The water chestnut is an invasive species hereabouts, choking ponds and waterways like the Mystic. It's expensive and laborious to remove, and always comes back. But the cedar waxwings, bless their hearts, love the stuff. It makes huge rafts, rigid enough to land on, and contains something that they go crazy for. I have no idea what it is, whether animal or vegetable. This last week (and maybe longer, for all I know), waxwings have been present in big numbers on the Mystic -- more than I've ever seen in one place. A hundred at least.
And speaking of the Mystic, the path that runs from the dam up to the boathouse continues to get a makeover. They've somewhat unwisely planted much of it in grass. I guess they just love the Canada geese that much. Anyway, the other day they had the sprinklers going, and one sprinkler head drew an unusual assemblage of birds:
That's a starling at top, a robin at left, and in the middle, red-winged blackbird and a yellow warbler. There was in fact a pair of these warblers there, which is interesting, because it says to me they're probably nesting in the vicinity -- and if so, that's the first pair of warblers I've ever known to nest in Somerville.
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