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Jamaica Pond

By adamg - 1/19/23 - 5:49 pm
Notebook entry remembering the time a heron was there and caught a fish

Last November, somebody noticed a problem with the "elbow tree," a distinctive birch tree near the Jamaica Pond boathouse with a prominent limb pointing downward at the water, rather than up - its trunk had begun to split open. That's a sign of impending death and the person attached a couple of small notebooks and a pencil to the tree both so that people could measure the crack as it spread and to say goodbye to the longtime pondside attraction. Read more.

By adamg - 1/19/23 - 9:20 am
Sunrise over Jamaica Pond

Mary Ellen went for a walk around Jamaica Pond this morning.

By adamg - 1/17/23 - 11:16 am

The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council's Public Service Committee says the neighborhood needs more trash receptacle along Centre Street and the north side of Jamaica Pond because of slobs who can't hold onto their trash until they find one or get home, the Jamaica Plain Gazette reports.

By adamg - 8/3/22 - 9:38 pm
Dragonfly at Jamaica Pond

About to walk down from Perkins Street to the path around this pond this afternoon when I spotted this guy alighting on some of the scrub between the road and the path.

By adamg - 6/16/22 - 11:32 am
Duck and ducklings at Jamaica Pond

The other day, a mother duck and her ducklings were at the northernmost end of Jamaica Pond, slowly paddling through the muck there, stopping from time to time for a bite to eat. Read more.

By adamg - 6/13/22 - 2:34 pm
Muskrat in yucky Jamaica Pond

A muskrat swam through a yucky Jamaica Pond on May 27.

Visitors to Jamaica Pond in recent days have noticed that the water along the edges of the pond has cleared remarkably when compared to just a couple weeks ago, but the water's not yet clear enough of toxic blue-green algae to allow boating and other recreational activities, such as letting dogs go for a swim, the Boston Public Health Commission said today. Read more.

By adamg - 6/8/22 - 3:08 pm
Family of wood ducks

A family of wood ducks glided along the surface of Jamaica Pond yesterday.

By adamg - 6/7/22 - 11:44 pm
Bluegill nests in Jamaica Pond

Male bluegills have been busy of late building communal nests at several locations along the Jamaica Pond shoreline, such as this collection on the southern edge of the pond, to the left of the boathouse. Read more.

By adamg - 5/28/22 - 10:33 am
Turtle at Jamaica Pond

One of the larger turtles in Jamaica Pond took in some sun yesterday at the pond's main turtle haven.

By adamg - 5/24/22 - 9:23 am
Green water at Jamaica Pond

Only some of that green is due to reflections off the trees.

The Boston Public Health Commission announced yesterday that a bloom of toxic blue-green algae means Jamaica Pond's water is no longer safe to go in or fish in. Read more.

By adamg - 4/27/22 - 1:56 pm
Mural in moss at Jamaica Pond boathouse

The Mayor's Mural Crew's usual medium is paint on cement, but to honor Frederick Law Olmsted's 200th birthday, it turned to a material he probably knew well: Moss.

The crew outfitted the gazebo at Jamaica Pond with something he wrote: Read more.

By adamg - 4/23/22 - 8:42 pm
Lots of turtles at Jamaica Pond

The turtles were out in force at Jamaica Pond today. In addition to the premium location on the branches near the northern end of the pond, like the guys above, there were turtles along the parkway and even on a bunch of downed branches along Parkman Drive that geese had made their own - until today, at least.

By adamg - 4/1/22 - 1:05 pm
Fog at Jamaica Pond this morning

John Magee walked along Jamaica Pond this morning, before the fog burned off.

By adamg - 1/27/22 - 10:56 am

All the equipment parked at the northern end of Jamaica Pond is so Boston firefighters can do their annual training on how to rescue people who don't listen to them and go out on the ice anyway and then fall in: Read more.

By adamg - 1/26/22 - 1:17 pm
Swan on Jamaica Pond

One of the five swans at Jamaica Pond took a moment to ponder life shortly before sundown yesterday.

By adamg - 1/17/22 - 10:39 am
Eagle eating a seagull on the ice at Jamaica Pllain

Mike Howlett was walking along Jamaica Pond yesterday when he spotted an eagle chowing down on a freshly caught herring gull (see it larger).

Nature's Zeitgeist also captured the brunching, reports: "The crime scene was pretty extensive with lots of white feathers scattered over a wide area on the pond ice."

By adamg - 1/2/22 - 5:08 pm
Dog walking reflections on Jamaica Plain

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, for about 20 minutes, there was no wind at Jamaica Pond and so it was absolutely still and basically a giant mirror (save near the northern end, where a flotilla of hooded mergansers were busy fishing). Read more.

By adamg - 11/29/21 - 9:26 pm
Red-hooded ducks at Jamaica Pond

Mary Ellen journeyed up to Jamaica Pond today, where, amongst the fresh crop of hooded mergansers, which usually show up there about now, she spotted some redhead ducks, which are not commonly seen in 02130.

Sometimes, the pond also sees ruddy ducks, which, however, do not have red heads.

By adamg - 11/22/21 - 6:24 pm
Sunset matches a Dunkin' Donuts

Michelle spotted a quintessential Massachusetts sunset this evening.

Meanwhile, over at Jamaica Pond: Read more.

By adamg - 11/10/21 - 7:13 pm
Windsurfer on Jamaica Pond

Around 4:45 p.m., a woman who had been pumping up her inflatable surfboard and inflatable sail along the Jamaicaway side of Jamaica Pond put on a wetsuit, then put the board in the water, got on and paddled out aways before standing up and then scudding from one side of the pond to the other, using the handheld sail to direct the board where to go. Read more.

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