Great Pond & Great Blue Hill

This past Friday I went to Great Pond in Randolph (also called the Braintree Reservoir I think) for a few hours, and then made my way north to the Blue Hills, taking the red path to the top of Great Blue Hill from the Trailside Museum. At Great Pond, I saw the usual assortment of ducks: Canada Geese, Mallards, Bufflehead, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Greater Scaup (plus unindentified scaup), in addition to my first Northern Flicker of the year, and a female Wild Turkey.

Eastern Elliptio shell on the shore of Great Pond

I think the one on the right might have an injured neck

The Blue Hills were relatively quiet, although I did see 3 Golden-Crowned Kinglets (FoY) and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch (also FoY), so I decided to appreciate the great views of the surrounding areas that Great Blue Hill offered. I also saw my first American Red Squirrel of the year, who I spooked twice in the same spot, which must've been his home.

A very jagged piece of bedrock about halfway up the path

View of Boston from the tower on Great Blue Hill

View of Boston Harbor from the tower

I believe that mountain on the left is Wachusett Mountain

A big rock that I sat on looking out to the west

Pine cone of a Pitch Pine, which is common on the summit

A new pine cone of Pitch Pine

The Trailside Museum was buzzing with activity when I made my way down. White-Breasted Nuthatches, Black-Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, American Goldfinches, Common Grackles, Rock Pigeons and House Sparrows were all very noisily hanging around the feeders, which were stocked with seed. The goldfinches were nearly completely yellow in breeding plumage, with just a few specks of brown left. Two pairs of House Sparrows were already starting to nest in the nest boxes next to the feeders, with the females bringing nesting material while the males sat in the box.

I can't wait until May, when Great Blue Hill while have Eastern Towhees and Gray Catbirds out the wazzoo, with Tree Swallows, Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings, Prairie Warblers, and Brown Thrashers at the summit, plus dragonflies and butterflies that I'll hopefully be able to get some good pictures of.