Sosltice Urban Nature Walk

[lizziebelle]

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. It was the perfect day to go on an Urban Nature walk, led by urbpan. I had suggested we go to the Blue Hills Reservation at Great Blue Hill, a place I used to go all the time when I lived near there. There was a little snow overnight, so it was really pretty and winter-like, but not so much that it would have made hiking difficult.

We met at the Trailside Museum, behind which is a small zoo. There are birds of prey, foxes, deer, and an otter!

We were joined by Keith, who's a regular on the walks, and Don and Stephanie. Don works at the observatory there, and Stephanie used to work there, so we had excellent guides and inside info.

The woods were just gorgeous in the snow.

Despite the snow still falling, the views were spectacular.

At the top of the hill (the highest point in eastern Massachusetts), there is a weather observatory.

If you look very carefully, you can see the Boston skyline in the pic below.

To the south is Ponkapoag Pond, where we did a walk last spring.

The snow really was pretty.

We found some snow fleas, which aren't really fleas but a kind of springtail.

They're very small, and look like dirt or tree detritus on the snow.

We passed a couple of vernal pools, not quite frozen over yet.

Don took us up to the observatory, and we got to see its inner workings (and enjoy the view from the rooftop).

That was very cool.


It was the perfect way to celebrate the Solstice. The snow has been coming down lightly since I got home. We won't have a white Christmas, but we had a lovely white Yule.

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[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

It does!