Kayak Outing at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

Last Friday was a gorgeous, gorgeous day for a leisurely kayak trip on the Missisquoi River!! The temperature was perfect, there was sun and blue sky and a slight breeze, and birds welcomed us at many places along our route. 

We started at Louie's Landing off Route 78 in Swanton and headed for the mouth of the river. 

Spotted Sandpipers flitted along the shore, and this Solitary Sandpiper thoroughly enjoyed the mud and the tasty invertebrates hidden in it.

Two or three Osprey followed us for a while, giving their high chirps from trees and air. 

Great Egrets graced the shores.

We lost track of how many Great Blue Herons we saw! With the Shad Island rookery not far away, many of the herons were first-year birds.

Smaller birds also drew our attention, luring us close to shore to lay down our paddles and lift our binoculars. A family of young Eastern Phoebes, with their lemon yellow bellies, caught insects over the water. 





A pair of young Swamp Sparrows kept bright, wary eyes on us.
























At the mouth of the river, we were hoping that we might find a few migrating shorebirds among all the egrets, gulls and ducks.

Finally, right in front of us, were four Short-billed Dowitchers and six yellowlegs.








What happened next would have made a thrilling video but we can't imagine anyone being fast enough to capture the action! Both of us were frozen, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Here's what Maeve posted on the birders' listserv after we got home:

Great day for a paddle on the Missisquoi - and great excitement at the bay. We were sitting in our kayaks watching a few yellowlegs, a few dowitchers, and many ducks and Great Egrets, when suddenly a Peregrine Falcon appeared out of nowhere, right in front of us. It dived on the shorebirds and chased one yellowlegs away from the group. We both thought the yellowlegs was a goner but it swerved and ducked and maneuvered away. The falcon chased it, going right over my head less than two feet above me. It was so intent on its prey that my boat and I were just irrelevant stationary objects not much different from a fallen tree or stump, but I got to look right in the bird’s eye as it zipped over me. The shorebird hit the water, with the falcon a split second behind. The yellowlegs actually went under for a few seconds, just long enough for the falcon to miss again. Then the frustrated hunter flew back in forth in front of our kayaks twice more, only a few feet above the water, giving us both close-up views of a truly magnificent bird! 

A highlight of the paddle back to the cars was this unidentified creature, rearing up, sniffing the air, its ears upright and alert. Was it trying to make sense of us as we were trying to make sense of it?

Bernie was able to get very close to a Lesser Yellowlegs as it fished and then neatened its wet feathers.

Bernie recalled "When you can hear the clouds drifting slowly above, look at them simultaneously in the sky and dappled undisturbed on the water you float upon, when you feel like part of nature instead of a disturbance or intruder, when the slow eddy behind you is your only trail and the drips from your paddle your only alteration of the environment - then you are welcomed into the world of shorebirds and ducks, geese, turtles, eagles, and more. 


A world of dippers and dabblers, and divers, and waders, yellow legs, black beaks, yellow beaks, black legs, bobbers, and sprinters, Sandpipers, thin legged Stilts and long beaked Dowitchers. Wetlands - an escape for us,  a refuge and home for them." 

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge Photos

Here’s a little quiz:

What’s one of 560 and, at the same time, one of only two?

What has acres and acres of beauty?

What has boardwalks and swamps and fields and woodlands?

What offers families and individuals hours of recreation and exercise - for free?

What’s absolutely FULL of birds?

The answer to every question? MISSISQUOI NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE !!

MNWR is one of 560 refuges nationwide, but one of only two here in Vermont. 

We here in Vermont have a beautiful refuge in the northwest corner of  the state and another in the Northeast Kingdom. (That's the Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.)

Let's start at the Visitor Center on Tabor Road in Swanton. 

(Some people still go to the location of the old headquarters on Route 78. To get to the “new” building – 15 years old or so – drive a few miles farther on 78 and turn left onto Tabor Road.)

Over a hundred twenty bird species have been reported right at the refuge headquarters. Cliff Swallows and Barn Swallows nest in the eaves, and Tree Swallows use the many boxes around the Center.

Bernie noticed a House Sparrow using a Cliff Swallow's mud nest to raise three hungry youngsters.

In back of the headquarters building is the mile-long Discovery Trail, with a grassland section and a beautifully designed boardwalk through a swamp. After a walk, one out-of-state visitor gasped, "I felt like I was in the Wizard of Oz! Following a magic road!"

Tiny Leopard Frogs covered the Discovery Trail, the grasses around the Visitor Center, and even the paved parking lot. Refuge Manager Ken Sturm spent many minutes helping some of the minuscule creatures by getting them off the scorching pavement and putting them in cool, moist grass.

We also walked the Black Creek and Maquam Creek Trail off Route 78. 

There's another boardwalk on this trail, also built by kids of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

This is an astonishingly lovely walk!

The Black Creek / Maquam Creek Trail is a 2.5 mile round trip - with birds and other wildlife everywhere you look.

At the start of the trail, just by the railroad tracks, a Green Heron balanced on a wire while Bernie took several photos. Very unusual behavior for this usually shy marsh bird!

Eastern Wood-Pewees were everywhere, working at reducing the number of helicopter-sized mosquitos for which the trail is infamous.

We watched a humongous beaver towing a twenty-foot long branch to its lodge and then tugging and tugging to get it into exactly the right place. The beaver then came to check us out, giving two loud smacks with its tail before swimming away.

On every walk, Yellow Warblers sang "sweet - sweet-sweet-oh, so SWEET!"

Northern Waterthrushes made soft liquid noises.

The high thin whistles of Cedar Waxwings joined the chorus.

Catbirds threw in an assortment of songs, mews, whistles and catcalls. This bird kept singing even though its mouth was full of insects.

We got so used to seeing birdlife on every side that we both saw a bird in this stick!

So many other critters welcomed us to the refuge also!

Garter snakes and this Red-bellied Snake ...

The resident (and stuffed) River Otter at the Visitor Center ...



Lola, Ranger Dave Frisque's friendly retriever ...

 A woodchuck next to the headquarters building ...

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge is acres and acres of beauty, birds and other wildlife. And, as the sign says, IT'S YOURS!



Here are more images of the beauty we saw at the refuge.

Visitors may borrow brand-new binoculars at the main desk for use on their nature walks. There are also kid-sized backpacks with field guides, magnifying glasses and other helpful tools.

America the Beautiful Passes  and Duck Stamps are available at the refuge. The America the Beautiful Senior Pass is a lifetime get-in-free ticket for people 62 and over who want to visit national parks, wildlife refuges, national monuments and other sites. Senior Passes cost $10 now but the cost will go up to $80 in October 2017. 

There are free America the Beautiful Passes for active military personnel (one year pass) and for disabled people. There are also annual passes costing $80 that are designed for people under 62 who will be traveling a lot and visiting many national parks or refuges within one year. 

Duck Stamps have been called the most successful conservation program in history. Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar goes toward buying or leasing wetland habitat for protection under the National Wildlife Refuge program. You don't have to be a duck hunter to buy a Duck Stamp and show it proudly!

For more information about the refuge, walking trails, paddling and other activities, go to:

Friends of the Missisquoi website

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

Vermont Birds and Words