Horn Pond has gone to the Birds!

Haven’t posted in a while, been very busy. So, I thought I would do something on all the waterfowl at Horn Pond. We certainly have plenty!

The biggest water birds we have are of course, the Mute Swans! We had four mated pair this year but I can only find two pair left with families. One hangs out in the Lagoon and they are down to four Cygnets. When they were still very little (as my daughters put it, "fuzzy bathtub toy" stage) they would hop up on mom’s back.

Often in the late afternoon/early evening they come up at an opening on the Lagoon side and preen themselves (they imitate Mom very well) and the babies get some shuteye!!! They seem to like cuddling with each other.

One day I found them in the closest corner of the Lagoon to the Water Street entrance, all slurping up Duck Weed. So I guess the ducks aren’t the only ones that like this little water plant! Dad is very protective, still. They will chase other swans and the geese if they get to close. I noticed that the male tends to stay in the water a lot when the female and the cygnets are up on land preening. And when they are on the land they don’t like dogs very much!

The pair over in the Sandpit only has one cygnet remaining. And he’s getting pretty big! This family can be very hard to spot as there are lots of hiding places in the flooded area next to Fowle Brook. Lots of dead trees and clumps of weeds and Loosestrife as well as some large boulders that block the view.

Canada Geese are very prevalent at Horn Pond. And most pairs seem to have lots of babies. Geese mate for life and about the only way you can tell the goose from the gander is size; she is smaller. And, when they are swimming together as a family, the gander is out front and the goose brings up the rear. Canada Goslings seem to have more yellow on them when they are very little as compared with Mallard Ducks. But it doesn’t seem to take long before they start getting their coloration.

Most of the ducks we have here are Mallards. For those of you that don’t know, Mallards mate and then the male takes off, leaving the female to sit on the nest and to raise and protect the ducklings. Because of this trait, the female Mallard is very drab in comparison to the male. It helps her blend in to her surroundings as she sits on her nest. She does have some blue wing patches, though.

The Mallard ducklings are mostly brown with yellow on their heads.

They are very small when first hatched but very quick on the water. They bounce around like little corks sometimes!

We also have a pair of Wood Ducks that mated and had babies. I have not seen them, but I talked with a couple of different people who had.

If you happened to walk down Arlington Road on Saturday, you might have seen a very unusual sight! We had a pair of Muscovy Ducks sitting on a log along the shoreline a little ways past the Clapp School.

All our babies are growing rapidly. Come on down and see for yourself!!!

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!!!