usual water levels it was nice to see January of 2023 going out with water aplenty as indicated by the stone boathouse in Fairhaven Bay (photo above).  It's also unusual to see Fairhaven Bay pretty much ice-free at this time of year.  Sunday gave us temperatures slightly above 50 degrees F.

The wide open bay...

Headroom under the Sudbury River's stone bridges is also a little harder to find as this photo of the Elm Street Bridge shows...

The Egg Rock inscription was completely submerged...

Trash found floating about...

...included 6 more nip bottles.

A Look of March on the Assabet

 

Thanks to some rain-swollen tributaries such as the above pictured Nashoba Brook exiting Warner's Pond the Assabet River was flowing strong and wide on Thursday.  Most of the usual obstacles were submerged.  The gauge at Maynard registered 4.4 feet.  With little to no ice in sight and temperatures in the 40's F. the river had more of a March look than January.

The confluence of the Assabet and Nashoba as seen looking upstream on the river...

Worked my way upstream to the Damon Mill's old exit race which provided a respite from the current...

The many rain events of late had trash on the move...

...and included 31 nip bottles.

Winter Finally Settling In

 

Got out on the Concord River Sunday morning where things are starting to look wintry even though there's no ice along the shore.

Visited some of the usual spots:

Egg Rock

...and its inscription...

...the Old North Bridge...

Came across a floating green plastic turtle urging us all to slow the heck down...

Trash included 8 nip bottles and the aforementioned turtle...

Late Out of the Gate

 

With my boat and its power plant finally out of dry-dock I got my 2023 paddling season underway yesterday on the Assabet River in Stow, MA.  Thanks to our fairly mild winter (to this point) I found things quite peaceful out on the ice-free river. Water levels are up from when I last paddled in December. The wildlife seen were mute swans, kingfishers, Canada geese, mergansers, and this red-tailed hawk...

The eagle nest looks ready to serve its purpose which should happen in the next month or so...

A riverside council fire ring also stands at the ready...

The only ice I could find was in the far end of this shallow slough...

 First trash haul of this new year...

While stuck on land I did make a terrestrial visit to the long ago busy railroad junction of Oakdale (West Boylston, MA) where prior to the building of the Wachusett Reservoir the tracks of the Central Massachusetts Railroad and the Worcester, Nashua and Portland Division crossed at grade.  Where there was once a depot, water tank, turntable and engine house today this old signal base appears to be all that remains...

The tracks heading towards Worcester still see daily use and just recently had continuously welded rail installed...

A short distance to the right of the above pictured rails, the Quinapoxet River drops down into Wachusett Reservoir...

Across from the power generating station and along the old Central Mass railbed was this interesting structure incorporating 2 old railroad boxcars and a shipping container...

...which provided this unusual "bottoms up" view...

The odd structure seems related to a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority facility.

Can't overstate how happy I am to be back on the water!