citizen science | Mercury on the Move

Yesterday I volunteered for the second time for the Mid-Winter Eagle Survey. My route was the Winooski River, from Waterbury to Lake Champlain. I stopped at several spots along the river, crisscrossing and paralleling as I went. Unlike last year, this year I did see one Bald Eagle, perched overlooking the mouth of the river. Like last year, I took photos as I went. Here is my January 2017 Winooski River Portrait:

River’s edge, Waterbury, Vermont

Winooski Street Bridge, Waterbury, Vermont

Bolton/Duxbury Dam

Duxbury, from Long Trail next to Winooski River

View of Winooski River from Long Trail Bridge

Pancake ice

Common Merganser, seen from Jonesville Bridge

From Warren and Ruth Beeken Rivershore Preserve

Looking west from Volunteers Green in Richmond, Vermont

Discarded television, Williston, Vermont

View of Winooski River from Woodside Park, Colchester, Vermont

Winooski, Vermont

Ice at Ethan Allen Homestead, Burlington, Vermont

Bald Eagle looking out over Winooski River and Lake Champlain

I recently volunteered for the Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey. The target date was today so I headed out early to look for our national bird. My route was the Winooski River, from Waterbury to Lake Champlain. This is a pretty long route and it meant lots of planning to figure out which spots I could stop along to river to try to find eagles. I ended up stopping at 14 points along the river. I saw no eagles. I did, however, get to see a lot of the river.

The day was cloudy, just above freezing, with snow showers and rain showers and a mix falling briefly. Following is a January portrait of the Winooski River, or, at least, part of the Winooski River. It was beautiful. I was lucky to get to see so much of it in one day.