City Nature Challenge - Boston - 2023
DATE: 20230428 to 20220501 TIME STARTED: 7:00:00 AM TIME Stopped: 07:00:00 PM
SUMMARY: Four days were spent observing, taking pictures, and posting on iNaturalist.org as part of the 'City Nature Challenge, Boston. The weather was perfect on Friday, cloudy on Saturday with rain starting at about 5 pm, off and on rain on Sunday, then improving from rain to sun on Monday. Places I went included: Endean Park in Norwood, property off Meadow Street in Norwood, Hennessey Field in Norwood, Farnham Park (Blue Hills Reservation) in Canton, Moose Hill Sanctuary in Sharon, and Blue Hills Reservation in Milton-Canton. I managed to log over 300 observations of plants, animals, and fungi, and over 150 species.
WEATHER COMMENT: Friday - clear, morning temperatures in the low 40s, high temperatures in the low 60s. Saturday, thin clouds (enough to see the sun through it) to thickly clouded, then rain, 40s to mid 50s. Sunday, periods of rain then mist all day, mid 50s. Monday, rain and overcast skies to clear at noon and sunset at night, temperatures in the 50s.
WEATHER STATION REPORT: Go to https://bluehill.org
Pictures Taken For:
PICTURE POST: 1 iNaturalist: 1 OTHER:
ROUTE TAKEN:
Friday -
Morning - Parked at the lot by the community gardens at Endean Park. Walked all over the park, generally in a counter-clockwise route through the park.
Afternoon - Parked at theend of Meadow Street for property off Meadow Street Generally walked in a counter-clockwise route through the property.
Evening - Walked around the north side of Hennessey Field, then down Cross Street and then circled the hospital grounds and back.
Saturday -
Morning - Parked at the lot for Farnham Park. Generally walked around the pavillion area, then down the main trail and back.
Late Morning - Early Afternoon - Parked at north lot at Blue Hills Reservation, then walked to several locations at the base of Great Blue Hill, then up the Service Road to the S curves, then up the north red dot trail up to Eliot Tower, then Circuit Trail and cutoff trail to the summit, then down the service road to the ski slopes, then down the main ski slope to the base and then back to the north parking lot.
Afternoon - Parked at the parking lot for Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. Walked generally alog the Billings Loop around, then back.
Sunday -
Early afternoon - Walked through Hennessey Park to Murphy Field and back.
Monday -
Early Afternoon - Walked through Hennessey Field and back, then down Cross Stree to western end and back.
Evening: Parked at Ponkapoag Golf Club; walked down Maple Ave to Ponkapoag Pond, then walked along trail (east) and back.
TERRAIN: Terrain for Endean Park, Meadow Street Property, Hennessey Field, Moose Hill (Billings Loop) and Farnham Park are flat, with wide trails, with generally natural surfaces (Endean varies). Blue Hill has an ascent/descent of about 500 ft elevation difference, but the climb is generally steady.
PHENOLOGY: Some trees/plants have not broken buds, yet, but most have. None that I saw were in full leaf-out.
CONVERSATIONS:
EXTRA NOTES:
The Sites -
Endean Park - is a multifunction facility that includes park and playground areas, athletic fields and a pool, and conservation areas. Oh, it also has a community garden and orchard. The conservation area is mostly meadow and wetland, but there are some drier areas with more established woods. Thus, this is a good place to find a variety of plants and animals.
Meadow Street Property-is an area that has recently had trails put in. It is within the Neponset River Fowl Meadow - a sizable wetland surrounds the main stem of the Neponset River. It has potential to have life that is associated so deep into a wetland.
Farham Park (Part of Blue Hills Reservation) - is a restored wetland area also within the Neponset River Fowl Meadow. Much of it was an airport and some of it became a chemical dumping ground. One reason why I went there is to document how well the wetland is evolving
Blue Hills Reservation - Is parkland just outside of Boston and includes a varity of habitats. I walked around Great Blue Hill, a small 'bump' at 640 ft in elevation, it is still distinctive because the Blue Hills are the only hill features close to being that tall in this area.
Moose Hill Wildlife Santuary (MassAudubon) - is one of the first sanctuaries not only for MassAudubon, but also in the country (one of the areas held by The Trustees of Reservations is slightly older). This land has a variety of habitats including woods, wetlands, pastures, and highlands.
Hennessey Field - is a town-held property that is mostly highlands where the woods are filling in what was once fields. Though relatively small, it provides some surprises.
Ponkapoag Pond, via the golf course - is an area part of the Blue Hills Reservation. The pond and woods along the trail that circumscribes the pond has a lot of plant and potential animal sightings. It's especially nice for trying to get those last few plants and animals before the survey ends.
Other: Friday was perfect - glad I was able to get over 100 observations at Endean Park and about 140 by days end. Saturday was also good, but the clouds made taking pictures a challenge some times because of the high contrast that often resulted. Sunday midday was OK, but it wasn't great for surveying, so I did a few then concentrated on posting pictures. Monday was a day of last chances and more postings.
As usual, I had fun all the way!
