The Cohoes Falls, Part 2

I'd driven up to Cohoes, New York to the site of the waterfalls on the Mohawk River in hopes of seeing nesting Bald Eagles. But I saw none at all and never did. In fact, I never saw a single bird of any species. But the views were great. This is looking east towards where the Mohawk River empties into the Hudson River. You can see two bridges, a railroad bridge and an old two-lane highway bridge. Those hills on the horizon are Rensselaer County and the area just north of Troy, New York:

Adjacent to the waterfall viewing area was old textile mill company housing of a less grand nature than the imposing structures I'd first encountered. They were either apartments or private housing now also, as the mill has been closed for many years:

A few other families stopped by to view the magnificent waterfalls:

The falls were huge, loud and impressive. There were whole trees moving down the river and either tumbling over the falls or getting caught on jutting rocks:

When it became obvious that I would see no eagles, I began to drive home. I passed through the area which contained even more old buildings which had long ago served as workers' housing for the textile mill. Or perhaps these were once part of the mill itself - I couldn't tell:

And when I passed by the main building of the former, I saw that it too had become private apartments. In fact, they were having an open house that day. I was tempted to stop for a tour but didn't:

Over the front entrance of the old mill was a statue, presumably of the former owner of the textile mill:

Here's a close up of the statue. I'm sure this rich man once bossed the town of Cohoes and no one crossed him:

It might have been interesting to go inside, but I was tired and had lots of dogs and cats at home waiting for me. So I pocketed my camera and began the short drive back home:

The Cohoes Falls, Part 1

It was an idle Sunday for me and I'd just had a nice phone conversation with my sister in Ohio. She was making a trip to a natural area along a river where she hikes regularly to view Bald Eagles nesting and feeding. As the phone call ended, I remembered that we reportedly have our own Bald Eagles just north of Albany along the Mohawk River in Cohoes, New York. So I jumped in the car (without any dogs) and was on my way almost immediately. Cohoes is an old mill town and the overlook for the Cohoes Falls and hopeful eagle viewing was near the old company housing for mill workers, now remodeled into modern apartments:

An electric power generating plant sits along the river near the waterfalls and immediately adjacent to the public viewing site:

The old textile mill company's housing was large and extensive, filling several blocks:

I parked on the street and walked to the edge of the cliff where I would be able to see the falls and, I hoped, some Bald Eagles:

If you click on this to enlarge it, you'll be able to see the terrain involved:

The falls were magnificent - and quite loud:


In addition to the waterfall itself, there's more rushing water from the containment system and power generating facility:



You can see both the falls and part of the electric generating facility here:

And looking downstream (east) toward where the Mohawk River empties into the Hudson River, the view was magnificent. I had not yet seen any birds, much less any eagles, but I'll post more tomorrow: