Urban nature walk

Yesterday I went on a nature walk by the Muddy River and around the Fens. I got to hear many stories and see lots of species I hadn't known/noticed before.

We started at Charlesgate. The Muddy River near the Charles used to be mudflats, sometimes salty before the dam on the Charles (on which the Museum of Science is built) kept the tides from coming upriver. Now it's all freshwater, partly built over, and much less smelly (no longer being used as a trash heap). Still, the snazzy houses around there are built on landfill. There are deep posts to anchor the buildings, but a lowering water table has started exposing some of the wood, so it's more prone to rot. Not great if an earthquake hits.

I kept a running list of ( what I saw. )

I had known that earthworms weren't native to New England, since the glaciers had stripped a lot of stuff off the ground and compacted what was left, but I didn't know that they were brought over as ballast: ships used to use dirt as make-weights, and whatever bugs, etc., were in the soil came along too. These days, ships use sea water as ballast, which can contribute to small sea creatures range expanding (such as the invasive zebra mussel). It'd be great if we could use things that were inert instead.

One dead tree had an area of bark missing. There were black line segments on the white wood, with little curving paths carved into the wood spreading out from each. Some kind of beetle laid eggs in a line, and when they hatched, the little ones burrowed out in all directions. I don't know what kind of beetles they were, but the tracks they left were beautifully geometric. (Check it out here and here.)

I've got a pretty good sense of direction, but the Fens always turn me around. Something about the twistiness is just difficult for my inner navigator, despite grokking Massachusetts roads in general. I hadn't realized there's a war memorial there, nor a rose garden. More exploration is needed!


And wholly off topic: happy Loving Day tomorrow!