| Paddle Log — 2025 |
|---|
| LAUNCH SITE |
DATE |
WHO |
DISTANCE |
COMMENTS |
| Vandenburgh-Dunsbach Ferry |
April 14 |
Both |
9 |
Wagers Pond, Erie Canal, Town Park & Krause's. Kingfishers, muskrats, GBHs, turtles, ducks, a snake, ospreys, an eagle & a great egret. |
| Vandenburgh-Dunsbach Ferry |
April 23 |
Both |
6 |
Wagers Pond & Blains Bay. Low water prevented Erie Canal entry. Exuberant animal activity throughout starting with a gathering of 12 eagles, continuing with a flock of blue-winged teals, encountering many snapping turtles & others. |
| Athens |
April 25 |
Both |
13 |
Eagles nesting on PH, SMG, LNH & Gays Point; ospreys nesting on HA & possibly 147. Stiff breeze head-to-wind on return. |
| Ticonderoga State Boat Launch |
April 28 |
Both |
12 |
Porcupines at East Creek (97.3 feet), a snake by the La Chute RR bridge & crows mobbing a raven near the fort. |
| Coxsackie |
May 1 |
Both |
11 |
Cloudy, low water, some eagles, more ospreys, new osprey nest at 157. Stop at PH. |
| Vandenburgh-Dunsbach Ferry |
May 12 |
Both |
7 |
Some wind on elevated water. Majority of wildlife activity concentrated on the old canal. |
| Lock 7 |
May 13 |
Both |
8 |
One falcon near Knolls & an oriole. High water, strong current, grotto flooded, lunch at Aqueduct, return head-to-wind. |
| Coxsackie |
May 26 |
Both |
13 |
Delightful day with many photo ops. Highlight — a turkey family at MGF. Also, bank swallows at PH & SMG. Stop at PH. |
| South Bay State Boat Launch |
May 27 |
Both |
12 |
Quiet weather, disappointing paucity of interesting subjects. Ospreys at 26, 28 & 30. Lunch at Chubbs Dock. Water level 98.2 feet. |
| Stuyvesant Landing |
June 3 |
Both |
14 |
Afternoon launch into heat & haze. Several eagle chicks look almost ready to fly. Carp spilled out from a lagoon east of the tracks. Stop at SMG. |
| Athens |
June 5 |
M |
10 |
Morning launch into eventual intense heat & thick haze. The SMG nest has an occupant with both parents in evidence. Carp are still mating in the brickyard. Stop at SMG. |
| Coxsackie |
June 8 |
Both |
11 |
Misty morning launch on elevated water through brickyard bay, turning around in a hazy cove at Priming Hook. Little carp activity. Ospreys are nesting on 157, possibly 147 also — many sticks but no occupants. |
| North Germantown Landing |
June 21 |
Both |
9 |
Heavy commercial traffic, Inbocht Bay choked with weeds, fixed marker IB stuffed with cormorants. Stop at island near Roe Jan. |
| Henry Hudson |
June 29 |
Both |
9 |
Breezy early launch into high water. Many eagles aloft but very little other animal activity. Brunch at #214. |
| Schodack Island State Park |
June 30 |
Both |
9 |
Early launch into dead calm water. A few eagles, cormorants, herons, turtles, ospreys & kingfishers. An eagle chick occupied a nest at the west shore opposite the Vlockie Kill. Stop at HH. |
| Athens |
July 2 |
Both |
12 |
An osprey at #147, two eagle fledglings at SMG, six cormorants on a log & many skittish GBHs in brickyard bay. Chestnut mats are still thin. Stop at HRISP. |
| 123rd Street |
July 4 |
Both |
10 |
Delightful paddle. Highlights — an eagle chick on a small island between Peebles & Waterford, also a beaver paused on shore in a cove upstream. |
| Coxsackie |
July 5 |
Both |
10 |
Launch just after dawn into the mud flats. Many eagles, cormorants & GBHs. Stop at SMG. |
| Coxsackie |
July 7 |
Both |
8 |
Repeat of previous. Many eagles near mouth of Stockport Creek, one coaxing us onto a low water flat as the level oscillated up & down following the passage of a cargo ship. Stop at SMG. |
| Peru State Boat Launch |
July 9 |
Both |
10 |
Valcour & Garden Islands. Quiet setting, few boaters. A loon, a black-backed gull, a caspian tern, a great egret, an osprey, an eagle, goldeneye & merganser families. No mallards. |
| Coxsackie |
July 15 |
M |
11 |
Early launch, busy day — 20 eagles, 6-8 ospreys & 1 beaver. Only one other vessel on the water the entire paddle, a tug. Stop at RR village. |
| Stuyvesant Landing |
July 16 |
M |
8 |
Same area as yesterday. Foggy & cloudy. Many eagles still present, also two vessels this time, both tugs. Stop at Bronck Island, way overgrown. |
| Athens |
July 19 |
Both |
11 |
Three osprey chicks at HA, a buck at brickyard bay, seven kayakers, thick chestnut mats. Stop at HRISP. |
| Coxsackie |
July 22 |
Both |
12 |
Extraordinary profusion of eagles & ospreys. GBHs too. Stop at Priming Hook. |
| Coxsackie |
July 26 |
Both |
9 |
Repeat of previous. Many eagles again but not a single osprey in flight. Preternaturally hazy morning. Stop at SMG. |
| Athens |
July 29 |
Both |
10 |
Launch at dawn to beat the heat, many ospreys & more eagles. Explored Stockport Creek, found nothing. Stop at East Flat. |
| Lewis Creek F & W |
August 2 |
Both |
10 |
Little Otter Creek. Endless succession of GBHs & GEs, impossible to say which were more numerous. An immature white ibis hung out with the latter. Many active caspian terns. |
| Lock 7 |
August 3 |
Both |
9 |
Cool morning. A hummingbird but no falcons. Two men with a chain saw cut up fallen trees in the grotto. |
| Athens |
August 19 |
M |
9 |
A small flock of egrets posed on the mats under a cloud cover, three fish crows pecked at a deer carcass near SMG & an artist set up her easel at four mile point. |
| Coxsackie |
August 27 |
Both |
8 |
Egrets busy in brickyard bay & an eagle stole a fish from an osprey. Snack at SMG where a wasp dragged a spider into its burrough. |
| Stuyvesant Landing |
August 28 |
Both |
10 |
Cool, misty morning giving way to eventual sunshine. Few photo ops. Stop at RR village. |
| Athens |
August 31 |
Both |
11 |
Many ospreys early, egrets still present on the water chestnut mats & a beaver swam eccentric patterns near its lodge. Beautiful day. Brunch at SMG. |
| Athens |
Sept 2 |
M |
9 |
FLOTSAM! docked at Hudson, Hudson-Athens Lighthouse undergoing repairs & egrets still present on the mats. Lunch at Stockport Creek. |
| Schodack Island State Park |
Sept 9 |
Both |
12 |
Mostly quiet paddle to the tip of Houghtaling Island highlighted by an encounter with a pair of mute swans at the Coeymans breakwater. |
| Coxsackie |
Sept 10 |
Both |
8 |
Prolonged photo op of Clearwater under sail in the Nutten Hook vicinity. Stop at SMG. |
| Athens |
Sept 13 |
Both |
12 |
Launch at dawn under a thin cloud cover. Unusually high water. Many egrets & GBHs present on the thinning mats. Lunch at HRISP. |