Delimited Site Visit #1 - The Junk Pond
April 9, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME
I left my house at 1:50p and promptly started an eBird checklist. I walked down Bedell to Brentwood and into the cemetery. Of note upon entering the cemetery was the wind. The skies were clear and the sun was shining brightly but the wind was strong. An app on my phone said it was 30f with 8mph winds.
My targets for this walk were numerous: 1) Do my daily eBird checklist; 2) Find and observe both a Downy Woodpecker and a Hairy Woodpecker; 3) Investigate the junk pond as a delimited site; 4) Find some breeding birds for the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas.
As I walked I also kept note of the mammals I found along the way. I will provide a full list with amphibians below. My final eBird checklist contained 21 species that I either heard of saw. It ran for 1hr 33 mins and for 2.114 miles. I had no breeding codes on this walk but soon should be able to find a number of different birds settling down to breed.
I made my way down to the main ponds and found a Great Blue Heron. I stopped and looked for frogs and turtles but finding none headed over to the junk pond.
Before I got there I noted the UNE buses and vans passing by every few minutes. This added to my doubts that the junk pond would make a good spot. I've birded the junk pond numerous times by mainly only in the spring. This is one reason for selecting it. That said, I'm sometimes worried about safety there. Even now there is remnants of someone's camp. But there is an old bench which is great for long sitting.
My 1st thought was that there was a lot of traffic noise but during the middle of the day on a workday this wasn't too alarming. The UNE buses were annoying at 1st but I quickly got used to them. As I suspect the local animals do as well.
The habitat here is deciduous forest. Almost all of it is newly grown. There are a few "old" or big trees here and they are all on the far side of the pond.
There are a lot of different plants here. Trees, grasses, mosses, and many more. So there are numerous ways for the sun's energy to be converted. It is clear, though, that trees are the dominate produces for the area. As for consumers there were birds, frogs, and small mammals. There were also a few hard shelf mushrooms in the area showing clear evidence of detritivores.
I watched the MALLARDs and MUSKRAT for a while and it was clear that they are all finding food and eating it. Further singing AMERICAN GOLDFINCH made me think they might breed around here which also leads me to believe that there is a lot food available. In years past I have seen warblers and flycatchers finding insects here to eat.
Ultimately, despite the tires, old tent, brown water (from tannin, I assume), I decided I liked this spot and will continue to observe here.
Also of note at this location was 2 different types of frogs calling. I think it was a WOOD FROG and a SPRING PEEPER, but I'm not confident about either id as I don't really know my frog calls. I'm fairly sure one was WOOD FROG, but not totally.
Finally, I'm curous to see the changes of the pond past this one year observation. I have noticed in the last few years that the pond has changed a great deal and I'm curious to see how that continues.
After about 25 minutes at the spot I continued to the UNE fields and then directly across the cemetery to Brentwood Farm. I spent a very short bit of time below the farm on the trail but didnt' stay long before heading home.
List of animals heard or saw:
- Eastern Chimpmunk
- Grey Squirrel*
- Red Squirrel
- Spring Peeper*
- Wood Frog*
- birds can be found here
*seen/heard at delimited site
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