Category Archives: Points of Interest

points of interest, locations and attractions related to the history of the Lake Champlain Valley

Gunboat Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Gunboat Island

 

Gunboat Island, also known as Garden Island, is part of the Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC).  The island is located just south of Valcour Island in the Town of Peru, NY. Gunboat Island juts sharply out of the water with 15 to 20 foot bare limestone cliffs and has no recreational facilities. At less than 1 acre in size, it is one of the smallest of Lake Champlain’s islands.

History:
 

 

Gunboat Island was known as Petite Isle at the time of the Revolutionary War. British ships had to sail around Gunboat Island to attack the American fleet commanded by Benedict Arnold.

Legend has it that the British fleet mistook the island for one of Arnold’s gunboats and opened fire on the island. This mistaking of the island for a gunboat is how the island got its name. This story is very similar to reports of British bombardment of Carleton’s Prize in Vermont.

Other notes:

SUNY Plattsburgh maintains a data buoy southeast of Valcour/Garden Islands in Lake Champlain. The buoy collects information on surface weather and lake water temperatures (from the surface to a depth of 50m). Data is provided here for general use, but attribution to SUNY Plattsburgh and our funding agencies is requested for any further distribution. Support for the data buoy comes from NOAA Lake Champlain Sea Grant, the Lake Champlain Research Consortium, and SUNY Plattsburgh (Center for Earth and Environmental Science and Lake Champlain Research Institute).

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area

 

Description

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a 429-acre tract of land owned by the State of Vermont and managed by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. It is located in the “Dresden Narrows” section of Lake Champlain, west of Cold Spring Road in the town of West Haven.

The Narrows WMA is next to about 350 acres of conserved farmland and in the vicinity of two large natural areas owned by The Nature Conservancy.

Habitats

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area calcereous cliff

Calcereous cliff community

The Narrows WMA has 81 acres of wetlands that are part of a series of large wetlands in this region of Lake Champlain. They are known collectively as The Narrows Marshes. The Narrows WMA has many interesting features including 5,456 feet of Lake Champlain shoreline, hosts several rare plant species, and offers examples of natural communities such as a calcareous cliff community. Calcereous cliffs are typically composed of limestone or dolomite and have a higher ph.

 

Keep in mind that plants should not be picked or dug up regardless of their abundance.

 

Twenty acres of the WMA are on an island, which is accessible most of the year by a narrow land bridge; however, during times of high water it is a true island. The island is composed mainly of upland hardwood forest with a small clearing. It also hosts an abandoned  two-story house in the clearing that is estimated to be about 150 years old.

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area shagbark hickory

Shagbark hickory

The WMA has 348 acres of upland hardwood forest, including 15 acres of old fields and several old orchards providing excellent habitat for birds and mammals.

The hardwood forests are mostly red and sugar maple, yellow birch, beech, red, chestnut and chinkapin oaks, shagbark hickory, hophornbeam, apple and scattered white pine. The ledges and cliffs have softwoods such as white and red cedar, hemlocks, and red and white
pines.

Two of Vermont’s largest trees are found on this WMA. One is a shagbark hickory that is 88 feet tall and has a diameter of 48 inches. The other, a chinkapin oak, is a New England Champion Tree. It is 60 feet tall and is 40 inches around.

 

Fish and Wildlife

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area - fisher

Fisher

The Narrows WMA is a rich habitat supporting a variety of animals: beavers and muskrats in the wetlands, white-tailed deer taking advantage of the abundant food in the old orchards, gray squirrels gathering nuts in the forest. Predators such as coyotes, red foxes, bobcats and fishers can be found throughout the WMA. At dusk and dawn in the summer, brown bats are found devouring insects.

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area - Hooded merganser

Hooded Merganser

The wetlands are home to several species of birds including wood ducks, mallards, black ducks, hooded mergansers, red-winged blackbirds and common snipes. Osprey platforms have been placed off shore to give offer nesting sites. Ruffed grouse and woodcock prefer habitat like the old fields that are slowing transitioning into forestland. Turkey will also use the old fields and orchards for their food.

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area - Five lined skink

Five-lined skink

The Narrows WMA also hosts a variety of reptiles and amphibians. Most notable is the five-lined skink. This is an endangered species in Vermont, and is the only species of lizard found in Vermont. The WMA has several species of snakes including eastern rat and common garter snakes.

 

 

The wetlands and moist woodlands support a host of amphibians species such as spotted and red-backed salamanders, eastern newt, leopard, green, pickerel, bull and gray tree frogs, spring peeper and American toad. Painted and map turtles may also be found.

 

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area -Freshwater drum or Sheepshead

Freshwater drum or Sheepshead

Adjacent Lake Champlain offers large and small-mouth bass, walleye, brown bullhead, catfish, northern pike, chain pickerel, white and yellow perch, black and white crappie, pumpkinseed, bluegill and unusual species , such as sheepshead, gar and bowfin,

Usage

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area is open to regulated hunting, trapping, fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing.

Notes

The Narrows Wildlife Management Area map

The Narrows WMA Map
Click Image to Enlarge

George Spiegel conveyed the 716-acre Spiegel Sanctuary in West Haven to the Vermont Land Trust in 1995 in memory of his parents, Charles and Lena Spiegel. In 1997 the Vermont Land Trust conveyed 429 acres of the 716-acre property to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to become The Narrows WMA.

There is a  bronze plaque inlaid in a large boulder in the parking lot pays tribute to Charles and Lena Spiegel, stating that “they found freedom and happiness in New England”.

Directions

Access The Narrows Wildlife Management Area by boat on Lake Champlain. A parking area is located near the sharp turn on Cold Spring Road

 

 

Other Articles on Lake Champlain Valley WMA's:

Cole Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Cole Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Cole Island - Lake Champlain Islands

 

Cole Island is part of the Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC). At less than 1 acre in size, it is one of Lake Champlain’s smallest islands. Cole Island is located in the Town of Westport, NY – about 5 miles south of the Westport Boat Launch. Cole Island is used for picnicking and other day use activities, but is too small to sustain overnight use.

 

Cole Island west view

View from Cole Island looking west toward Vermont’s Green Mountains

History:

 

Legend has it that Father Isaac Jogues was brought to this island by his Mohawk captors and tortured. Isaac Jogues was a French Jesuit priest who was captured by the Iroquois in 1642 while travelling from from Trois-Rivières to Quebec City. Jogues was tortured and held captive for almost ten months before being released.

He returned to the Mohawks four years later to continue his mission, but was put to death near Auriesville, NY in 1646.

Cole Island - Lake Champlain Islands

Cole Island

Other notes:

Because it’s tucked into a well-sheltered harbor, the island offers protection from the strong south winds, making it a popular anchorage for recreational boaters.  The island does receive a considerable amount of day use from the nearby Camp Dudley summer camp.

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands

Bird-watching Opportunities at Vermont WMA’s

Bird-watching Opportunities at Vermont WMA’s

Bird-watching Opportunities at Vermont WMA’s

Spring is finally here and wildlife enthusiasts are dusting off their binoculars and heading out looking for birds as they migrate into the Lake Champlain Basin from the south. Some of the best bird-watching opportunities are on the area’s wildlife management areas, or WMAs. 

Wildlife management areas are owned by the States of Vermont or New York and managed for wildlife habitat and for wildlife-based recreation such as hunting, fishing and bird-watching. 

Paul Hamelin, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department biologist who coordinates habitat management and access on Vermont’s WMAs, believes that while there are opportunities for birding at every WMA, a few stick out to him as particularly good places to spot birds. 


“Dead Creek WMA in Addison is perhaps the crown jewel of birding in Vermont,” said Hamelin. “An incredible two hundred bird species can be found there, particularly ducks, shorebirds, and hawks. And each spring and fall, thousands of snow geese touch down at Dead Creek on their annual migration.” 

 

Dead Creek has trails and a lookout platform, but Hamelin suggests a canoe or kayak for best access. A new Dead Creek Visitor Center is scheduled to open this October. 

On the other side of the state, Hamelin recommends Wenlock WMA in Ferdinand, which has the endless bogs and boreal forests that the Northeast Kingdom is known for in a tidy, 2,000-acre package. He recommends people check out the new boardwalk and viewing platform at Moose Bog. 

“Wenlock is a great place for birders to check off four of Vermont’s premiere boreal bird species; the Canada jay, boreal chickadee, black-backed woodpecker, and state-endangered spruce grouse,” said Hamelin. “You might also get lucky and see another state endangered bird, the rusty blackbird, which is sadly becoming increasingly rare in the northeastern U.S.” 


For a rare bird sighting in southern Vermont, Hamelin recommends Birdseye Wildlife Management Area in the towns of Ira, Castleton, and Poultney.Wildlife management areasThis WMA, formerly known as Bird Mountain, recently increased by nearly 3,000 acres. At the center of the WMA is Birdseye Mountain, a large hunk of rocky cliffs that are home to the world’s fastest bird, the peregrine falcon, which can dive to over 200 mph. 



“Peregrine falcons are the star of the show at the Birdseye, but there are also fantastic opportunities to see and hear warblers, thrushes, and sparrows,” said Hamelin. “After the peregrine nesting season is complete in mid-August, there is a well-worn goat path that takes brave souls up the rocky slopes of the cliff face for fantastic views of the newly conserved ridgelines.” 

Vermont’s wildlife management areas are found in every corner of the state and there are birding opportunities at every one of them this time of year. Birding is inexpensive and is an easy activity to get started in. Hamelin recommends people check out their nearest wildlife management area this spring.


Access to Vermont’s wildlife management areas is free, but birders can help the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department in its effort to conserve habitat for birds and other species by purchasing an annual Vermont Habitat Stamp, available for $15 on the department’s website at vtfishandwildlife.com. There is also more information on birding opportunities on wildlife management areas on the Fish & Wildlife Department’s website. 

 

Other Articles on Lake Champlain Valley WMA's:

 

Cedar Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Cedar Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Cedar Island - Lake Champlain Islands

Cedar Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Cedar Island is a 8.4 acre privately owned island in Lake Champlain. It is the southernmost of three islands to the east of South Hero, Vermont. Cedar Island lies about two miles north of the Sand Bar Bridge, and is accessible only by boat.

There is a house on the island, but it’s not your average cabin in the woods. Cedar Island hosts a five-bedroom, two-bath main house, with a stone patio, tennis court and hot tub. There’s also a guest cabin, boathouse, four beaches and a hammock strung between two of the cedar trees that give the island its name.

 

The island boasts three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views – with sunrise over the Green Mountains and sunset over the Adirondacks, and recently sold for over $1,000,000.00.

Cedar Island - Lake Champlain Islands

Cedar Island – Lake Champlain Island

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands