The Oxbow (Connecticut River)

It was famously depicted in Thomas Cole's 1836 painting View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow.

A depiction of what was called "Hockanum Bend" had appeared in 1826 in "The northern traveller; containing the routes to Niagara, Quebec, and the Springs," by Theodore Dwight.

The Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary (a project of Mass Audubon) protects a total of 776 acres (314 ha)[5] of land that forms the outer shore of the Oxbow.

Among these species include bald eagle, snowy egret, cormorant, great blue heron, osprey, kingfisher, swifts, gulls, Canada geese, and ducks.

[6] The Oxbow is used today primarily for pleasure boating and is home to one of the largest marinas on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts.