Prime Time for Eagle-Watching by Kayak on the Connecticut River
While kayaking just north of Lyme’s Hamburg Cove on the Connecticut River the other day, Robin Francis, Phil Warner and I watched a wildlife drama unfolding above us.
Among five circling bald eagles, a pitched battle raged between two males, apparently over a female.
“There they go again!” Phil exclaimed, as one of the giant birds swooped down on his rival with talons extended.
His foe swerved, dodging the attack, but a moment later wheeled back next to the female, prompting another attempted aerial assault.
We observed this skirmish for several minutes while paddling back to shore, until the eagles disappeared behind a distant hill. For all I know they’re still at it.
It was a dramatic end to an epic afternoon on the river marked by 27 eagle sightings.
Phil, who keeps score of just about everything – wind direction, tides, distances, cruising speed – also maintained a play-by-play commentary as we worked our way from a launch site at the end of Ely’s Ferry road, upriver to Selden Creek, around Selden Island and back again, a distance of slightly more than 9 miles.
We hadn’t been on the water more than 30 seconds before eagle-eyed Phil shouted, “Two o’clock!” Robin and I swiveled our heads, and sure enough, our first eagle of the day hovered above the pines. Less than a minute later a second appeared, and then a third.
Now is prime time for eagle watching on the lower Connecticut River, as dozens of migratory birds fly in from Maine, Canada and other points north to fish in ice-free waters. They will remain for several more weeks before winging their way home in spring.
You can watch the birds from shore at various points in Lyme and Haddam, as well as from places across the river in Essex and Deep River, or you can pay for a tour boat cruise, but for years I’ve done my sightseeing by kayak.
By paddling close to shore we managed to get within 50 yards of roosting birds, often not realizing their proximity until they spread mighty 3-foot wings and launched skyward. Robin is not only a fast paddler she is quick with a camera and managed to snap a few photos – not an easy feat in a tippy boat while clutching a paddle and wearing gloves.
Though the wind was blustery during our two-plus hours of paddling, bright sunshine helped boost the air temperature into the 50s, ridiculously warm for late February. The water temperature, though, still hovered in the high 30s, and we dodged intermittent ice floes drifting downstream with an ebbing tide.
“This is lot more temperate than some of our past paddles,” I said.
In previous years we had to drive to several different launch sites before finding one that wasn’t frozen solid, and last year a friend and I resorted to using our tandem kayak as an icebreaker while circumnavigating Selden Island, even though a couple of Jet-Skiers plowed through the narrow, ice-choked channel not long before us.
By a remarkable twist of bad timing, we encountered those same noisy watercraft in the identical location. This time at least, the creek on the east side of Selden Island was for the most part ice-free.
Ice can be a menace but also a boon. One year friends and I paddled past more than 20 eagles perched on a frozen sheet near the edge of open water not far from Gillette Castle State Park.
The other day we saw not only eagles but also several varieties of ducks, great blue herons, a red-tail hawk and a flock of foraging wild turkeys.
I recall a Connecticut River canoe trip years earlier from its source near the Canadian border all the way to the mouth at Long Island Sound. Back then the insecticide DDT was still widely used, which weakened the eggs of many shore birds. In addition, in that era before widespread wastewater treatment, rivers were polluted with industrial effluent and raw sewage. During that entire 400-mile journey we saw not one eagle, hawk, heron or egret.
Fast forward a few decades, and the Connecticut River has become one of the most pristine, well-populated habitats for a wide variety of shore birds in all seasons.
Let’s hope protests prevent the new administration from gutting federal water quality regulations and reversing decades of wildlife protection and improvement.
If you want to watch eagles there are public launch sites off the aforementioned Ely’s Ferry Road, as well as at Plgrim’s Landing Road in Old Lyme a few miles south. The ferry landing in Hadlyme is another good place to put in, as well as a boat launch just north of the Connecticut River Museum in Essex.
If cold-weather paddling doesn’t appeal to you, take heart: Eagles not only migrate to local waters in winter but more frequently are becoming year-round residents. Nesting pairs have turned up in a few places in southeastern Connecticut and with continued protection will continue to proliferate.
They not only are national symbols but also symbolize hope for a brighter, more sustainable future.
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