Finally, Wood Ducks

Well, after being told by several people over the course of several years that they saw Wood Ducks over in the Cattail Marsh, but never having seen them myself, I finally got to see a pair! And actually, I saw TWO pair!!! The first pair was in Fowle Brook a little way upstream from the Red Bridge. The second pair, whose photos are here, was in the shallow area of the Cattail Marsh that runs along side the dirt road (known to locals as the Sewer Line Trail). A most unusual and colorful pair. The male has a red eye ring and the female has a white eye ring as well as slightly fewer colors.



In the same area as the Wood Ducks I saw the Mute Swan pair from the Cattail Marsh with only one Cygnet left of the two that hatched. There are a lot of snapping turtles in the Cattail Marsh and also in the swampy area of the Sandpit. I heard from a fellow walker that the Sandpit pair has only two out of six Cygnets remaining.



The Lagoon pair are showing off their brood of NINE Cygnets!!! Maybe, since the Lagoon is more open and somewhat deeper, they won't loose as many to the snappers!


I have not seen them yet, myself, but I also was told that the Pond pair that has the nest behind Ice House Park had two hatch out. She is keeping them well hidden, though.

If it is sunny when you walk, look for the Eastern Painted or Sun Turtles on many floating logs in the Lagoon or any of the smaller ponds. A good place to see them is the first opening along the dirt road around the Lagoon. Right there in the corner you can usually see several on floating logs.

Further along, just after the first bend in the road, look at the water's edge for a clump of the beautiful Yellow Water Iris.

Just before the Red Bridge, over in the woods to the right, our beautiful Pink Lady Slipper or Moccasin Flower is beginning to bloom. There doesn't seem to be as many of them this year as in years past. They are very fussy and have very particular growing needs.

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/pink_ladys_slipper.htm

After you come across the Red Bridge, a little further along the dirt road as it rounds the bend, you will see a trail marker and a trail that leads into the Sandpit on your right. Just to the left of this trail is another trail that leads up hill. Between these two trails you can find the only herbaceous member of the Dogwood Family called Bunchberry. The white "petals" are actually bracts which surround a cluster of tiny yellow-green "flowers"!

In the woods to the right of the dirt road as you come along here, and also on the left as you get closer to the Parkway, you might see Wild Sarsaparilla. The globe of tiny white to greenish flowers are on a separate stalk from the leaves.

In several places around the Horn Pond Conservation Area you will find a large shrub in bloom right now. You can smell it before you see it. The leaves have a whiteish bloom and the flowers are tiny trumphets in large clusters. It has a very heady, rather sweet fragerance. It is one of many alien plants in this area that are very invasive and is called Russian Olive.

Soon the weather will be warming. Watch for more babies on the water; Ducklings and Goselings as well as the Cygnets.

Come down to our beautiful Pond for a relaxing or invigorating walk or even a picnic sometime over the upcoming Holiday weekend!

Babies

Well, the first of our Mute Swan clutches have hatched. In fact, as of Monday, May 4th, two clutches had hatched. The pair in the Sandpit have SIX Cygnets! The pair nesting in the Cattail Marsh have two Cygnets. I couldn't see the six. Mom was back on the nest with them all under her wing. I could see her wing in the air like she was pulling something in towards her. The pair from the Cattail Marsh was in Fowle Brook feeding. The two adults would stomp the mud near the opposite shore from where I was standing and then they would all feed. Then the adults would stomp the mud again. Fascinating to watch.

And swans are not the only babies on the water! I met a couple that said they saw a big clutch of Ducklings. Soon there will be more Ducklings, Goslings and maybe even some more Cygnets since we have two more nests!!!

The wild flowers up in the woods are in full swing! One of my favorites, New England Wild Columbine, is blooming on every rocky outcrop on the hillside to the North of the Red Bridge and also up on Horn Pond Mountain.

Other flowers that can be found in most woods around Horn Pond are Quaker Ladies or Bluets, (most often white in this area with only a touch of blue) ..........

and several types of violets! My favorite is the Bird-foot Violet with its delicate ferny leaves. It can be found in many places along the trail above Lagoon to the South. Also along here and in the reclaimed Sandpit you can find clumps of the Northern Downey Violet with its fuzzy leaves.


And everywhere the Wild Lily of the Valley carpets the ground as the tiny spikes of flowers start showing among its oval shaped leaves.

This is also the time for the blueberries to flower. This year it looks like we will have a bumper crop of the flavorful wild blueberries. Everywhere I went in the woods and up on the mountain, the bushes were heavy with the tiny bell-like flowers.

A walk most anywhere around Horn Pond now will offer the lovely fragrance of the many wild flowering apples.

This past Saruday, May 2nd, was Woburn's 47th Annual Conservation Day. The main thrust of the day was the installation of the remaining trail marking posts. Next will be the map and brochure!!! After lunch representatives of the EPA, the DEP and the MWRA gave a presentation and announced the Mystic River Watershed's report card which was up from a D to a C-.

Every day is different at Horn Pond. Things are happening fast now so come on down! You don't want to miss a thing!!!