Chapter 635

12/27/2022

Cohoes Falls

eagle has landed

I just felt like getting out of the house to drone. Little sunshine so I wasn't expecting much. Wandered around and ended up in Cohoes. Talked to one photographer who said there were about nine eagles there the day prior. Went home to get my pocket cam which I should have automatically taken and returned till sundown. A lot of water flowing on this day.

Looking down over the falls is the Brookfield Hydro Power station.

Downstream of the hydro is the old 1836 Harmony Mills textile facility that has been turned into Luxury Lofts. Parking is available toward the camera in buildings coverted into low income housing. A small public green space and walk goes along the top of the river bank from which you can observe the eagles flying and sitting among the trees.

When they dug foundations for the mills they discovered bones of this Cohoes Mastodon which have been reassembled at the NYS Museum. 

This mural is also in the Museum depicting early mastodon life at Cohoes. It just seems relevant everytime I go by this spot in Cohoes. The memory of a Cohoes Mastodon was imprinted in me from eighth grade.

Bald Eagles gather here from the northeast where their water bodies have iced over. There is usually plenty of open waters and fish for them to eat. I saw perhaps 6 different eagles on this afternoon and took many more photos.

They are visible from the naked eye but you need a telephoto lens for the most part to get a good shot. You must peer thru cracks in the chain link fence and thru the thick vegetation. The pocket cam has a very small view angle convenient to ge thru small windows. Most of the trees are Eastern Cottonwoods (remember). They are dioecious having separate male and female trees. You can see the red buds of the male in this shot. Female buds are green.