Category Archives: Connecticut

The Becky Thatcher

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Remember Becky Thatcher from Tom Sawyer? Well our riverboat was the Becky Thatcher and it was quite roomy. After the safety orientation to show us the life jackets we cast off and headed upstream. The river was beautiful.

We had a young man acting as a commentator to point out the sights like eagles nests, a ferry, the Goodspeed Opera house. It was his first time so he was nervously reading the script. If they let him do it again I’m sure he will get better.

The views of the Gillette Castle were extraordinary from the boat. The mansion is an amazing sight  anyway any time of the year but with the green foliage and bright blue sky it was truly magnificent.

Even with a full complement of guests the ride was relaxing. I find being on the water like that is very soothing.

When we reached the opera house and the East Haddam swing bridge we did a big , slow, sweeping turn that gave us plenty of time to take in the views of East Haddam.

We passed marinas and private docks and even a monestary! What a beautiful day for a riverboat ride!

Traveling back down the river we spotted the train on its last run of the day.

So that was how we would get back to the station.

The train stopped at Deep River Landing just as we pulled in. While I waited for my turn to leave the boat I watched two large birds swoop over the island across from the boat. Osprey! I was thrilled to actually see them fish, swooping down to brush the surface of the river and then climb back up with their fish. At first I thought they were eagles but closer scrutiny proved them to be osprey. They were too far away for photos but I did try..just a couple of spots came out.

Back at the station the office recommended Bill’s Seafood if I wanted to have a nice moderately priced dinner before I returned home. They gave me the address and directions and it wasn’t long before I spotted it. The weather was still wonderful so I took a seat at a picnic style table on the outdoor deck. I was glad for the umbrella, not for the sun but as protection from the birds. Sea Gulls were flying everywhere. Marshland spread out from the  deck and I spotted white ibis, great blue herons and more Osprey. There were 2 osprey nests and they were both occupied. I watched the adults hunting and returning to the nest with their catch to feed the babies while I enjoyed a lovely meal of fish and chips.

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Children were feeding the ducks and gulls bits of their lunches and the birds were clearly enjoying the attention.  This would be a wonderful place to come back to with a big telephoto lens. But even without the camera, it was a wonderful way to end the day.

Essex Steam Train and River Boat Ride

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Just because I’m back home doesn’t mean I’m sitting around resting on my laurels or anything else. No indeed not. It has been a very busy summer so far. I’ve been lamenting that I haven’t once been down to Chatham to chase seals or great white sharks, or to Bristol to check on the Osprey nest. Even my Great Blue Heron at Oliver Mill Park seems to have given upon me. I haven’t seen him at all since the out of control kayaker nearly ran him down.

One of the things I wanted to do this year was check out the Essex Steam Train in Connecticut.  I was waiting for the summer schedule when they had a combination train and riverboat ride. It seemed like the best use of time and money to do both. When I saw the schedule online on my return from my mini vacation I jumped on the chance to go.

The cost was quite reasonable. An adult ticket was only $26.00 for the combo. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I came prepared.  My GPS delivered me right to the  station where signs directed me to the gravel parking area.

I gave myself plenty of time because I wanted to get lunch out-of-the-way and in case I got lost. The Trackside Cafe was open in a vintage railcar.

They had pre made sandwiches in a cooler and hot dogs on a hot dog rotisserie. I opted for the hot dog, a bag of chips and a diet coke. Why is it that hot dogs taste so much better when you’re on an excursion of some kind. Anyway I enjoyed the ambiance of the little railcar while I ate my hot dog then went exploring.

The gift shop was tiny but across the way was a model train museum.

The sign  welcomed me to Little River Junction. It had a wonderful model train that you could play with. It wasn’t just a display behind a glass window. The multiple trains could be run at the same time and the various villages lit with glowing windows and miniature attractions. Really fun.

Outside, as I waited for the train , I met a fellow who was dressed rather outlandishly playing a ukulele.

He said hello so I answered. That broke the ice. He is “Ramblin’ Joe” a sort of street entertainer.

I think when it’s busy his role is to keep the waiting passengers entertained and answer questions for them. He is certainly hard to miss!

The train pulled into the station and the passengers from the earlier trip stepped out. Then the engine was uncoupled, driven back to the front of the train and recoupled to take us out for our ride. That process was pretty interesting and brought out the serious train buffs to photograph the whole process.

My seat was in the open air car. Passengers in this car are warned that this is a real steam engine and cinders and soot may fly into the windows and trust me, it did!

I paid special attention to the route and where the train crossed major roads or streets in case I want to “Chase the train” sometime. That’s how you get the great shots of a steaming locomotive traveling down the tracks. We stopped to let people off for Gillette Castle and another stop at Deep River Landing.

We passed several marshes and conservation areas that looked like interesting places to go bird watching but it was hard to get decent pictures from the moving train.

At the end of the line they did the recoupling again and we started back. I was wondering when and how the River Boat came into the equation when I saw the boat from the train window. Pretty soon we were at Deep River Landing again and they were telling us to get off the train for the Riverboat ride.

We could clearly see the riverbot as she approached the dock but our attention was soon diverted to the process of climbing down from the train.

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Eagles on the Connecticut River

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After going up to the Shepaug Dam to see eagles on the Housatonic I thought it might be nice to try the Connecticut River. This area has been known for having a high concentration of Bald Eagles for a number of years. The Connecticut Audubon Society used to host a festival celebrating the eagles but in the last few years have not been able to get corporate sponsorship thanks to the poor economy.
But eagles don‘t care about the economy. They come to the lower Connecticut River to fish, build nests and mate. The bald eagles of Connecticut are really 2 groups. One is a resident population and the other just passing through on their migration.

Since I had tried the ground based “blind” method of looking for these birds, this time I would try the river. I booked an Eagle Cruise with River Quest. River Quest has been cruising the Connecticut River for 10+ years, 7 of which have included these eagle cruises in conjunction with the CT Audubon.

Other than being thoroughly chilled, it was a great trip.

RiverQuest
can be found at http://ctriverquest.com/

 

 

The launch location varies depending on the ice on the river. The coast guard normally sends an ice breaker up the river but their ice breaker broke this year! That delayed the start of the Eagle cruises until now. The ice finally “went out” yesterday so the boat will be leaving from Haddam instead of Essex.

It was about a 2 hour drive and I made good time. Even though I was heading from Massachusetts through Rhode Island and into Connecticut during rush hour, there were no traffic delays. Since I arrived early I had a chance to look around a little.

Right away I spotted some mergansers and a mute swan. The ever present Canadian geese were also wandering along the shoreline.

A really amazing building sits right on the water making a picturesque appearance. This is the Goodspeed Opera House, a historic building. I will tell you all about that in another post.

Pretty soon the boat pulled in from their morning cruise. Riverquest has a fully enclosed , heated cabin to take the chill off but the real action is outside so I came prepared. All week we’d had great, warm weather but overnight the temps had dropped to single numbers and on the river was a stiff breeze…closer to a cold wind, truth be told.

I thought I came prepared. I was wearing a turtle neck cotton pull over with a fleece vest over that. Then I pulled on my hooded sweatshirt and over that my heavy winter jacket. I have my baseball cap on with ear muffs over that. Then I pulled the hood up as well and tied it tight to hold all the layers in place. I have a pair of really heavy warm gloves but those would be off and on as needed with the camera.

We got the OK to board and I staked out a corner of the bow. It was windy and cold there but the captain said once he turned to boat to head downstream the wind would be at our back and the sun would be shining on the bow. The return trip would be a different story.

As I was standing in the bow of the River Quest, before we were fully loaded or cast off, someone yelled “eagle” and a fully mature bald eagle came winging right over our heads. That seemed to be a good sign for the cruise.

We were held up leaving because a van of school children had gone to the wrong boat launch so they were waiting for them. They had just decided they had waited long enough when we saw the van come whipping down the driveway so we pulled back into the dock to load about 20 more people. Then we were on our way.

We had a very knowledgeable crew including a representative from the CT. Audubon. In addition to pointing out and identifying the various birds, they told us about the river, the geology and the buildings and homes along the way. A lot of the land in this area is preserved land by way of Nature reserves and State Parks.

The cruise itself was about 2 hours. I stayed in the bow for most of the downstream leg. There were bald eagles, cormorants, Swans, Geese, Mergansers, and Turkey Vultures!

We looked for a Harbor Seal that has been spotted on other trips but we didn’t see it. Of course there were “gulls’. We were told that there is no such thing as a “sea gull”. The flocks we see are made up of a long list of specific types of gulls…none of them “Sea Gulls”!

The Naturalist pointed out an Osprey nest that was on a platform. The osprey haven’t returned yet, it’s still too early in the season.

Someone pointed out a bird they said was a Northern Harrier and another spotted a Red Tailed hawk. There was plenty to see.

　The cruise was very pleasant in spite of the cold and I may well do it again…when it’s warmer. I am still in pursuit of the Perfect Picture as my lens was just too small. At 200 MM I could see the shadows and silhouettes but even after “zooming” in with the computer there was more blue sky than bird. Even though the results are very poor, I am including a few pictures for illustrations. The River is beautiful.



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In the Summer they offer a Sunset cruise…I bet that would be really something!The ride back upriver was , as the captain had predicted, much colder than the ride downstream. I gave up and finished the return trip in the cabin. The cabin has large viewing windows so those inside can see too.