JOURNEY #37 - July 13, 2003

Muskrat River (Muskrat Lake --> Highway 24 return)

PICTURES

Home Of The Muskrat Troll?
Silver Maples
Great Blue Heron

TRIP REPORT

We did just about the same trip a year ago (see Journey 16 for directions and launch site) with the only difference being that we added a couple of kilometres, for a total round trip of 21 km. We might have gone a lot further had the sun not been beating down, but unfortunately the overcast skies were gone by the time we entered the river, and the heat was at times stifling.

The attraction of this trip is the wildlife. If you like great blue herons, you will see as many as a couple of dozen. We saw some very active kingfishers plunging into the water, as well as black terns swooping over the marshy areas.

Our favourite attraction is the American Coot. These clumsy birds, which could be described as pigeons of the water the way they bob their heads, make some hilarious noises. Click here for a sample recording.

We did spot a few, but couldn't get very close. Where possible, they swam into tall grasses to escape our view, but when cover was not readily available, they did fly away. The way they take flight is quite bizarre, it is as though they don't have the strength to overcome gravity. And the landing is not much better, as we noted when one particular coot that took flight plunged rather ungracefully into the water near shore.

There is a widening of the river known as Mud Lake that is host to all sorts of bird species, as well as lots of smallmouth bass. Although we were here only a couple of weeks earlier than last year's visit, Mud Lake did not seem to have anywhere near as much vegetation, which made for an easier time getting through.

There were no boats at all in the section between Mud Lake and the 24. There were people fishing in various spots along the other half of the journey, particularly in the small stretch of silver maple swamp that is quite close to the 17 bridge.

The stats on the day:

Total distance: 21k

Total time: 3:30

Moving average: 5.7 km/h

Top speed: 10.2 km/h