Welcome to the *long anticipated* (hehehe very few people even knew about this) launch of my blog about Horn Pond in Woburn, Massachusetts. Horn Pond is a diverse mix of pond, swamp, scrub and forest located in the South End and West Side of Woburn. The main part of the pond is about 2 miles in circumference, and is separated by a causeway from a smaller, more remote section of the pond. The pond is home to a wealth of diverse wildlife, including chipmunks, squirrels, coyotes, fox, various song birds, ducks, geese, coots, mergansers, owls, hawks and even an occasional bald eagle. It is well loved and frequented by many residents of Woburn and surrounding towns, who come to run, bike, stroll, push baby carriages, bird watch and fish. Our little pond is an unexpected gem in the middle of this working class town.
I’m sure there are about 100 blogs about Horn Pond, but hopefully one more won’t hurt. Just as each blind man’s hands reveal a truth about the elephant, each blog reveals a truth about the pond that, taken as a group, give a more complete ‘sense of place’ than any of them could offer individually. We each have our own perspective after all. My perspective is one of profound gratitude for our pond, and my desire to share the beauty, opportunities and gifts it has to offer. Thus it seems appropriate that I’m launching this blog on Thanksgiving Day. My plan is to offer a blog approximately monthly, to provide information on stuff I’ve seen and what that stuff makes me think about. I feel that sharing things about the pond is a way to add my voice to others saying that this is a special place that should be preserved and protected. So this seems like a good point to begin.
It’s been a busy month down the pond. Since Sandy hit in late October the trails down back have been a thick carpet of leaves. Of course, consequently we also lost most of our brilliant fall foliage during the storm (and some trees as well – the DPW had to clear a big one that blocked a path way down back). We are still occasionally getting the fall morning fog over the pond, and sometimes lately the swampy areas way down back have been glazed with ice in the mornings. On those mornings the oak leaves sparkle with frost until the sun hits them and then it’s drip drip drip as they turn back to paper bag brown. We’ve had a fine stretch of weather the last several days – the cold morning air surprises and sometimes pains my sinuses.
The lack of leaves on the trees really makes it look like gray November, but the upside is that birds are more visible. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a photographer, not a birder, but my eye is drawn to birds time and time again. I sometimes wonder why I am so enthralled by them, and I’m sure that I will be exploring that more as this bloggy thing unfolds. Anyways, photography for me is about sharing, and part of what I am compelled to share is the beautiful. And there is something so beautiful, foreign, ethereal about the bird, something so changeable minute by minute, as changeable as the human face. With the seasons I am always glad to see the return of the different birds, the different kinds of beauty they reveal. The coots are abundant now, along with an occasional lonely grebe, and very recently I’ve noted the return of the mergansers. Fowl are really just starting to group at the pond, but we don’t yet have that crazy cacophonous riot that we will likely get in a few weeks.
I don’t know if it’s because of the returning fowl, but it appears that the raptors are back too. People have been noting the return of the owls to the pine grove. Some friends of mine have gotten wonderful pictures of them. Days after I first heard of the owls, I was down near Foley Beach when I caught out of the corner of my eye what I thought was a heron lifting off. But that was no heron. A magnificent bald eagle, enormous and severe, lighted in the tree near me and surveyed the water. Awestruck as I was, I managed to get a shot of him before a crow buzzed him and he flew northwest towards out back. We had all heard that the eagle makes an occasional appearance at the pond, but I had never seen one until that day. As I traveled around the pond I ran into Rita, told her what happened, and showed her the photo. “It was a gift” she said, and I of course felt that way too. While not believing in a Creator per se (I call myself an atheist, but that doesn’t seem quite exactly right), I still have experienced enough special moments to believe in Grace – I just don’t know where it is coming from. On that day, I had been sad and somehow that weight was lifted from me on the wings of that magnificent creature. My thoughts also strayed toward my dear departed Aaron, but that story can wait for another day. I spent the rest of my walk looking for the eagle, and also silently warning the clumsy coots and other prey at the pond that there was a new and fierce predator in town. You see, even though I am in awe of the raptors, I still prefer the smaller birds at the pond, that raptors often eat. I am always on the lookout for songbirds and was delighted one morning when I happened upon some cedar waxwings. It was voting day actually, and it was a busy day. I had class that night so I knew I had to vote in the morning but I also had blood work at 7:30 am. Really Universe, I didn’t have time to go down the pond that morning. But on other days when I had yielded to the pond’s occasional urgent tug that I was feeling that day I had been rewarded. I decided to pay attention again and, after voting, after doctor, on the way to the office I stopped by the land bridge for a quick half hour.
I hadn’t seen much to shoot down the pond the last couple of weeks. Lately I had been hanging out in an area near the land bridge I call ‘bird land’, hoping for some good shots of robins raiding the red berry tree in the morning light. On this day I started up the land bridge, but then decided to head back to bird land. I noted some sparrow-like things in the bushes that weren’t acting like sparrows (I can’t tell you how they were different, I just know they were). As I got closer I couldn’t believe that they appeared to be waxwings. One of my favorite birds. The coloring was off and they weren’t ‘sleek’, but the gregarious nature, little head tuft and yellow edged tail was pretty convincing. There were probably 6-8 of them, all flying around, hovering, and occasionally landing on a red berry bush. To me they always seem like happy birds, and these ones were a bit goofy as well – I soon decided that they were adolescents, with their spotted bellies and bits of fuzz. They dove and hovered, lighted and flew, ate a few berries and then as if on cue spirited themselves off all at once in their swinging flight. Tsee Tsee Tsee! The birds moved pretty fast but occasionally lighted long enough for me to get a shot, and less occasionally lighted in decent enough light to get a good shot. I was pretty much transfixed by them and witnessing them was another of the pond’s many gifts. The rest of the day I felt grateful and blessed.
Thank you eagle. Thank you waxwings. Thank you sunrises (mostly I don’t get up early enough to witness these, but my friend and talented fellow photographer Joe Faherty http://
Until next time, wishing you moments of grace. And best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful Thanksgiving. :)
