In Charlotte’s Town Farm Bay, another non-native invasive species is spreading. Flowering rush is an emerging threat to Lake Champlain wetlands and floodplain forests of Champlain direct drainage streams.
The last week of February and the first two weeks of March are one of my favorite times in winter. The days are growing longer, the sun is higher in the sky, and the breezes begin to carry the promise of warmer days ahead. And most importantly the Great White Perch season is in full swing!
A cold north wind blows through the curtains of the bedroom. I pull the duvet quilt up a little tighter around my shoulders and wiggle back into my warm cocoon. Visions of red-legged mallards with their wings cupped and their feet dangling down fly through my dreams. As they begin their final descent into the decoys, my hunting partner John and I both switch off the safety mechanism on our shotguns. One low mallard whistle on the call, and they commit to the spread.
First some good news. The Island Line Bike Ferry is plying the Cut, 200 feet of open water between Mallet’s Bay and the open lake, allowing pedestrians and bicycles to travel from Colchester to the Champlain Islands. Years ago, trains rolled between Rutland and Montreal, crossing a swing bridge that opened to allow boat passage.