Not Niagara

Niagara being more than 300 miles from Cambridge, we could not entertain going to view the frozen falls, yet the idea appealed, so before the melt set in we decided to take a look at our far more modest variety nearby.

Scarcely more than a trickle, comparatively, but never mind.

Above is the the Cambridge Creek which not long ago was dried up by the drought.

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The only falls of any size within reach are on the Hudson at Cohoes.

To capture an un-obscured view, I’d need to stand on top of a wall which perhaps I might have done in my more able-bodied youth, though getting up it would still be a scramble. My request for a leg-up was not taken seriously.

There were other challenges, I soon discovered.

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While it was an overcast day, the light was strong and my photo-sensitive glasses became so dark, I could scarcely see my viewfinder, thus I was quite literally shooting blind.

Otherwise I could have made a correction for the glare.

However, this is pretty much how it looked…

Very white.

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The above was a cliff face across the river.

It wasn’t the most excitement we’d ever had, but on the way there we’d located another frozen waterway:

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Buttermilk Falls on Tomhannock Creek which runs from Tomhannock Reservoir into the Hoosic River, a tributary of the Hudson.

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You get the feeling that the water was frozen in motion.

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Our return route took us through Stillwater and we stopped at the Blockhouse to see what was happening. Much of the river’s surface was frozen but here there was an open expanse.

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Bobbing about I saw a flock of ducks that I didn’t recognise.

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Later on I was able to identify them as Goldeneye ducks.

Very posh in their neat black and white suits.

Not long after, we turned onto Wright Road where we came upon a herd of deer that took off before I could get a decent photograph.

Another 6 or more were out of shot. We seldom see this many together.

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Beside the road nearby, wild turkeys watched us suspiciously.

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These are much darker in colour than the ones we are familiar with, nothing to do with winter apparently. How convenient the internet is for looking up such facts.

Usually the turkeys scurry off on foot but with the snow impeding them, they all took to the air which was quite a sight which I also failed to capture.

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Coming back into Cambridge we saw a couple more groups of deer. With the weather having been harsh for so long and with so much snow still on the ground, it is no doubt difficult for them to find food.

Approaching home the previous day, I suddenly caught sight of something as we passed.

“What was that?” I asked, but Grant hadn’t noticed. Not a duck or a goose. It had a beak like…a partridge? Grant wanted to know if it had seemed alright, but I’d barely caught sight of it.

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So we turned around and went back.

To my great delight we discovered that it was a lady pheasant and she was fine.

My list of favourites is long and pheasants are somewhere there at the top.

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