Tag Archives: birds

Back to Connecticut Chasing Eagles

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Editor in Chief

Dusty Roads, the author of this blog is on her way to Haddam, Ct this morning. She’s giving the eagles of Connecticut another chance to let her get a picture.

This time she’ s taking a river cruise with a group called River Quest.

The weather is supposed to be clear but bitterly cold so on the water she is going to freeze. She has her hat, ear muffs, super thick gloves (lot of good they will be when she’s using the camera), turtle neck shirt, fleece vest, insulated “hoodie” and winter jacket..she’s layered all right!

 Map quest says it’s a 2 hour drive and but it’s RT 95 and rush hour so Dusty is allowing an extra hour to get there.

Good Luck, Dusty. Can’t wait for your report!

Gertrude M Boyden Wildlife Refuge, Taunton Ma

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I know I’ve mentioned the Gertrude M. Boyden Wildlife Refuge before in these pages but I’d like to tell you a little more about it.

I’ve been spending more time there since I started taking part in the Photo- a- Day challenge because The Refuge is also known as the “Bird Sanctuary”. Right by the visitor center there are 2-3 bird feeders that are always busy. You can see many of the pictures I have taken there on my blog: http://project365challenge2011.blogspot.com or on my flickr photostream.

But enough “self promotion” . I want to tell you about the Refuge.

I have not even begun to scratch the surface on the trails. I first started going to the sanctuary about 2 years ago when my neighbor told me about it. I wanted to find someplace to take walks and maybe lose some weight. Walking around the block on the sidewalk just wasn’t cutting it for me and being fairly new to the neighborhood, I didn’t know many places at that time.

My neighbor and I were talking and he suggested I give the sanctuary a try. That year I only went a couple of times but it is a beautiful, peaceful place. I have been back many times since and can’t wait for spring to get here so I can explore more of the trails.

Although I often see a lot of cars in the parking lot and folks walking their dogs, the grounds have always been clean and the trails are never crowded.

So far I have walked the Floral Garden trail many times and the River Walk several times as well. When I first started walking on the River Walk trail there was an option to either take to “high road” or the “low road” as I liked to think of it. Since that first hike heavy rains and spring run-off have forced the sanctuary to close the “low” trail. That’s too bad as I liked it both for its proximity to the river and the log stairs at the end which always got my heart pumping by the time I reached the top and the meadow that marked the end of that trail.

I tried a new trail this winter but the snow made it hard to follow and I ended up circling back into the Floral Garden Trail.

The refuge consists of over 50 acres bordered by the 3 Mile River. The trails meander through forests, meadows and riverbank. They tell me there is even a covered bridge, a boardwalk and Osprey nests. That must be on one of the trails that I haven’t walked yet. The grounds include a picnic area with tables and fireplaces.

You can get maps and information at the visitor center .

There now I really want to go check out the remaining trails…with my camera of course.

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Getting Lost in Rhode Island

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If you’re going to get lost anywhere I guess Rhode Island is a good place since it isn’t very big. Sooner or later you’re bound to see something you recognize. I was headed down to the Audubon Society Environmental Education Center. Now that’s a mouthful.

I used map quest since I don’t have a GPS nor did I have a RI map. To add to the problem my printer is being temperamental and printed out blank sheets so I hastily scribbled the directions and set off. According to Map quest it should take me about 40 minutes.

The first leg was pretty easy and I made good time. The problem came when I found my last turn…RT 103. According to my notes it was supposed to be RT 103/114 and I would end up on Hope St. There wasn’t any RT 114 and the street name was Child. I took it anyway and did see a sign for the Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary. Different name but close enough except that that was all I found, just the sign.

However as I was driving around I came down to the water and there were a bunch of ducks and a swan so I pulled over and got out. I parked on the side of the road and followed the shore. I found more birds and gulls and loads of sea shells.

 It was pretty chilly and windy but I was so engrossed that I didn’t realize it until I turned around to walk back to the car.

A little farther on the road moved back to the coastline and I saw some more swans. I pulled over where a stone wall bordered the water. One of the swans was floating next to what appeared to be another dead swan, probably it’s mate. That was so sad. It’s been a harsh winter all around. There was another pair of swans out in deeper water but this one made no move to join them, instead it stayed right next to the dead swan as if standing vigil.

I decided to backtrack and see if I could find RT 114. Once I located it I followed it past Roger Williams University to the Mt. Hope Bridge. It was afternoon by this time and the bridge looked wonderful. I pulled over in a little parking area and took some pictures of the bridge. It looks like there’s a sidewalk so maybe I can walk up the bridge and get pictures from the top. I’ll wait for a little warmer day for that.

Turning around I headed back home. The sun was sinking and the moon was rising so I took the opportunity to experiment with different settings on the camera for the clouds and sky. There’s quite a difference in color depending on what settings are used. I may not have found what I was looking for but I had a nice afternoon anyway.

I’ll try to find the Audubon Center another day.

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It’s My Birthday!

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Good Morning everyone

It’s my birthday and other than the normal aches and pains of someone over 50, I don’t feel any different today than I did yesterday. 🙂 So I guess I have reached the age where another birthday is NBD (no big deal).

I didn’t have much luck with the eagles when I went to Connecticut last week but I’m going to try again. This time I am going to take the “River Cruise”. I booked it this morning. My reservation is for March 3.

My plans for today are to do some more research on the Sedona trip and then update you on my results over the next few days.

Other than this short post,  I think I’ll take the day off from writing today. Give the old brain a rest.

This common merganser was drifting on the Housatonic River.

Day Trip to Connecticut

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Unknown Duck on the Housatonic River

Somewhere along the line I heard that there were a large number of Bald Eagles wintering in Connecticut. I searched online and there were 4 options for eagle viewing. All were endorsed to some extent by the Connecticut Audubon Society.

　

Housatonic River

One option was the Eagle Flyer in Essex Ct. This is the Essex Steam Train and it only makes it’s Eagle Flyer run on 1 weekend. This year it is Feb 19th and 20th It sounds like fun but I can’t take the time from work to go this year. I’ll try out the train ride over the summer and maybe go on the eagle run next year.

The 2nd option is Eagle Boat Cruises sponsored by The Audubon Society. The cruises are operated by River Quest/Connecticut River Expeditions. They run on Thursday, Saturday or Sunday, this year from Feb 5- March 13. The cost is reasonable, only $40.00 and is still a possibility if I can get a day off from work.

The 3rd option I found is a land -based guided tour known as Eagle watches on the Connecticut River. The tours are $20.00/per person and includes lunch. The tours are 8:30-1:30 followed by the lunch. The problem with this option is that 8:30 am is tough since I am about a 3 hour drive away. The second problem was that all the dates available were on the weekend …once again, I am working.

The last choice wasn’t on the Connecticut River but I didn’t realize it when I booked the reservation. This last option is the Shepaug Dam Bald Eagle Observation Area. They are open from 9am -1pm on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. You must have a reservation to be allowed in. Their season this year is Dec 26,2010 – March 16, 2011.

Shepaug Dam

You make a reservation and go in anytime between 9AM – 1PM. I liked this flexibility because I had such a long drive and wouldn’t need to worry about missing the tour. The other good thing is they are open on Wednesday which is one of my days off so I don’t have to make any arrangements at work for time off.

I made my reservation for Wednesday Feb 2 but we got stormed out with snow, sleet and freezing rain. I called again and we moved my reservation a week to Wednesday Feb 10. The forecast was for clear and sunny but cold. I received my reservation by email and printed it out. It had all the rules and directions. I ran it on mapquest.com and it said it would take 2 hours and 25 minutes. It actually took closer to 4 hours. I hadn’t figured on rush hour traffic.

I hit stop and go traffic on RT 495 and again in Hartford Ct. Eventually I found the exit off RT 84. The directions were great and I found the facility with no problem. A nice man was sitting in his car at the entrance. He had the list to check reservations.

Building used as a Blind for watching the eagles

It became clear why they had security to watch birds. The observation area is located at the Connecticut power station on the Housatonic River. Eagles are fish eaters and the water near the dam for the hydro electric plant never freezes and the water currents force the fish near the surface so the eagles can snag the fish easily.

There were quite a few people there when I arrived in spite of the bitter cold and it was really cold, especially when the wind blew. There is some protection from the elements, however. There is a building set up as a blind but the windows are open so there ‘s no heat. They had a wood stove going in the corner but it wasn’t much help.

Milton, European Barn Owl Ambassadore

　

Based on the conversation in the room it soon became clear that everyone there was a dedicated “birder”, which I am not. But it didn’t matter . Everyone was really friendly. One fellow in “camo” had a huge telephoto lens on his camera and he said the eagles were out of range for him. So much for getting any eagle pictures!

They were getting some activity when I arrived so I took out the binoculars instead. There were 2 juvenile eagles flying and diving above the ridge line on the opposite side of the river. You could tell they were only around 2 years old because their plumage was brown and white and they hadn’t developed the trade-mark white head. That comes in at around 5 years of age. We all watched them for awhile then the Audubon rep asked if we wanted to see the birds she had with her. Pictures were allowed. J

Of course everyone said yes so we met Milton & Millie and a rescued hawk. None of these birds will ever be able to be returned to the wild. Milton & Millie are owls and both were bred in captivity and have imprinted on humans. Neither would know how to hunt for themselves in the wild.

Millie, American Barn Owl Ambassador

The hawk had been hit by a car and although is healing nicely will never have a full recovery. He would not be able to survive in the wild so he is now a “bird ambassador” for the Audubon Society.

Raptor Survivor and Ambasador

By this time it was almost noon and the eagles seemed to have settled down for the day. I was frozen so decided to call it a day. I stopped for gas ($3.55/ gal here) and picked up a map. I felt there had to be an easier way back.

I took RT 84 but picked up RT 6 to Providence before I reached Hartford. This turned out to be a great way to go. Most of RT 6 was highway but not the “super” highway like RT 84. Still the road was in good condition and the speed limit was 50mph most of the way. It was far more scenic than the “Fast route of RT 84 to RT 90 to RT 495. I stopped for lunch at a Friendly’s and was still at the Rhode Island line by 3:15pm. I did hit some traffic in Providence because I got there just before 4pm so rush hour was starting but even so I was home by 4:30 pm. With my stop for lunch and some other puttering around, I figure RT 6 shaved at least an hour off the time from the morning.

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So…Bottom line…mixed reviews. The eagles were too far away for pictures or a clear view without binoculars but the birds the Audubon rep showed us were awesome and I got some great pictures of them. I wish it had been warmer and it would be nice if it wasn’t such a long drive but I’m glad I went. I can’t say enough about the folks that were there. From the attendant at the entrance to the parking lot guy and the Audubon lady everyone was wonderful, helpful and friendly.