Hi, all - I just discovered a new (to me) kayaking place, just north of Montpelier on Route 12. A lot of beauty, and a lot of birds: female common merganser with seven young, three young wood ducks (no adult seen), great blue herons, kingfishers, a spotted sandpiper, a waterthrush (I didn't get more than a glimpse), cedar waxwings, Eastern kingbirds, pewees, one of the Empidonax flycatchers, goldfinches, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, crows, indigo bunting, hermit thrush, veeries, robins, red-eyed vireo, mourning dove, starlings, grackles, white-throated sparrow, song sparrows, chestnut-sided warblers, black-throated green warblers, ovenbird, common yellowthroats - plus a pair of beavers slapping their tails indignantly and a picturesque waterfall. If you go, head north, away from the dam, and take the time to poke into all the little coves. As is the case with many lakes, it's probably a good idea to get there early; owners of motorboats seem to be late risers. Maeve Kim Jericho Center