Scenic Sunday - Duck Shooting On The Ducktrap

The Ducktrap River Delta, Lincolnville, Maine
January First



Reflections on The Ducktrap River

Buffleheads flying to the sea at the Ducktrap Delta
Buffleheads are our smallest ducks. It would have taken multitudes of them to feed a family.

Mallard hens and drakes dabbling on The Ducktrap

    This isn't really a delta, but I loved the alliteration. It is, however, the mouth of the Ducktrap River where it empties into Ducktrap Harbor on the western edge of Peneobscot Bay. The river runs through the Camden Hills State Park. Ducktrap River underwent a restoration of the waterway which was a first of its kind restoration project subsequently copied all over the world. The intent of  the restoration was to preserve the spawning grounds of threatened Atlantic Salmon. There are several famous seafood smoking companies that bear the river's name. John L. Locke wrote in 1859 [1] that the name "Ducktrap" came from a narrowing of the river below the bridge. Hunters sat in wait while others scared the ducks up. Hoards of panicking ducks flew down the river to the sea where they were ambushed and shot by the waiting hunters at the very spot you see here. 
    Whenever I travel past Camden, east along Route One, I always stop at Ducktrap hoping to find birds and I'm always rewarded. At the end of Howe Point  Road, a tiny, winding lane, is a turn around with views across the harbor to Spruce Head and Islesboro Island. Buffleheads and Mallards are abundant in the winter. I've never been there any season other than winter, because I'd rather take a bullet than travel up Route One in the summer, especially through Camden.
    It can be raw and gray on the exposed spit of land, as it was this New Year's day. But, I think it's worth it. So do other people who stop there to eat a sandwich while sitting in a pickup truck, looking out to sea. Or lovers who park there, kissing in spite of the sharp, damp wind. Every time I've been to Ducktrap there have been lovers and contractors on breaks.
    Standing in the biting wind, trying to keep my camera steady, I can almost hear the gunfire and the ducks quacking in terror, ghosts of two hundred years ago. In those days before Polar Fleece and Chinese take-out, a place like "The Ducktrap" would have meant survival. It took lucky geography like this and tough people to bring us forward generations later. Today's Mainers are still rugged people who don't mind the elements for moments of thought, affection and a great view. And some of us will endure most anything to see birds and photograph them, no sandwiches or kissing required, though they would be nice additions.

  
 

1. Locke, John L., "SKETCHES Of The HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF CAMDEN, MAINE; Including Incidental References To The NEIGHBORING PLACES AND ADJACENT WATERS,"(1859) Hallowell: Masters, Smith & Company (1859), p 64

For more information on the conservation of the Ducktrap River and the Coastal Mountains Land Trust, please click on the following links.
http://www.cooperativeconservationamerica.org/viewproject.asp?pid=164
http://www.coastalmountains.org/protecting_land/active_campaigns.html#ducktrap

http://www.coastalmountains.org/conserved_lands/preserves/ducktrap.html