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By adamg - 11/10/23 - 9:06 pm
Sunset over the Fens

Ryan took some awesome photos of this evening's sunset in the Fens.

Mango Matt, meanwhile, got a great shot of the sun going down over the Back Bay, the Common and downtown: Read more.

By adamg - 10/11/16 - 5:50 pm
A goose in Boston's Public Garden

Winged menace gives you the eye.

Boston city councilors will take a gander at a gaggle of ideas to deal with geese and the crap they leave behind.

At a hearing today, councilors heard suggestions that included fining people who feed them, having parks workers and volunteers coat goose eggs with oil, which kills the chicks but fools the mother goose so she doesn't lay more eggs - and buying more umbrellas for city parks workers with which to find off angry geese when they try to grab the eggs to coat them in oil. Read more.

By anon - 8/17/16 - 2:22 pm

There is a cool "kon tiki" looking thing floating in the Fens Lagoon. Any idea what it is? Can't find any reference in the normal media.

By adamg - 4/22/16 - 12:45 pm
Flaming Fenway fens

Heather got a close-up view of the fire that erupted in the Fens around noon.

The black smoke quickly became visible across the area. Shamus Moynihan watched it rise over the Fenway: Read more.

By adamg - 9/23/15 - 8:10 pm
Fenway fire

Looking towards the Fens fire. Photo by Tyler.

Firefighters rushed to Park Drive to battle a brush fire in the Fens that filled the neigbhborhood with smoke and falling ash. The fire was declared knocked down around 8:05 p.m.

David Callahan photographed the smoke at Fenway Park: Read more.

By adamg - 5/6/15 - 10:57 pm
Back Bay Fens fire

Firefighters responded to the Back Bay Fens shortly before 10:50 p.m. after the Fens caught on fire, as they seem to do every spring, in the area between the BFD dispatch building and Boylston Street. The fire was reported knocked down shortly after 11.

By adamg - 4/3/14 - 5:43 pm
Bird of prey in the Fenway

Brian D'Amico noticed this bird of prey yesterday intently surveying the Fens, which, as we know, has been overrun by rabbits.

Copyright Brian D'Amico. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

By adamg - 3/31/14 - 11:11 am
Swan in the Fens

Masstreehugger photographs the latest addition to the Fens, wonders how he or she will get along with the Canada geese, and adds:

Note in foreground the stripped bark off the trees leaning over the water - courtesy of recent rabbit infestation in the park. They eat bark in order to survive winter, effectively killing the plant although it may resprout from roots. There will be lots of dead wood all over the park this year.

By adamg - 8/4/13 - 11:33 pm

Guy in a sleeping bag

A creeped-out citizen complains about this sight yesterday in the Fens:

By adamg - 4/4/13 - 8:11 pm
Fens on fire

For the second time in less than a week, the Fens behind the Boston Fire Department fire-alarm center caught fire, shortly after 7:15 p.m. today. As with the last fire, firefighters made quick work of the flaming reeds, although unlike last time, firefighters didn't find somebody floating in the water past the reeds. However, the department did call in its arson investigators to help figure out what caused the fire.

Fire closer up. Photo by Masstreehugger.Fire closer up. Photo by Masstreehugger.

Meanwhile, BFD spokesman Steve MacDonald reports the man pulled out of the water after the Saturday fire has died. Both the cause of his death and the fire remain under investigation.

By adamg - 3/11/12 - 4:40 pm

Masstreehugger took this video: "From my window looking west toward the Muddy River/Back Bay Fens Victory Gardens. The fire here is burning past the Fire Dept Communications Hdqrtrs parking lot, the wind blowing it down stream toward Boylston St."

What turned out to be a two-alarm fire on both sides of the Muddy River was reported around 3 p.m., the Boston Fire Department reports.

Smoke from the fire, which rapidly jumped from brush to trees, could be seen as far away as Hingham.

Firefighters say the Fens is one of three areas in Boston primed for brush fires following our snowless winter. The area along the Neponset had a brush fire last month; Stony Brook Reservation on the Hyde Park/Roslindale line has yet to have one.

Fenway fire from HinghamFenway fire from Hingham. Photo by Michael Page.

By adamg - 5/29/11 - 8:31 am

Justin Martin, recounts how Frederick Law Olmsted created the Back Bay Fens out of what had become a misbegotten salt marsh.

Earlier:
Charlesgate: Then and now.

By adamg - 4/29/10 - 10:04 pm

Local 718 tweets "an extensive brush fire" behind 59 Fenway shortly after 9 p.m. tonight.

By adamg - 4/10/10 - 10:22 pm

Mike Mennonno reports that, in addition to the unfurling fern fronds, the guy who likes to show off his junk is back at the Victory Gardens.

Tim, the President of the garden society, says he's an older guy, been doing it for years.

"Yeah," he shuddered. "And sometimes he wears a thong."

By adamg - 11/28/09 - 5:54 pm

This time, in the Fens. The Fenway News reports Boston is seeking ideas for what to do with "the Duck House," an old restroom building on Agassiz Road that's gone unused since a fire in 1986:

... The Parks Department is seeking expressions of interest that provide for a public benefit and complement park management and programming. If a compatible use can be identified, the Department could grant a lease to a tenant who would restore the building for this use, provide public benefit, and enhance the Back Bay Fens. The Department would consider a long lease term; however, if the term is longer than three years, legislation will be required to enact such an agreement. ...

By adamg - 9/21/09 - 2:39 pm

City Councilor Mike Ross answers the Bay Windows article alleging harassment of gay cruisers in the reeds:

By adamg - 9/20/09 - 11:29 am

Last week, Bay Windows wrote: Boston P.D. cracking down on cruising in the Fens.

Mike Mennonno, himself gay, doesn't think so, because gays looking for some anonymous fun aren't the target of the police. He praises the BPD for attempting to crack down on vandals who have been rampaging through the Victory Gardens - where he has a plot:

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