Sporting Life
Last evening, I biked along the opposite shore of the Speed River from yesterday’s cleanup, not expecting to find much (this side of the river is away from highway traffic).
There’s always some debris caught in the shallows, so I jumped in to fish out a few plastic bags. Right at my feet, I spotted a giant snapping turtle underwater. Impressive!
I tiptoed around to not disturb it, and moved to the middle of the river where a 30lbs weight was left on the concrete diverters, and it looked like it’s previously been in the river for a while. While picking it up, I also noticed an egret slightly upstream.
Although I hadn’t expected much, the collection of plastics and sporting goods proved to be quite heavy for my trailer. I also collected 27 beer cans and bottles along the shoreline. So much for a quick cleanup!
As I was biking the rest of the trail at sunset, a heron screeched as it came in for a landing along the same stretch of water. It’s pretty amazing to see how much life (and random debris) this river holds. Here’s a quick video of what I saw:
Notable Finds
30 lbs weight; Recyclables: 15 cans, 12 bottles
Wildlife Observed
Snapping turtle, egret, blue heron