Q's End: Licence to Travel: Ottawa to Henry's at Henry, IL

(Sept. 19 – Dist: 43.4 mi; Avg Speed: 6.5 mph; TTT: 7:30)

Linda and I feel that the river is becoming quite interesting although some others are calling it boring. There are numerous birds along the banks of the river with trees and flood plains along both sides. There was some discussion about sightings of pelicans. We were all surprised to find pelicans this far north but for the record I was the first to officially declare that they were pelicans. They are American White Pelicans and they have distinctive black markings on the tips of their wings. Evidently, we are on the eastern most path that these birds can be seen.

Along the river there are numerous blue herons, 32 per 30 minutes of counting. Evidently, another boat was getting bored and started counting the sightings. There are also plenty of egrets and we have even spotted some American Bald Eagles in the trees, as well as some of the younger eagles that have more of a spotted brown plumage.

Still up for confirmation is the snow geese which Linda and I spotted near the marina (see photo). The experts, those loopers who have bird books onboard, say no way but I declared them as snow geese. I could be 2 for 2 on this day. They will have to bless this declaration from the photos.

Henry’s Marina is a quaint little place near the town of Havana. We never got to the town but did enjoy the beer and ribs at the restaurant at the marina. The docks we stayed on were not docks at all but rather the rock walls of the old canal. Lines were tied to rocks, tree stumps and whatever was solid. There was power which we could get from the hydro poles not far away. An interesting place and really quite OK for the night.