The New Year

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The new year.  We were up early and watched the sunrise.  Everything was quiet.  I was expecting to hear the hunters shooting ducks in the morning (the season for ducks, coots and mergansers opened yesterday).  We heard some hunters on the river on New Year's Eve, but today it is quiet.  I decide to get in a short paddle.

The morning was overcast.  By mid morning the sun was still low in the sky.  The new year started quiet.

I slowly paddle upstream.  There is a steady wind from the southwest.  It sting my face.  I make sure my hood is drown tightly.  It is not too uncomfortable.

I pass by the turtle marsh.  There is some ice by the shore.  It is expected to warm over the next few days.  I expect the ice will retreat.  Winter has just started and I know the ice will soon return to cover the water here.  In the Spring when the ice leaves for good I will hope to fish for the northern pike I see in the marsh as it warms.

A lone coot cruises ahead of me.  I try to hold back, but it soon takes flight.  I am  not a hunter and mean it no harm.

Sucker Brook is still quite icy.  It may thaw soon, but it too will surely be ice choked before we hit the middle of winter.

I come to the part of the river where the aspens crowd the southern bank. This seems to be a favorite spot for waterfowl.  There are all type of birds around, hooded mergansers . . .

. . . as well as ducks.

Across the river on the northern bank is a duck blind.  I stands empty this morning.  I decide to cut my paddle short so as to not disturb the rafts of ducks and geese.

I head downstream by the Crescent Islands.  I see more ducks and a lone Canada goose.  The duck take wind but the goose seems to tolerate me - at least for a while.  It too takes wing.

It was a short paddle.  Still, the quiet of the river and the routines of the birds were very relaxing.

Happy New Year,