B E B E R E

One way that Pavel's been combating his insomnia lately has been by wandering around the Mystic in the early hours of the morning to watch birds. The last couple times he's gone he's seen and heard all sorts of creatures who don't visit the yew in the backyard.

Yesterday afternoon after everything that needed to be accomplished was done, we decided to take a wander over to see what we might find. Though not as numerous as at dawn, there were still quite a few birds out. Right off the bat, heard song sparrows and red winged blackbirds. I'm pretty sure that I saw some kind of warbler, too, up in an alder. Of course, there were swans, cormorants and geese.



The most exciting new discovery had to be this guy. We knew that he was some sort of wader, but weren't sure what. By the time I got close enough to snap a shot, he decided that he'd had enough of us and flew off. (What the heck was he doing out in broad daylight?)

Since birds move around too much, I confined myself to taking pictures of fruits and flowers. There was a regular cornucopia of potential tasty things either in bloom or ripening, too. Will have to visit again in a few weeks in order to take advantage.



Staghorn Sumac!



Milkweed!



Blackberry!



Mulberry! I'm particularly happy about this, as when the new bridge went up on Lowell Street, they took down the tree I used to collect berries from.



Yarrow!

Made our way to the graffiti'd underpass and decided that it might be a good idea to head over to the Friendly in Meadow Glen for some ice cream. (Good call, Be!) Pavel got a strawberry shortcake sundae and I got something new - a peanut butter and banana sundae. As I'd been craving a banana split since finishing finals, this really hit the spot. Admired the artwork; wish that they sold it or at least had it up on their website.

On the way back, happened upon a fire in the reeds. Have seen this numerous times before, so had often wondered if DCR had some sort of controlled burning program. Decided to call the fire department just in case. (That was good deed number two for the day. The first was rescuing a poor little garter snake off the sidewalk on School Street near City Hall. Put him in the shade. On the trip back home, saw that he had left. Hopefully he's alright.)

Am always amazed at how far from home and the city I feel when I wander around the preserve. For this, I'd say that it has to be one of my favorite around. Really need to get back there more often. It had been nearly a year since I'd last visited and this is a place that should be seen at least once each season.



The aeolian over by the high school in Medford. Can see it from Spring Hill.

(More pictures here if you're interested.)