Blue Goose ~ Day 89

August 28, 2014 ~ Hammonassett Beach State Park, CT to Newburgh, NY

Since I went to bed so early, I woke before sunrise which is now a little after 6 a.m. Well, good, I would go to the east end of the park where there were nature trails and observation points into the salt marshes. But orange cones on the road stopped me, and after thinking about it for two minutes, I thought perhaps the other side of the road was 2-way and started on that, startling a middle-age couple walking their dog. And because I had surprised them, they were crabby at first, half yelling at me that this was "one-way," but I explained what I was doing and soon they calmed down and became very talkative, especially the guy. They were so "eastern." He said to just drive across the grass to get to the road behind the cones..."Yeah, yeah, everybody does that all the time.."

So I did. It was early-morning peaceful with the ocean on one side, marshes on the other and a few walkers and serious bicyclists also out. I have had day after day after day of perfect weather and today was one more...

I took a trail onto an island into the marsh and watched a Snowy Egret for 15 minutes, its whiteness bright against the dark muddy bank where it was foraging. I waited until it moved on lifting golden feet out of the water. And when I walked back to the parking lot (through mosquitoes) I saw an amazing thing - a gigantic dragonfly, at least 4 inches long with a body the size of a thimble, swinging back and forth like it was on an invisible pendulum and then it flew in small circles, but suddenly one of its wingtips got caught on the tip of a branch. It frantically tried to get free and for about 45 seconds, it couldn't. It was just hanging by this snagged lacy wing. I could HEAR the buzzing commotion as it struggled before it finally succeeded.

The island had old pear and apple trees and half-eaten fruit littered the ground.

I drove to the end of the road; it was still early but there were fisherman out on a pier. Using the scope, I watched a Little Blue Heron, Black Ducks, Semipalmated Sandpipers and a single Yellowlegs poking in the mud flats.

Little Blue Heron at Hammonasset Beach State Park - CT

Many Northern Mockingbirds were fussing in the dense foliage around a large public beach pavilion. Everywhere, I saw signs warning people not to take shelter in these structures during storms.

The low coastal shrubbery is impenetrable. It's like that in Oregon also....bushwhacking would take hours with machetes and be a horrid job.

When I left after a couple of hours, many more people were arriving, some with binoculars, some hiking and some with fishing gear but still no crowds. Many of these beaches have lifeguards, but it was too early. The sand is grittier and dirtier along here, not like the sugar sand of Lake Michigan beaches.

The Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center property was as near as I could get to the Milford Point Unit of the Stewart B. Kinney NWR, so I made my way through city streets and then narrow lanes among private beach homes to a parking lot tucked between the marsh and ocean. The actual headquarters was a large house built on stilts with a wide porch across the front. Fall was in the air with late summer foliage drying in the sunshine, very evident on this property. I saw a Least Sandpiper doing a Thor Heyerdahl as it moved about on a mat of reeds which moved slowly on the edge of the marsh with the motion of the tides.

Least Sandpiper at Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center - CT

There were whitecaps as a strong northern wind was blowing. This is still Hurricane Sandy territory, and it was very obvious to me why salt marshes and barrier islands are so important. Here though, as along so much of the Atlantic coast, it is highly developed and has cost us (taxpayers) billions for those who now have just rebuilt on the impermanent sands.

The traffic picked up as I drove closer to New York City so leaving that Interstate, I headed for a more northern route. My plan has been to go around the big cities on beltways or other roads, staying at least 20-25 miles from city centers, and this brought me to to I84 where I felt sane again. It was like driving through the Midwest and scenic with hills, forests and long views.

I crossed the Hudson River which elicited a strong desire to live in a home high above the river on the west side and be a river watcher. (DHC, can Brendan see the Hudson from his house?) I84 goes past West Point, and when I stopped in Newburgh and ate at an Applebee's, I sensed a "Yes Sir! presence" in certain of the men eating there.

While tiring of Walmart, the 24-hour Supermarts generally have much better parking lots, as did the one in Newburgh, and I got a spot under the trees near two larger RVs. I ate Sam's Club almond cookies (a lot like very thin windmill cookies) while I read Amy Tan's new book, Valley of Amazement.

Long Island Sound at Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center - CT