Changing Days

 

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I awoke to a cold morning.  Not a record cold, just one that would freeze water and make you truly uncomfortable without warm clothing.

The river had a flimsy layer of ice covering most of it's surface.  In a few places there were openings for the ducks and geese to congregate and dangle their feet.

The ice by the shore was also flimsy and fragile, but there was enough of it to make paddling nearly impossible.

The current in the river is very slow, and the glaze of ice made the river seem asleep,

Warmth slowly crept back in.  The winds came in from the south, and the river started to thaw.  The next morning I was able to put in and paddle about.  I decided to head to Goose Island, over to Squirrel Island, around Birch Island and the Crescent Isles (none of these islands are large - must are just a dozen meters long).  As expected, the Canada geese were congregating on Goose Island.

The ice was still thick in the small bays.  In these calm, shallow areas, the ice was over 1/2 inch thick.

As I expected, Sucker Creek was iced in.  The ice went right to Squirrel Island.

I paddled back downstream and around Birch and the Crescent Islands.  Bu now, the air was warming considerably.  In my fleece, dry pants, paddling jacket and PFD I was quite warm.  I headed to the old knitting factory.  Part of it is being renovated as a museum, the other part is collapsing.

The warm winds brought in a mild rain and even warmer conditions.  By the next day, the ice was all gone.  In it place, the geese and other waterfowl came out.  We had dozens of geese in the river all day.

The mergansers were also about, diving about for fish.

The brief icy sleep was over and the river was wide awake.  But an icy sleep will return shortly as we move into the deep of winter.

First Snow

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It was snowing quite hard when I returned from my trip lat night.  As I turned off the highway and headed south into town, the snow had eased up to a flurry.  I assumed we would not have any snow in the morning, but I awoke to a powdery coating on everything.

I knew the sun would melt the snow, so I jumped into the kayak for a quick paddle.

Already, the snow on the northern bank of the river was melting as the sun hit it.  In the sunlight, the mallards were congregating by the northern bank.

I wondered what will happen under the water as the water cools and ice forms.  I expect the underwater plants will die back.  Right now, the weeds are prolific.

Mallards, mallards, everywhere.  I mean them no malice . . .

. . . but they don't seem to understand that.

I headed into Sucker Creek.  There is hardly any flow there, and the shade may prolong the slim covering of snow.

Ice was starting to form on the surface.  It was more like a thin, slushy surface, but it was freezing. I expect this creek will be the first place I will see any freezing.

I paddles out of Sucker Creek and startled some more mallards.  The only sign they were there was a lone feather.  The beads of water on it attest to the effectiveness of their waterproofing!

All is quiet, except for the rustling of the cattails in the wind.

The bushes by the water are loaded red berries.  I see the squirrels filling up on them.  I need to figure out what they are . . .

I cam across another hornets nest.  Wow!

Within the 90 minutes that I had been out, the snow was mostly melted.  At least the ducks are still around.

I look forward to more snow!

Squirrel Island

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The move to the river house and end-of-the-year work and meetings have me very busy.  I want some time where everything is calm . . .

. . . but the surface of my life is a little disturbed.  I need to make sure I seek those few moments of quiet.

I wasn't going to venture onto the river - but something called me to the water.  I wasn't interested in a long paddle - that seemed to structured and goal oriented.  I wasn't on the look for any specific  waterfowl or wildlife.  Maybe I needed to just paddle about and see what I can see.

Aimless, I followed the river upstream.  There is a little area that is surrounded by cattails.  It is shallow and weedy.  I wonder what I would find.

Vast areas of duckweed covered the surface.  This plant amazes me.  I is just a small stem / roots and a few leaves floating about in still water.  It is thought to be a great water purifier, absorbing nitrogen and phosphates.  Scientists are studying it as a source of carbon-neutral biomass.

I paddled very slowly through the duckweed.  I wondered what was underneath in the brown water.

Ahead by the shore was a wood duck box.  They are gone now.  I will need to revisit this nest to see if I can catch a glimpse of the beautiful birds.

As I got closer to shore, I had to pull up the rudder and carefully pull my paddle blades out of the water or I would have a bunch of wet salad on my blade to deal with!

The shoreline is ringed with cattails.  They, like the duckweed, like the still water.  The autumn winds slowly pull the heads apart, leaving them with fuzzy white tops like over-sized cotton swabs.

There are a lot of small islands in the river.  Most are just a few meters wide.  As I was paddling by this one I heard a small, squeaky noise.

In one of the few substantial trees on this island I saw a squirrel.  How did it get here?  Did it walk across the ice in the winter looking for food?  I wonder If I will find the squirrel there next spring?

I decided to call this little island Squirrel Island.

I wasn't looking to accomplish anything today.  Instead, I discovered an island!

Safe Paddling . . .