March 16

 March is a punk armed with a sharp edged knife. It menaces you and then plunges the blade in. It’s that wet cold East wind off the ocean that hurts so. I was well dressed but the air was a bitter pain. January can be so much worse but March sucks you in with a bright sunny day and crocus popping up. Then it turns like the cheap little punk that it is and hurts you with that wind.

Needless to say, not much was moving on the flats except for a few crows. The feeders on the Overlook Path had plenty of chickadees, sparrows and doves. There was a little clatter and a male Downy Woodpecker landed on a tree close by and started feeding.

The Overlook puddle had a few Mallards and Canada Geese who paddled away as soon as I stepped up onto the platform.

The Boardwalk had a big surprise. There was an elephant in the tub. Well not really, in 18 inches of water there was a Mute Swan feeding off the bottom grass. It was so huge that I could only think “elephant”. It wasn’t much bothered by my presence and considering the reputation of swans as being very aggressive, I was glad to keep my distance.

Just a little ways from the big guy, a flock of Green Winged Teal were puttering around feeding off the same bottom grass.

A Mallard pair were plodding through the grass and puddles. They watched me very closely but did not panic. Usually ducks will explode into flight if I get this close. Perhaps they thought their camouflage was better than it really was.

The park entrance was full of Grackles, Robins and Blackbirds. It was pretty lively but it was also out of the full force of the wind. The Revere Creek was at low tide and full of mud and little else.

I was very eager to get home and warm up today. The swan was a spectacular sight and more than made up for the cold.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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