Day 185, Friday Oct. 5, 2018, From Lake Champlain, along the St.Lawrence River, to Lake Ontario.

That's some very powerful waterways in one day.  It all began with  a Ferry ride from S.Hero (Grand Island VT) across the Lake Champlain to the New York state side at Plattsburgh.  The ferry ride had us against the bulkhead and behind a Fed Ex truck so we could not even get out to take a photo so this one will have to do of the loading.

Through the windshield does  not take the best photo. The Ferry loading.

Homes on the New York side from the Ferry (Lake Champlain)

The plan was to follow the routes as close to the St Lawrence River as possible so we could see the activities and scenery along the way. We did that and at one point missed a route that would have taken us inland, so it worked out  that we saw MORE of the St. Lawrence River than planned.  We did see the St. Lawrence and at this point it is not as wide as it is when we were up in Quebec near Riviere du Loup.

Even though it seems strange, The St Lawrence River has bays that jut into the land. Here is one.

Taking photos at 55 mph it is hard to know where the "openings" are. Here Ruth did get a good pic of the River  between some homes.

 As we moved inland, the colors and small farms between the towns and "corners" were constant.  They pump your gas for you in NY state and I had not experienced that since Oregon which does the same.  There were some colors and the roads were excellent.

Some color on Hwy 11 Northern  New York

From the speeding truck.

And a true red here.

And again , the width of the St. Lawrence River is shown easily.

We did see some birds today and the total was 17,  ALL from the truck while it was moving.  We are getting better at that and at times we cannot tell  the ID so we just cross it off the list. Significant ones seen on the road (at 55 mph) were: Two KESTRELS, RED TAILED HAWK, RED WING BLACKBIRD -5,(long time no see) , RUSTY BLACKBIRD,  (new species) and  many of the same ones we have been seeing.

We did splurge and stopped for lunch at a Burger King on the edge of Massena. Massena is an old town on the St. Lawrence but not founded until 1805. (Some towns on Lake Erie were founded well  before that.) It was originally a farmers community with cheese and butter the main products, and as they needed blacksmiths, woodworkers and haberdasheries, all came along soon after. A power plant was built early on the Grass River and still provides power for the town.  ALCOA aluminum plant is the OLDEST OPERATING  Aluminum plant in the world.  It hired some 800 workers until the auto industry crashed in 2000's and has employed half of that since then. Its present population is 17,000. That is the exact size of Colchester VT.

One of the unique features of Hwy 11 are the long stone fences .This one was about 1 mile long .

Some high spots have wind generators on the down slopes of the Adirondacks which we "skirted".

 Electric Grid Mix in New York
Natural Gas: 37.77%
Nuclear: 32.97%
Hydro: 22.40%
Wind: 3.08%
Biomass: 1.78%
Other Fossil: 0.71%
Coal: 0.60%
Oil: 0.51%
Solar: 0.17%

So you can see that NY state has a very good start on green energy. Check some other states to see the differences. California and Arizona (sunny states) are interesting to see the solar that is used. ( I had some stats on the blog from SW AZ. Late May?)

Good roads in "Upstate" New York.

Early in the day on Hwy 11 westbound. (The shadows tell)

Just before I put my chip back into my camera, this showed up out the window. It was an ordinary sunset, but it changed in a hurry.

Day 184, THurs. Oct 4, 2018-- Wrap up in Vermont...Birds, Cider and a Rainbow.

The weather prediction was rain in the afternoon (it didn't happen) so we moved out in the morning, covering some of the same ground we did in previous days, but with a twist.

We had not been into Colchester or Essex, another nearby town , so this was a good time to do that. Both towns are small, quite typical of small town Vermont, with the city's main building (city hall, historical society, police, etc) all situated in the same block in town.  These older towns have grown but started in a concentrated area.  Colchester is a town of 17,000, but there are so many trees in the neighborhoods you would never see the homes. Named for the Earl of Colchester, it is the second most populous TOWN in the state of Vermont.   Pre-Columbian natives lived here 2,000 years ago. The suburb of Winooski Village seceded from it ,causing it to lose about 1/2 of its base.
(** If you wish to see a very confusing election for merger , look up' Essex VT' and see how they merged and then "unmerged" all in the same year. )

A short drive to Sand Bar beach again brought few birds but the wind was now blowing at 30 mph across the Lake (Champlain) and the birds are not dumb.  We continued on to seek some doughnuts at Hackett's Orchard and some cider to take along on the rest of the trip. The owner was taking a load of school children on a hay ride in a wagon.

Tis the season.

The children were excited for the ride in the wagon through the orchards.

From there we meandered on side roads starting to pick up some birds. We actually ended up with as many as the day before (21) and that included: BALD EAGLE (young one), GREAT EGRET , GREAT BLUE HERON,  LINCOLN SPARROW, BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEE, CHIPPING SPARROW, NORTHERN FLICKER, DOWNY WOODPECKER ( long time no see) , BLACK DUCK, MALLARD, PIED BILLED GREBE, WOOD DUCK, and hordes of  CANADIAN GEESE in the fields resting or eating . The Geese were very active , flying over in huge flocks, or resting in fields of corn. In one field the farmer had deliberately left the corn on the ground after harvesting, The Gees appreciate that both in the fall and the spring.

In the distance the Geese are resting

Better view of them resting.

Then we got serious about seeing both the apples and the barns in the area. Ruth is always looking for another barn to photograph and she spotted two today , only one was "photo class".

These are probably Ruby Mac.

A row of Ruby Macs with wonderful yield.

One of Ruth's finds. (Side view)

Front view.

Then came the surprise of the day. As we were looking for a spot along the water to eat lunch, we saw these hundreds of birdhouses on trees all painted many bright colors. There were hundreds of them. Here... let the photos tell the story.

This was the view as we approached the woods.

A view through the woods.

The reason for it in the first place.Very practical.

Part of the woods that was covered with bird houses (Swallows)

BE SURE TO READ THE "STORY" ABOVE.
That ended the day on a high note for sure. We returned to the trailer in the wind but were in the middle of supper, when the rain showers came . Just during the rains, however, the sun came out near sunset so it was very low in the sky. I ran to the door with my camera and there was  a rainbow!  Just after that the sun set so you get both of them tonight!

Sunset after the rain.

Rainbow during the rain. From the trailer door.

Tomorrow we head for NY state taking the ferry across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh and then around by the St Lawrence River  to Watertown, NY,  area on Lake Ontario. See you then.

Day 183, Wed. Oct 3, 2018, A "loop" around the Lake Champlain Islands, and a NWR (Missisiquoi)

Actually it is not possible to take a "loop" around the Islands, but one can make a "loop" and include the Islands on the "loop". We did just that. The first target was the National Wildlife Refuge named Missisiquoi.  It is located a few miles south of the Canadian border, and a few mile east of the state of New York. 

This gives a general idea of the Refuge. We stayed on the roads  and crossed to US 2 at the middle  left road.

 Missisiquoi is a 5,000 acres of wetlands and marsh. bisected by the river of the same name. Besides the water ways, and islands  along the river there are 5 trails in the NWR that give access to the Refuge. We did stop by three of those trail heads to scope out the areas. We made a stop at the Refuge HQ where we met Lisa a 20 veteran of the Refuge. She gave us valuable information as to where we might easily access the marsh called Stephen Young, and a marsh further down the road (A WMA) called Mud Creek . The former was a fine marsh where we did see  NORTHERN HARRIER, BROWN HEADED COWBIRDS (A flock), EASTERN PHOEBE, SWAMP SPARROW, GREAT BLUE HERON and a  GREATER YELLOWLEGS.   It was a very beautiful marsh, with plenty of natural hiding places for wildlife of all kinds. the sparrows and shorebirds had a free reign of the place.
 

Ruth spotted this birdhouse in the middle of the vines.

The Stephen Young Marsh from the center .

An Osprey nest in the Young Marsh.

One of the five trails is the RR trail (ahead on the left)

In order to get to the other good possibilities of birding there we drove to Buck's Bend Rd. where there is a boat launch a mile in from the highway. On the way there were birds along the roadside. A wonderful alder row was one of the places we saw SLATE COLORED JUNCO, CHIPPING SPARROW, NORTHERN FLICKER, DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT ( on the river) , AMERICAN ROBIN, RED BELLIED WOODPECKER (long time since seeing this one),and across the road went a  RUFFED GROUSE. The TURKEY VULTURES were active today.

Mud Creed WMA . Very quiet except for the Great Blue Heron we scared away on arriving.

The Missisiquoi River at Buck's Bend.

Explanation of the jeep trail.

Our final drive was to US 2 north of the Islands and then through the islands with stops here and there for observations along the waters edge and some stops for barns that Ruth had previously scoped out for possible photos. The sun was not out but it was lighter than the day before.
We did not pick up any birds even at the Sand Bar WMA on the way home.

Some other photos from the day.

Chalk up another barn for Ruth

Many piles of wood, some stacked, for winter.

The last photo of the drive. A Great Blue Heron by the Lake shore.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day , so we do not have a plan yet. 

Day 182, Tuesday Oct. 2, 2018, It rained--but...We saw the Grand Isle of Lake Champlain..and birds!!!

Yes, after a number of days when the birds were few to be seen, we did accumulate 21 birds today. That was not easy as it was all during the rain the came down almost all day. I think there was a 20 minute span in the afternoon when it was just "cloudy".

We took our lunch with us (netted two birds at lunch the PIED BILLED GREBE and the  BELTED KINGFISHER), and headed toward the Sand Bar Park again  to see if the birds were still there. Even in the rain getting out the scope we could see the GREAT BLUE HERON (many) , GADWALL, MALLARDS, RING BILLED GULL, BLACK DUCK, WOOD DUCK (pretty fascinating to see them in the open) , CANADIAN GEESE,  and GREAT EGRET.  

Te Lamoille  River is short but full. From US 2 (VT)

A portion of Sand Bar Park where we saw the Pine Warblers

The Grand Isle Marina  with many empty slips.

That was before we stopped for cider and donuts at Hackett's Farm store and apple house. We were able to watch them sorting apples by size and using the floater that brings the apples up the conveyor from the tank where they are rinsed.. The daughter of the owner said they have been there 60 years and two previous owners had the place before that. Certainly much more than 100 years old.  This land is a part of the South Hero and Vermont Land Trusts. We can assume that the land will not be used for other than what it is at present. No developments, housing , apartments, etc.

Here is how it works..." South Hero Land Trust protects the natural and agricultural landscapes of South Hero through conservation projects. We work with willing landowners to facilitate protecting their land through conservation easements, wherein the landowner sells or donates his or her development rights to a qualified land conservation organization. In doing so, the landowner can be assured that the property will be protected in perpetuity.
A conservation easement is a legal document that permanently restricts the development potential of property that has significant natural or cultural value. With a conservation easement, landowners protect their land without giving up ownership and can continue to use the land for farming, forestry, recreation, education, and other non-development purposes. The easement runs with the land; the original owner and all subsequent owners are bound by the restrictions of the easement. Conservation easements are flexible by nature; they can be designed to provide for future family housing needs, farm expansion, and in some cases even limited sub-divisibility, as long as the natural and agricultural resource values are protected

Hackett's market was in full gear. The hot summer and recent rains condensed the work time for harvest.

The rinse tub allows the apples to move up the conveyor to bins for sorting.

In the "back room" they are sorted for size and refrigerated right away.

We continued on down US 2  to the Ferry at the end of route 314. where we will cross over to New York state  and continue our journey westward on Friday. The Ferry will save both wear and tear on the vehicles and quite a bit of time overall.

An aerial view of the Hackett's orchards. Store at upper left.

Watermelons yet to be harvested in a large garden.

The Ferry landing we will use this week.

A Unique sign on gasoline pumps for Canadian customers and zip codes.

The last part of the day was the lunch on the east side of the Island where a small dirrt access to the bay allows some parking between two homes, one of which was a "B and B". It was here we saw those first two birds. We also tested those donuts from Hackett's Orchards.
 

Ed Hyde's family home for 150 years.

The schoolhouse is next door to the cabin.

A stop at the nations oldest original log house was the next pause.  Mr. Hyde's cabin was home for his family for 150 years .He taught in the schoolhouse next door many oft he years he lived there 


 That was it for the day on the road , but we had time to do some photo work and write letters before supper. The evening meal was one of the those wonderful "cold , wet, rainy day specialties..." Tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches". It was the right dish for the right time. Thanks Ruth!

Tomorrow we hope for some sunshine and a chance to get to the Missisiquoi NWR . It is a few miles north of where we are .  The sun should provide the light for some quality photos. See you then.

Day 181, Mon. Oct 1, 2018, Selecting photos, Mallette's Bay, Sand Bar WMA (Wildlife Management Area)

It was another cool and damp day, with the temps never getting above 53 F  with overcast skies. The rains did come last night, but let up by noon. So after some time working on the DVD for this trip, we took a drive to two areas of potential bird life. One of which was successful. ( One of the tanks for the propane ran out while we were working , so I took that over to the Office and got it refilled. (#30 is $38.00) Gasoline is $2.89/gal.

A stop at the Post Office to mail some items to my two great grand children

One of those "back walls" I wrote about,... behind the houses.

These new homes did have some well manicured yards.

The first area was a newly developed residential neighborhood , that borders both Mallette's Bay (a bay of Lake Champlain) and the Lake itself. There are high cliffs above the Lake and there is where the house building is going on. In order to build, the designers have to figure out where to put the houses around or over the huge rocks that are in this area. One man had a huge bucket shovel working in his back yard that was moving some of the huge rocks into place so the yard could be somewhat leveled. Another home had the back of the house walled in by a 60 foot wall of stone.  Some houses were on flat ground with few rocks. All were large 3,000+ sq.f homes at least in size. There were no birds that we saw in that area, even though it was close to the water.

Along the road by the Bay we did see some MALLARDS  and  COMMON MERGANSERS.  The Mergansers were going ziggity zaggity all over the water chasing those fish.

This is the season to bring in the boats. There were hundreds at this Marina.

One of two Common Mergansers we saw chasing fish.

 I remembered that there was a park on US 2 (same road) called Sand Bar Park  located just before the road crosses Lake Champlain to go to one of the four Islands at the north end of the Lake. We did go there and stayed a while identifying Nine birds: BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEE, PINE WARBLER, GADWALL, NORTHERN HARRIER, BLUE WINGED TEAL, DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT, RING BILLED GULL, and  GREAT EGRET.  The Pine Warblers were a surprise as we had not seen any warblers for about three weeks. They moved quickly away, but were visible just long enough to identify. The Great Egret I saw flying when were were turning on the road. I told Ruth we should watch for them on the shore of the Sand Bar Park. When we stopped and got our equipment out , there they were . Eventually we saw 5 of them, so beautiful was that white against the gray water and sky.  While standing there a very mature Northern Harrier flew between the trees and headed for the water. I think it might have had it's eye on something smaller than the Egrets, as the Egrets didn't move. It was swooping and turning constantly, so we had a good show to watch.

Sand Bar Park  was established in 1933 and was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) by 1935. The stone bathhouse is a National historic Building , built by the CCC.  The sand bar is a natural sandbar at the end of the peninsula across from the Islands. Now there is a causeway connects the two.

The bathhouse built by the CCC in 1933-1935

A plaque telling of  the history of the area.

The flag goes with this memorial for the victims of 9/11 (Neat story)

A look at upper Lake Champlain at Sand Bar park. (Looking south)

One of the five Great Egrets we saw there.

 It took us a while to identify the Gadwalls some 400 yard s out in the water as they had their heads down, and until they moved we could not identify them positively.  It was getting cold out there so after they started to move around, we called it a day and headed back to the trailer.

Supper was spaghetti, and this time, I talked Ruth into having it with Meatballs and we did. Very good.
Usually I take a short walk to stretch out the legs and I did again today before starting this blog.

Tomorrow if the day opens up a bit we will start a trip through the Islands. From there the New York Adirondacks can be seen as well as the Green Mountains of Vermont.