On Jordan Pond
Yesterday morning, I woke up with the itch to take some pictures. I got ready, thinking I would head over to the northern end of Lake Quinsigamond, but while I was driving, I remembered Jordan Pond. A few weeks ago, I had dodged down a side street, trying to get away from traffic. I came across a small pond with a few benches and a path. I knew then I would have to come back with my camera. Since it would be a little quieter than the lake, I recreated my route and found the pond. I expected to take a just a few pictures (for me), since the leaves were past their colors, and most of the trees were bare.
When I got to the pond, I found a small parking area, with a paved path heading around the pond in one direction, and a short, unpaved dead-end road in the other. I definitely envy the people who live on that road! Most of the pond had trees right around it, and even the places where there were houses had trees between the houses and the pond.
I headed down the paved path and started seeing a variety of brightly colored berries. They were lovely framed by the vivid blue sky. If the leaves were still on the trees and bushes, I probably would not have seen them. I don’t know what they all are, but some were rose hips (can’t wait to see all those rose bushes in bloom!)
and others were bittersweet, with a lovely mix of red and yellow.
I ran into a guy fishing and stopped to chat for a few minutes. He said the town had bought the land all the way around the pond, but that paved path only went halfway around. The other half had a dirt road (there is a power line tower that the road provides access to). The town stocks the pond with trout every spring. He also pointed out a flock of ducks in the middle of the pond. He said they are buffleheads, and that they are only there for a few weeks in the fall. They are very shy, so I didn’t get any good close up pictures. I'm not convinced they are really buffleheads, though. The coloring seems off, and the head shape seems more like a merganser. But I'll just keep calling them buffleheads.
I did though get some decent pictures of a flock of mallards,
and of course I managed to find and photograph a heron.
I even got some pictures of a red-tailed hawk that came circling around. Of course I took about 25 pictures of the hawk. Some of them even came out!
Not having the leaves to photograph, I instead found some wild and crazy twigs and branches instead. Some of them twist and twine, some twirl. One even made a complete circle.
I also took the opportunity to practice taking pictures of birds in flight. Besides the hawk, I had 3 very helpful seagulls to work with, and a flock of ducks took off from one side of the pond to the other. Unfortunately, by this time my hands were so cold I had my gloves on, and my focusing was a little slow. I did get some pictures of the heron fishing. One time it came up with a leaf instead of a fish, but the second strike got it some breakfast. And I got some stalkerazzi shots of the mallards.
They aren’t as shy as the buffleheads, so I got some decent shots of them, including some nice ones of several lined up on a log to bask in the sun.
I started out expecting to take just a few pictures, not realizing just how much there would to see. I took about 250 pictures to start, but I’ve deleted about 100 so far, that were not very good, or were where I took multiples of the same thing and only kept the best one. I still have another few passes through to do, and will be able to get rid of some more. If you're a glutton for punishment, you can see them all here: http://s1199.photobucket.com/user/Loomatic/library/Jordan%20Pond?sort=2&page=1 Not bad for almost no leaves. And of course I did manage to find a few leaves.
When I got to the pond, I found a small parking area, with a paved path heading around the pond in one direction, and a short, unpaved dead-end road in the other. I definitely envy the people who live on that road! Most of the pond had trees right around it, and even the places where there were houses had trees between the houses and the pond.
I headed down the paved path and started seeing a variety of brightly colored berries. They were lovely framed by the vivid blue sky. If the leaves were still on the trees and bushes, I probably would not have seen them. I don’t know what they all are, but some were rose hips (can’t wait to see all those rose bushes in bloom!)
and others were bittersweet, with a lovely mix of red and yellow.
I ran into a guy fishing and stopped to chat for a few minutes. He said the town had bought the land all the way around the pond, but that paved path only went halfway around. The other half had a dirt road (there is a power line tower that the road provides access to). The town stocks the pond with trout every spring. He also pointed out a flock of ducks in the middle of the pond. He said they are buffleheads, and that they are only there for a few weeks in the fall. They are very shy, so I didn’t get any good close up pictures. I'm not convinced they are really buffleheads, though. The coloring seems off, and the head shape seems more like a merganser. But I'll just keep calling them buffleheads.
I did though get some decent pictures of a flock of mallards,
and of course I managed to find and photograph a heron.
I even got some pictures of a red-tailed hawk that came circling around. Of course I took about 25 pictures of the hawk. Some of them even came out!
Not having the leaves to photograph, I instead found some wild and crazy twigs and branches instead. Some of them twist and twine, some twirl. One even made a complete circle.
I also took the opportunity to practice taking pictures of birds in flight. Besides the hawk, I had 3 very helpful seagulls to work with, and a flock of ducks took off from one side of the pond to the other. Unfortunately, by this time my hands were so cold I had my gloves on, and my focusing was a little slow. I did get some pictures of the heron fishing. One time it came up with a leaf instead of a fish, but the second strike got it some breakfast. And I got some stalkerazzi shots of the mallards.
They aren’t as shy as the buffleheads, so I got some decent shots of them, including some nice ones of several lined up on a log to bask in the sun.
I started out expecting to take just a few pictures, not realizing just how much there would to see. I took about 250 pictures to start, but I’ve deleted about 100 so far, that were not very good, or were where I took multiples of the same thing and only kept the best one. I still have another few passes through to do, and will be able to get rid of some more. If you're a glutton for punishment, you can see them all here: http://s1199.photobucket.com/user/Loomatic/library/Jordan%20Pond?sort=2&page=1 Not bad for almost no leaves. And of course I did manage to find a few leaves.