Meryl Grandy

The First Chill

Fall arrived at pace a few nights ago, the temperature dropping 20 degrees overnight and staying put, with the October winds showing up for good measure as well.  Today, looked to be a good day with some breeze and a lot of sun.  It is time for my annual collecting of shed swan feathers.

I found most of the swans, some eighty or so, in the bottom of the cove.  Unfortunately, it was windier than predicted, something closer to 20 than 10, and it had been windy for a few days.  So, there were very few feathers to be found, certainly not enough to be worth wetting my fingers on such a chilly day (my fingers were numb from the cold wind alone).  Any feathers that had been shed were long blown into the depths of the marsh where I could not reach or even see them.

I clawed my way into the headwind up the cove, hugging the shore for whatever buffer the forest might provide, and turned up the Moodus, a narrow and relatively protected river.  Once out of the wind, I paddled along slowly and quietly staying alert for fauna and scanning the bottom for the odd rare find of past events.  I spotted 2 kingfishers, heard one distant woodpecker, and saw a flicker. 

The Moodus

Beaver bank burrow in the Moodus

Returning to the cove, I crossed to the far side and took the tailwind boost down that shore.  The late staying osprey is here.  I'm guessing it is the same late osprey as last year, one that stays long after the others have migrated south.  When I cross back over the cove, I notice the silhouettes of two large birds in a bare tree top.  The whistle and chatter ID's them as bald eagles.  I get several minutes to enjoy them as the wind pushes me past their perch.