Eagles and Vultures


This past September was memorable to me for the number of paddling outings in which bald eagles were encountered.  While I'd noticed a general uptick in the number of times I see these majestic birds while paddling, this September was just crazy.  I went out paddling 11 times during September and encountered eagles on 7 of those occasions (4 in Massachusetts and 3 in New Hampshire).   Even though eagle encounters are becoming more and more frequent, I still feel a sense of excitement upon seeing one and remember all the years when I never saw them.  It's been incredible to witness how fast our nation's symbol has rebounded from near extinction.  The success is said to be a result of the 1972 ban on the pesticide DDT (thanks to Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring") as well as protection provided to eagles by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.  Each time we see an eagle it's a reminder of how successful the Endangered Species Act can be in protecting an endangered or threatened species.  However, our present administration seems intent on messing with the Endangered Species Act.   What part of Murphy's Law do these folks not understand?   "When something's working well, don't mess with it!"

The eagle in the opening photo was one of a pair seen on October 3rd in Fairhaven Bay on the Sudbury River.  Thus it looks like October is getting off to a good start eagle-wise.

The eagle's presumed mate was seen occasionally popping its head up above the grass of the bay's small island.  My guess is a carcass was being attended to...


Not too far from the island a pair of turkey vultures may have been awaiting their turn to feed...
...and their size is close to that of an eagle.


Other birds seen over the past week include this cormorant demonstrating a one-legged perch...
...and this plump sandpiper...
...both seen October 1st on the Concord River.

Low water levels on the Assabet River this past Monday are attested to by the 'high and dry' inscription at Egg Rock...
...and those same low water levels helped in uncovering this quart-sized jar labelled "Lightning"...
...which dates to sometime between 1882 and 1896.  It's missing the original stopper and wire retainer.  The bottom is marked "Putnam 397" and interestingly has a ghosting of the same mark.  The Putnam refers to the jar's "lightning" closure device designed by Henry W. Putnam.  Jar is in great shape and cleaned up fine.  Now, if I can just locate the glass stopper.  The wire retainer probably rusted away long ago.  I've always wanted to find 'lightning in a bottle'.  Guess I'll have to settle for 'lightning in a jar'.

My ascent of the Assabet came to an end at these fallen trees across the river's full width...
...and while someone's done a lot of good saw-work, the main trunk still blocks passage at these low water levels.

This past Tuesday I got out on the Millers River...
...and it occurred to me how fortunate I was to get out on several rivers this past week.  As weeks go it was a doozy and thankfully those rivers provided a place where no one was claiming to have "unmatched wisdom".

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