Fresh Pond in the Sun

Fresh Pond had been so good to us on Thursday, Hodge and I decided to go again on Monday. It was a rip-roaringly beautiful day for November 14. We saw a very late red-eyed vireo spooking about in the shrubs. I don't think I've ever seen a vireo in November before. He didn't get the hint in the Halloween snowstorm, we gathered.

The vines and shrubs were full of food for birds. Look at this bittersweet banquet draped all along a fallen tree.

 A closer look:

and through the magic of digital cropping, a closer look yet, confirming my original suspicion that this plant was altogether too vigorous and fruit-laden to be our native American bittersweet, Celastrus scandens.

 American bittersweet bears fruit capsules that are orange over red fruits. And it bears fruit only at the ends of its twigs.

Oriental bittersweet (C. orbiculatus)  has yellow fruit capsules over red fruits, and it bears fruit in the leaf axils, all along the long stems. Bah. But still excellent bird food, as the giggling robins, warbling song sparrows and wheezing waxwings attested.

Because we were sort of power-walking, I did not bring my telephoto lens. I had only my point-and-shoot Canon G-11 with me. And I turned the air blue trying to photograph some resting canvasbacks that had blown in overnight to join the ruddy ducks, American coots and ring-necked ducks already ensconced at Fresh Pond. 

This (an avian subject behind a screen of twigs) is where manual focus override is such a blessing. And lacking it is a bird photographer's curse. Here is my beautiful study of winter twigs with blurry hen canvasbacks behind. The G-ll was convinced I was doing an arty shot of the near twigs and absolutely refused to refocus on the ducks. !@$#$@#$%$#%!!!

This is as close as I could get to an in-focus canvasback photo, even though they were close enough to hit with an acorn. !#@$#%$#%#!!

You'll just have to imagine the drakes' ruby eyes, winking open and closed as they drowsily listened to my profane lullaby. I know, it's not worth getting that mad. But I do anyway. I am used to cameras that do my bidding, not defy me with their own little autofocus ideas.

I had far better luck with one of the resident Fresh Pond redtails who was obligingly perched in the open, in full sun. Ahhhh.

Hodge said that she sees redtails pretty much every day in every possible setting in Cambridge (something that certainly was not the case when we were both there in the 70's and 80's). And she says she is always thankful to see them, and always stops to admire them, and never stops loving them. And I watch her doing just that. I feel the same way about redtails. Always worth a third glance and a crane of the neck and a happy sigh, this big beefy beautiful buteo, just waiting for rats and rabbits.

Hello darling! and thank you for being here, for just being you.

Fresh Pond Morning

Hodge and I started Thursday morning with some exercise and fall foliage, something (the foliage) that's been sorely lacking in Ohio, and, thanks to a weird, mild fall, is hanging on way past its freshness date in New England.

We started with the tree-lined corridor around Fresh Pond, another marvel of public works. This is the reservoir that supplies Cambridge with its drinking water. Yay. They have a gorgeous waterworks that filters out the duck poop and sends it in pipes to homes and businesses. It's nice water.

 Off to the side, there is a small and gorgeous impoundment with a Dog Beach, my first. I was, of course, charmed. And delighted to see it in use by a Labrador cross who was expressing the Lab part of his genome in an enthusiastic and directed way.

He was pretty good about shaking himself away from his guy and us. I love a dog with a job. I also love dog owners who honor their dog's needs. He said this dog beach is really nice because the water's so clean, and so then is his car. That's the thing about those water-loving breeds--they're gonna get right in. But look at the physique on this dog. Just magnificent! The guy said, "It's a good way to tire him out for the day." Oh, that all dogs could get the exercise they need. Chet Baker's seventh annual checkup is Tuesday. Last time Dr. Lutz said he was "all muscle" and told us to keep up the good work. Gotcha.

Another impoundment is sort of for ducks, although some line strung across it in parts was designed to discourage Canada geese, which would happily fill the reservoir and this little impoundment with poop given half a chance.

I pushed the limits of the Canon G-ll's 20x zoom to grab some pretty hooded mergansers (drake left, female rising to stretch, right) at an impossible distance.

It was lovely to see these little designer ducks floating against fall reflections.

Which were hurrying to delight us before rain set in at noon. They succeeded. Kris and I power-walked the 2.1 miles around Fresh Pond, then headed for Mt. Auburn Cemetery before the rain.

 Lots of migrating ring-necked ducks were loafing around on Fresh Pond.

The drakes were just coming into Alternate (nuptial or breeding) plumage, which is basically the same as Basic (winter or non-breeding) plumage but much brighter, cleaner and better defined. 

It was a peaceful and satisfying morning.

How wonderful that such places exist in the city.

Sparrow heaven! Hodge says this is full of yellow warblers in summer. It was full of song sparrows in fall.

To the Things That Hodge Knows, add How To Find Adorable Screech-Owls.

The trick, she says, is to look at the time-honored owl roosting cavities 100 times, and maybe 2 out of those hundred times, there will be a prize.

Good morning, darling.

Hodge loves to stand looking at owls and then share her binoculars with others. We did that with a woman who said she'd been coming to Fresh Pond for two years and never seen an owl. Add another to the Cavity Watcher's Club. 

I had the BEST time at my talk at the Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center yesterday, and am looking forward to today's presentation at 11. Attending was a pantheon of artists that included Cindy House, Barry Van Dusen, Lucia de Leiris, Robert Braunfield, Larry Barth, Jim Coe, Sean Murtha, and Clare Walker Leslie.

Not only that, but my sister Barbara, niece Karen,  college friends Hodge, John, Edward and Dirk, dear friends Dan, Jeff, Grady and Arlo, MojoMan, Aimee and Mary were there too. Packed the hall with homies. And I was very nervous right up until I walked into the building and VAC Director Amy Montague and fabulous staffers Gigi Hopkins, Sharon Lee, Steve Landry and Jayne DiCandio and  made me feel completely at home and at ease. To stand surrounded by the work of Robert Verity Clem, talking to my family and friends and artistic guiding lights, well, that was something very special, something I'll remember forever. Thank you to everyone who made the trek, and a special thank you to Amy Montague and the VAC for making it all happen.