River Road

When my daughter and I eat at the Friendly’s restaurant near our house, we make a point of driving home via River Road, a street that travels past the salt marshes that lie along the banks of the Mystic River. Over the years, we have seen everything from swans and geese swimming in the river, to ospreys nesting on platforms installed by a conservation agency in order to increase the birth rate of these lovely feathered hunters. We also routinely spy a cormorant that sits atop a rock just offshore where the road turns east toward a local boat launch.

Until today, our best view of this cormorant was at some distance, always on the same rock, and always standing in that tall, bill upright posture so commonly seen amongst herons and the like. Today, however, we were treated to a close-up view of this bird preening himself on a rock right at the side of the road, much farther upstream than his accustomed perch. Of course, as usual, we did NOT have our camera in the car (!) so we have no awesome photos of this magical sight. We do, however, have a general photo of the river and the marsh. We have included it here for your enjoyment. Better luck (and better planning) next time.