May 2016 column as it appeared in the Woburn Advocate
If you, like everyone else who frequents Horn Pond, have been keeping track of the Mute Swan nesting along the trail in the Cattail Marsh, they have hatched! She started with 7 eggs. Back a few weeks ago someone found an egg on the edge of the water before the nest. It was probably a bad egg that she pushed out of the nest. Over Mother’s Day weekend (appropriate, wouldn’t you say!!!) three of the remaining six eggs hatched. She sat on the remaining three for another day but by Monday, she had given up and taken her three little gray fluffballs out for a tour of the Cattail Marsh. My guess is that the cold snap and snow storm we had at the beginning of April contributed to this. I had walked over just after that storm and the poor thing was all huddled down, head tucked between her wings. She looked like a small pile of snow on top of a bigger pile (snow covered nest) of snow. It had gotten down into the twenties that night and she was desperately trying to keep the eggs and herself warm. So hopefully she will keep all three of her Cygnets. Her biggest problem will be the Snapping Turtles that grab them from underneath. And of course there is also danger in the sky from the hawks. As of Wednesday, the 11th, the whole family was out on the Lagoon!
The swans are not the only ones with babies. Several Mallard Duck families have been spotted as well as a Wood Duck family. Just came back from a walk and saw a family of Canada Geese, Goose and Gander herding their six Goslings along the road on the back side of the Lagoon. Eventually they made their way back into the water. Too many people on the road. I have seen two Great Blue Herons around and was hoping that they were a nesting pair. But even if they are, I think it is past time for that. But they are still a beautiful bird and I saw one, fishing in the back of the Lagoon on my walk. And I do know that we have a pair of nesting Kestrels way out back. Have you noticed that it is a little more quite out in the woods than it was a few weeks ago? That’s because all the songbirds are already nesting. I even have a Baltimore Oriole nesting in a tall Maple tree in my back yard. While walking I heard the toads trilling for mates and heard the loud splashing of Carp mating. And of course we have loads of other baby animals in the spring; squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, red fox, coyote, mice and even muskrats. Lots and lots of babies!
In the plant world we have plenty of blooms. The standard Common Blue Violets (really more purple than blue) have been blooming for a few weeks now. In the wild we have Bird-foot Violet and Northern Downey Violet. The Wild Lily-of-the-Valley or Canada Mayflower is out as are the Quaker Ladies or Bluets. These tiny flowers range from white to pale blue around here, depending on the PH of the soil they are growing in. We also have another white flower in bloom called Garlic Mustard. This flower however is a big alien invasive. For yellow flowers we have Buttercups, some of which are alien and some native, although the alien species don’t seem to be as invasive as the Garlic Mustard. We also have the yellow Mustards and Cresses blooming now, and again, some are alien and some native. From now on we will have a pretty steady parade of wildflowers. The Maple trees are almost fully leafed out as are the Birch and Cottonwood. In fact you can see the chains of seed pods already developing on the Cottonwood. The Aspen are not far behind but the Oaks and Hickory are only just starting to leaf out. Soon the woods will be in shade and the sunny flowers will really come into their own.
May’s full moon, the Full Flower Moon, will be on Saturday, the 21st. It will be rising in the early evening before the sun has even set. If you come down to the Causeway after supper, and it is a clear night, you will be able to watch the moon rise over the Pond as the sun is heading for the horizon over the Lagoon. Actual times for sunset is around 8:00pm and moon rise is 5:15pm but since there are trees in the way on both sides the moonrise will be a little later and the sunset will be a little earlier so you can easily watch both if you time it right.
If you, like everyone else who frequents Horn Pond, have been keeping track of the Mute Swan nesting along the trail in the Cattail Marsh, they have hatched! She started with 7 eggs. Back a few weeks ago someone found an egg on the edge of the water before the nest. It was probably a bad egg that she pushed out of the nest. Over Mother’s Day weekend (appropriate, wouldn’t you say!!!) three of the remaining six eggs hatched. She sat on the remaining three for another day but by Monday, she had given up and taken her three little gray fluffballs out for a tour of the Cattail Marsh. My guess is that the cold snap and snow storm we had at the beginning of April contributed to this. I had walked over just after that storm and the poor thing was all huddled down, head tucked between her wings. She looked like a small pile of snow on top of a bigger pile (snow covered nest) of snow. It had gotten down into the twenties that night and she was desperately trying to keep the eggs and herself warm. So hopefully she will keep all three of her Cygnets. Her biggest problem will be the Snapping Turtles that grab them from underneath. And of course there is also danger in the sky from the hawks. As of Wednesday, the 11th, the whole family was out on the Lagoon!
The swans are not the only ones with babies. Several Mallard Duck families have been spotted as well as a Wood Duck family. Just came back from a walk and saw a family of Canada Geese, Goose and Gander herding their six Goslings along the road on the back side of the Lagoon. Eventually they made their way back into the water. Too many people on the road. I have seen two Great Blue Herons around and was hoping that they were a nesting pair. But even if they are, I think it is past time for that. But they are still a beautiful bird and I saw one, fishing in the back of the Lagoon on my walk. And I do know that we have a pair of nesting Kestrels way out back. Have you noticed that it is a little more quite out in the woods than it was a few weeks ago? That’s because all the songbirds are already nesting. I even have a Baltimore Oriole nesting in a tall Maple tree in my back yard. While walking I heard the toads trilling for mates and heard the loud splashing of Carp mating. And of course we have loads of other baby animals in the spring; squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, red fox, coyote, mice and even muskrats. Lots and lots of babies!
In the plant world we have plenty of blooms. The standard Common Blue Violets (really more purple than blue) have been blooming for a few weeks now. In the wild we have Bird-foot Violet and Northern Downey Violet. The Wild Lily-of-the-Valley or Canada Mayflower is out as are the Quaker Ladies or Bluets. These tiny flowers range from white to pale blue around here, depending on the PH of the soil they are growing in. We also have another white flower in bloom called Garlic Mustard. This flower however is a big alien invasive. For yellow flowers we have Buttercups, some of which are alien and some native, although the alien species don’t seem to be as invasive as the Garlic Mustard. We also have the yellow Mustards and Cresses blooming now, and again, some are alien and some native. From now on we will have a pretty steady parade of wildflowers. The Maple trees are almost fully leafed out as are the Birch and Cottonwood. In fact you can see the chains of seed pods already developing on the Cottonwood. The Aspen are not far behind but the Oaks and Hickory are only just starting to leaf out. Soon the woods will be in shade and the sunny flowers will really come into their own.
May’s full moon, the Full Flower Moon, will be on Saturday, the 21st. It will be rising in the early evening before the sun has even set. If you come down to the Causeway after supper, and it is a clear night, you will be able to watch the moon rise over the Pond as the sun is heading for the horizon over the Lagoon. Actual times for sunset is around 8:00pm and moon rise is 5:15pm but since there are trees in the way on both sides the moonrise will be a little later and the sunset will be a little earlier so you can easily watch both if you time it right.