Ward’s Pond: Signs of Spring

Yesterday, on a truly spring-like day with warm temperatures and bright sunshine, we took a walk around Ward’s Pond, a small pond in Boston’s Emerald Necklace. Signs of spring abounded.

Red maples were in bloom. And our migrant birds from the south were out and about. A very noisy flock of grackles was foraging in the leaf litter.

common grackle on a branch
Common grackle


Male red-winged blackbirds were flashing their red and yellow wing patches as they sang. However, no females were around to hear their song.

singing red-winged blackbird
Singing red-winged blackbird

A solitary tree swallow was flying low over the water, scooping up insects.

tree swallow in flight
Tree swallow

And a few eastern phoebes were wagging their tails and chasing each other.

Eastern phoebe
Eastern phoebe

We even saw a half dozen painted turtles basking in the afternoon sun.

Painted turtle basking
Painted turtle

Ignore the small piles of snow in the shadows. Spring has arrived.

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