Category: nature

Purgotary Cove and Forest Grove combine to be a nice part of the Charles River Walk along the Waltham-Newton line. It’s an area I have yet to explore fully, but seems to have quite a bit of potential.

To reach it, take Woerd Ave. off Crescent St. in Waltham. Follow Woerd Ave. to the end. You’ll pass the boat launch and then Purgatory Cove. You can pull over here or continue to the circle where the road ends and park there. The town line is just beyond the circle. Alternate access from the other end is off Commonwealth Ave. at Lyons Park.

Purgatory Cove is a large backwater spot along the Charles. It gets filled with vegetation in summer. Lots of waterbirds are possible here, including large numbers of Wood Ducks. Along the river on the other side of the road, you can follow a trail that winds through the wooded area and then joins the main Forest Grove trail. There’s a couple of steep spots here, so be careful.

Up on the main trail, you can walk through a wooded section that borders the river and passes through a couple parks before ending. Lots of birds are possible, including many migrants. This section is also the only place along the Charles where I’ve had Wild Turkeys.

Butterflies are not too exciting along here, but dragonflies can be interesting. The only Vesper Bluet I’ve seen so far was along the first bit of trail by Purgatory Cove. I haven’t spent enough time looking for other good ones, but I’m sure there are more out there.

This stretch of the river is also popular with boaters and kayakers. It’s very wide and slow and I’d imagine you can see quite a few different things on the water.

Well worth exploring more, there’s plenty of untapped potential here, even when the crowds are out.

This is the time of year to visit Fresh Pond in Cambridge. It’s by far the easiest place around to find Canvasback and there are often other interesting ducks as well. On the whole, I don’t like the place but make a trip or two each year.

I normally park along Huron Ave as it’s the closest point for me, but there is (or was, not sure about current access) some public parking at Neville Manor and you can always park at the mall and work your way over. Cambridge residents can park near the waterworks (and can also let their dogs run free unfortunately). Those entrances are much closer to where the birds tend to hang out if you want to drop in and not walk all around. Other than circling the pond, Lusitania Meadow often has good passerines.

Fresh Pond is covered well elsewhere, so start with The Friends and go from there for more information.

The Quabbin Overlook in the center of New Salem isn’t particularly well known (I think I’ve seen exactly 1 post on Massbird mentioning it). It also probably doesn’t have a whole lot of wildlife compared to other parts of the Quabbin and the area, but the view is great.

The trail is also very short, so it’s very easy to run up, check, and run back. I’ve yet to find much along the trail, but most of my trips have been at lousy times of day so that may not mean much.

To reach the overlook, follow the road next to the fire station. It leads down to some playing fields (edges of which are worth checking) and then to a small parking area. The trail starts here and is easy enough to follow. There’s some nice blueberry patches early and then a wooded section before reaching the overlook.

Although I haven’t seen a whole lot from there, several sightings were quite memorable. One of my first good looks at a Scarlet Tanager was a bird that popped up in one of the trees just down the slope (so it was right at eye level). And another time, the loons down in the water were calling loudly enough to be heard from up above. And one day, I’m sure there will be a moose swimming through the water.