FRIENDS OF JAMAICA POND and

FRIENDS OF OLMSTED PARK

36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030

Gerry Wright, Founder and President

Telephone: 617-524-7070

Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com

TTY/MA RELAY 800-439-2370

www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org

Friends of Jamaica Pond

History and Annual Park Keeper Award

Frederick Law Olmsted a one-man play by Gerry Wright

Nature's Class Room: Environmental Education Projects

Environmental Research Projects

Forestry Protection Projects

Emerald Necklace Bird Club

Volunteer Stewardship Program

Calendar and Meetings and Press

Memberships and Donations

Links and Resources

Contact and Email Info

 
"Let it be not for present use and delight alone, but let it be of such a work that our descendents will thank us for it."
Frederick Law Olmsted

Nature's
Class Room:

Environmental
Education
Projects

Jamaica Pond's Albino Gray Squirrel

Eastern Chipmunk


Cottontail Rabbits

Great Horned Owls

Red Tailed Hawks


Butterflies and Dragonflies

Wildflowers

Pink Lady's Slipper

Great Blue Herons

Emerald Necklace Fungi (Coming Soon)


Fall and Winter Park Visitors

There are many different species of ducks and waterfowl that visit the Emerald Necklace each fall and winter.  Jamaica Pond's 54 foot depth of warmer waters rotate with the colder surface waters to keep it clear of ice deep into the winter. This also makes the pond very unsafe for skating.  The ice free waters are a magnet to migrating ducks.

On any given day there can be a new waterfowl species from the common diving American Coots and Ruddy Ducks to the dynamic looking Hooded Mergansers and Wood Ducks. Rarer visits of American Widgeons, Redhead Ducks, Ring Necked Ducks, Lesser Scups, Bufflehead, Canvasback, Common Mergansers, Green Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler and accidental Long-Tailed sea ducks have joined the regular visitors of Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks and wild Mute Swans.


Pied Billed Grebe

The secretive Wood Ducks prefer the wood lined banks of Scarboro Pond in Franklin Park and islands of Leverett Pond in Olmsted Park.  Pied Billed Grebes regularly fish on Jamaica Pond, Leverett Pond and Scarboro Pond.  The Hooded Mergansers have been seen from Scarboro Pond to the Muddy River near Wheelock College to the Charles River.  Large flocks of Ruddy Ducks will stay on the ponds till they freeze.

Wood Duck:  “Summer Duck,” “Tree Duck,” “Carolina Duck,” “Squealer,” “U-Tut-Ne,” and “Aix sponsa”  are other names for Wood Ducks given for habitat, range, its song, plus Native American Yahi and Latin names.  The last translates to “waterbird in bridal dress.”  Additional details and links HERE


Red Breasted Merganser

Waterfowl also winter in Boston Harbor...  Red Breasted Mergansers, Common and Red Throated Loons, Brent Geese, and Common Elder can often be spotted on trips along the Boston Harbor walk and excursions to the Boston Harbor Islands.

by Stephen H. Baird



Alerts:

December 2020:  Western Grebe visited Jamaica Pond.

November 2021: Redhead Duck pair visited Jamaica Pond


Contact and Email Information

FRIENDS OF JAMAICA POND

36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030

Gerry Wright, Founder and President

Telephone: 617-524-7070

Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com

TTY/MA RELAY 800-439-2370

www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org

For translations into different languages -- Arabic, Chinese, Italian, French, German, Russian, Spanish or others visit the web site: http://babel.altavista.com

Community Arts Advocates

Copyright © 1999-2021 by Stephen Baird