the Way of the Turtle

2.5 Mile Walk at Ann Lee Pond
Monday, September 20, 2010

It was such a nice evening (cool and sunny) that I was almost tempted to go for a run... but I was pretty sure I'd regret it for the rest of the week if I didn't take a rest day, so in the end I headed over to Ann Lee Pond to wander in the woods for a while.

No surprise, the water was even lower then the last time I was there... at most a couple of inches deep in the back of the pond, making the Crazy Bridge seem much higher. Apparently the local kids have been up to no good, since there were a number of places where the railings on the bridge had been damaged... stupid. I didn't see much wildlife, though I was pleased to see a heron on the shore - I've always wondered why I don't see them more often in the pond, especially now that I know they have a rookery back in the beaver ponds. Of course, he wasn't pleased to see me... there were a couple of times over the course of the evening that he flew to another spot squawking his displeasure.

After that I spent a while walking through the woods. I didn't see much point in going back to the beaver ponds, both because it was getting darker and because of how low the water is. I heard lots of woodpeckers and a few other birds I didn't recognize, as well as the usual jays and robins. Eventually I made my way back to the shore of the pond and checked out the ducks for a bit before heading over to the Shaker Historic Site.

There were people with the bulls, so I wandered down through the site and took a look at the old buildings. I couldn't see much but overall it looked pretty cool... I would definitely like to get back there at some point during the day and see more. I did manage to get some pretty neat pictures.

JMH