July 11th, 2010
Burdon Pond aka Swans Pond is a small all but forgotten pond on the quiet border between Northbridge & Sutton. Part of the Purgatory chain of habitats, it is down hill from the Chasm. In Springtime, the pond is wide open water and abundant in wildlife, its coves busy hatcheries.
Lilies of all types flower in the water, damsel & dragon flies litter the air. Swans on the main pond, ducks, herons visit what my granddaughter calls the “secret cove” while muskrats swim back and forth with their bounty of reeds. Turtles line up in sunlight on a bare tree trunk that stretches into the water, while aged snapping turtles cruise the main pond. In the second cove, deer “bleet” at one another and with a flip of their white tails spirit away in haste.
Now in early summer, after an unusually hot, dry stretch of weather and other demands on the pond, as we launch the canoe in the muck and mud, I wonder how much longer we’ll be able to do just this. The coves are now inaccessible to our flat bottom canoe as is the west end of the pond. Lily pads stand tall above the water like bistro tables. The crystal clear water has taken on a murky appearance, and fish that were distinctly visible before now hide in the dark depths of the weeds. The dam stands guard uselessly as no water falls. The two smaller ponds it feeds have been abandoned to the weeds six weeks too early in the season.
Through this blog we hope to offer a periodic report on the conditions of Burdon Pond, record the wildlife that calls its 33 acres home, and to speak of and for the benefit and preservation of this forgotten Pond.
Aug 1st, 2010, 78°F, Sunny
We’re greeted at the dam by the view of water being shot 20 feet into the air off in the distance - the neighbors’ irrigating corn. After a seemingly endless heat wave, the weather has cooled if not cleared a long stretch of hazy and humid. We startle a leopard frog who leaps and poses for a picture before disappearing in the weeds. Pushing the canoe off shore in the mud releases a noxious smell.
Staying the course to deeper water requires hugging the south shore and crossing the pond to the north side to head towards the center of the pond. A Great Egret flies into view and lands in the marsh weeds near the coves. Nearby in the first cove, a great blue heron perches on a dead tree exposed by the low water. The lilies are thick as thieves and only by pushing off the muddy bottom with our oars do we move along into the cove. Cove #2 is barely damp beneath a carpet of lily pads. We push and prod the canoe around to continue on when a white tail deer steps out into a clearing at the far end of the pond and begins to graze.
The water below Purgatory Brook has dropped enough that exposed flats attract egrets and herons while ducks rest in the marshy grass. A ribbon of deeper water cuts through the lilies on the west end of the pond where islands of mud and vegetation are exposed like sand bars made for the killdeer and plovers to forage. The small brook on the north side has become a trickle between two mud flats. We shove off the mud, pushing along by our oars back to the path of open water. Flat bottomed canoes can float in a foot of water; while last spring the pond was wide open acres for paddling, it's now like river paddling as there’s only one way to go.
Drought clearly makes its demands on the pond, as do other sources. The question is how long before these demands reduce the pond to the trickle conditions of the brook above?
September 26th, 2010, 69°F, Partly Cloudy
This blog in particular is written by and represents the singular, humble opinion and personal observations of Vallarie Leslie.
Burdon Pond Dam had been abandoned for decades. I remember trying to access the pond for some fishing more than 20 years ago but the brush was too thick. Back then, obviously no one cared if the dam worked properly as it was obscured by overgrown weeds, bushes, and trees. Out of sight out of mind.
Fast forward to today, the dam in plain sight, rescued and cared for it is a pleasant place to visit. Intricate rock work and walls hint at its history. You can easily imagine the grist mill that once harnessed the power of the water flow. Across the road the brook winds and bends to the mill pond and over the next small dam to Lily Pond on its way to Whitins Pond. Rather, what is left of the brook.
Back in June of this year, the West End Creamery began preparing the field for their latest attraction, a corn maze. This was done with no conservation measures whatsoever and I witnessed dirt being dumped and pushed over the embankment and into the pond. I’ve always been under the impression that Conservation Commissions were created to protect wetlands. Not true, least not of all the commissions and agencies contacted in this regard. Their least concern was the pond and its wildlife as “Agriculture” is apparently exempt from wetlands protection.
And by the way, miniature golf is “Agriculture” – the mini-golf course at the West End Creamery draws its water from the pond via pump and pipes. In addition, a second much larger capacity pump and wider pipe added in early July withdraws for the irrigation of the corn maze. Using snow-making style nozzles, the water from the pond is blasted 20-30 feet in the air, and the irrigation was conducted contrary to dept of agriculture recommendations – during the heat of the day when evaporation is at its highest.
Week by week we watched the water level on the pond drop, the coves go dry as a drought took hold, and still the wasteful irrigation continued. Complaints go unanswered. For months. Yet the dam owners and neighborhood volunteers move forward with repairs to the dam. Hand work and hard labor, their efforts applauded by the passers by who stop to observe. “I’ve been driving by here for 30 years and have to say, you guys are doing a great job!” Old pictures of the abandoned dam flooding replete with brush and weeds left with a note, in appreciation.
Conditions on the pond leave it less than desirable as far as canoeing is concerned. Getting to water deep enough to float the canoe is made possible by laying boards end to end across the mud. Once afloat our paddles touch bottom in most areas and we’re restricted by water’s depth or lack of. Flocks of Canada Geese in the now weedy mud flats move on to other ponds at dusk. I’m afraid unless we have significant precipitation, canoeing Burdon Pond for the simple enjoyment of it has passed for this season.