by Kathryn Flynn
Member since:
January 15, 2006

Three Seasons Duck Pond - photo essay

June 19, 2011 12:32 AM UTC (Updated: June 19, 2011 12:40 AM UTC)
views: 0 | 24 people recommend this | comments: 65

The Duck Pond, dating from 1888.  The oldest white oaks in North America lived here until 1920, when they were removed.

The stand of 23 Waverly Oaks were between 500 and 1000 years old. The oak trees you see here are up to 200 or so years old and are descendants of the renowned Waverly Oaks. This is in process.

I wanted to see what I have so far, so I can check what I need to capture in the Fall.



http://media-files.gather.com/images/d437/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg


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January 13, 2011

 

Oaks do not lose their leaves in the winter. This is a venerable old oak.

This is part of Beaverbrook Reservation and you see the ranger station in the background to the left.

It was the Waverly Oaks that ran from Waverly Station up to McLean Hospital  1/8 mile up from here that was the inspiration for creating the first metropolitan nature preserve in the US - The Metropolitan District Commission, an organization of parks throughout the greater Boston area.

The Duck Pond and the Mill Pond were the first of the MDC parks.

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d431/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpghttp://media-files.gather.com/images/d430/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpghttp://media-files.gather.com/images/d432/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

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Duck Pond May 6, 2011

 

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d434/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpghttp://media-files.gather.com/images/d435/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d433/d978/d746/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

Duck Pond July 5, 2007.


My plan is to take nearly identical photos of certain sections, a group for each season at its height. It seems that the height of the season is about 1 month after the season begins.

Looking at these photos, I can see which sections I want to take again and which ones I want to take in early to mid-October.

I will increase the sections to include the Mill Stream, the Mill Stone, the Mill Pond. It will take at least a year more. But a worthwhile project.

Comments: 65

Larry H. Jun 19, 2011, 12:35am UTC
thanks for sharing. neat pictures thanks for sharing.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 2:22am UTC
thanks for stopping by!
Karen E. Jun 19, 2011, 12:54am UTC
Wonderful theme. I had a similar idea last year. I wanted to photograph a field of horse tails from shoot to full foliage. I even left markers at the site but when I would come back the markers would be gone and I would have to guess. I still have this in mind and you give me inspiration.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 2:22am UTC
oh wow; it is quite a project... good luck. let me know how it goes.
Barbara H. Jun 19, 2011, 12:55am UTC
Absolutely breathtaking scenes already captured and such excitement in thinking and planning this way. I hope the Fall brings you color that literally melts into crystal shades of russetts and reds and oranges so lush we will be able to taste them when we view your next set of photos. I love the deep, thick green of lawns in the summer and the decidedly delicate shades of baby spring. I know you'll catch it all. I have sketches and photos of a single tree out the road from our home. I take photos and do sketches of it at different times of the year. My project is less energetic than yours but the same idea.
I love the duck ponds, love to watch the shadows and lights and darks that change the color of the water as the day progresses.
Hope your hubby is healing well and will be able to trek after you on some of your photo shoots.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 2:22am UTC
he is progressing! he can drive but that is it...
Lawrence U. Jun 19, 2011, 1:30am UTC
Lovely images! What an interesting project!!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 2:21am UTC
I will be working more on it...
Elsie Duggan Jun 19, 2011, 1:30am UTC
Beautiful pictures Kathryn, we have a duck pond here, with swans in it too, and it surprisingly looks a lot like yours, except that there are a lot of weeping willows around it, love the different seasons pictures and how you worked that in, love, Elsie
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 2:21am UTC
I bet it is very pretty.

love...
Jean R B. Jun 19, 2011, 2:33am UTC
How nice Kathryn, these are lovely.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 2:34am UTC
thank you angel...
JOHN BECK Jun 19, 2011, 7:44am UTC
Nice photos. Yes, following the seasons in photos is a great idea. Years ago I did that with a tall tamarack tree but the woods has grown up around it now so it's not the same.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:23am UTC
we had a spot on plum island we loved but it also grew too thick.
elizabeth evans Jun 19, 2011, 8:37am UTC
Definitely a worthwhile Project. I have often thought of doing the same with capturing the seasons on my crust of earth.

Thanks for posting to Triple Name Club.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:22am UTC
oh that would be so beautiful, bob.
JustMe ~I'm happy to be~ Jun 19, 2011, 9:21am UTC
I love your "plan". It's a beautiful spot and thank you for sharing it with us.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:22am UTC
thank you
Rachel D. Jun 19, 2011, 9:51am UTC
Awesome idea! After a handful of years, you might find that the park will ask for copies of your photos, so they can see how the park has changed throughout the years. If they aren't photographing it already, that is. :P
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:12am UTC
Great comment. This is a nature preserve; the trees you see here are the same as they were 100 years ago and are exactly the same as I've seen them in the last 30 years and will be the same. I imagine there are paintings and prints of similar projects, since this has been a preserve for about 120 years, since 1888.
Granny Janny Jun 19, 2011, 11:06am UTC
Down by the old mill stream....
Beautiful!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:22am UTC
a favorite place; i love places where the vegetation has not been disturbed for more than 100 years; a few exist, outside of deep woods; walden, gettysburg battlefield, this place.... of course yosemite and all the redwood forests, which are indicative of the megaflora in the mesozoic era; the oaks we had in this region became famous because they also were representative of the mesozoic era, though they were only 1,000 years old. these trees are about 200 so far.
ben Surbana Jun 19, 2011, 11:15am UTC
The mighty oaks appear radiant in the sun!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:20am UTC
trees are gods.
ben Surbana Jun 19, 2011, 11:40am UTC
..shining gods in your photographs, Kathryn!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 21, 2011, 12:35am UTC
thank YOU, mr. ben!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 11:20am UTC
My favorite angles to recapture are: 1,2.4.6.and the next to the last one. The winter ones were all shot from the parking lot, because there was too much snow to venture from the lot (small lot with a stone ledge; the path was 4 feet of snow; but I do love the angles from that perspective, so I will use this perspective for the fall and proceed from there for more spring and summer. So maybe next summer it will be ready.
Stirling D. Jun 19, 2011, 11:50am UTC
Wonderful idea, Kathryn. Years ago I had this same idea and photographed an old estate in all four seasons. My favorite part was where the ring of holly trees were planted around a stone walkway. This was near where we used to do T'ai Chi. After photographing there I felt such a bond with the place. Probably you will have the same feeling of deepening connection. My photos were not nearly as breathtaking as yours. It was long before digital cameras. Thanks for sharing. (This is the second time I'm trying to add this comment. I hope it works.)
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:45pm UTC
such a lovely image - that of doing t'ai chi in the ring of holly trees. ever since i first started going here when we moved to this region in 83 and this town in 85, i do feel a deep connection, and yes, it is deepening. usually not crowded, which is also nice. and protected, since it is a preserve.
Len Maxwell Jun 19, 2011, 12:35pm UTC
That is indeed a worthwhile project. These are gorgeous photos.

Thanks for sharing with Gather’s Best Writers & Artists where it's now featured.
Priya P. Jun 19, 2011, 5:19pm UTC
Len, did you read Roberts post about you and your chaise chair. I was laughing my @$$ off. :)
Len Maxwell Jun 19, 2011, 5:51pm UTC
Nope, I missed that somehow. I'll see if I can track it down.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:38pm UTC
Thanks for the feature in gather's best!!
Darlene B. Jun 19, 2011, 2:05pm UTC
I love the growing seasons of your photos. Indeed, so beautiful as nature is so photogenic.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:38pm UTC
nature is our goddess
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Jun 19, 2011, 2:12pm UTC
What a contrast between the sets of photos. Beautiful area and photos.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:39pm UTC
thanks gloria;i hope to make it better by selecting the best perspectives and doing those;
Mary Ellen Mynning Jun 19, 2011, 2:38pm UTC
Truly lush and gorgeous photos - I feel as though I know the duck pond personally. Thank you so very much for sharing this!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:39pm UTC
:)
Beryl Singleton Bissell Jun 19, 2011, 4:37pm UTC
A neat project Kathryn. Beautiful photos. Do you live near this Duck Pond? We are trying to restore the white pine to our area as well. In our tiny town of Schroeder, 32 miles of white pine forests and cedar forests were lumbered out and never had a chance to regrow because the deer (which love open land) arrived and ate the seedlings that sprang up naturally. The deer also passed brainworm to the caribou (now totally absent from Minnesota) and the moose which keep moving further north as they can't survive temperature change.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:41pm UTC
Yes I live near. that is so sad about the white pines. Vermont ironically has some of the best fall foliage in the country because it deforested the evergreens; when they realized they wouldn't have time to grow more evergreens, they planted all maples.

i wonder if maples would work; not the same, I know. did not know that caribou were in the lower 48. i hope it all works out.
Sandi S. Jun 19, 2011, 5:14pm UTC
If winter should say she holds spring in her heart, who would believe winter? (Kahlil Gibran)

A lovely photo essay of the seasons and, finally, spring. Hopeful, beautiful, and encouraging. Thank you!
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:42pm UTC
beautiful words from gibran.
Priya P. Jun 19, 2011, 5:18pm UTC
photos are so beautiful, I would love to sit on that bench, overlooking duck pond, and write my poetry.

Ok, now don't laugh, but Three Seasons duck pond sounds like something off a chinese menu and I'm suddenly hungry for chinese - but no duck :)
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:42pm UTC
ha ha that is so true - thanks for a good laugh~!
Angela A. Jun 19, 2011, 6:26pm UTC
What breathtaking pics!
Love the scenery.
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Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:42pm UTC
:)
Laree M. Jun 19, 2011, 7:52pm UTC
Very good project--for the patient.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:42pm UTC
i am very patient.....
Donna C. Jun 19, 2011, 10:16pm UTC
This is so nice, Kathryn.
When I was a little girl we had a story book that had four seasons on the inside cover and fly pages. I was very young, but I still remember how captivating it was to me to see the same scene in all four seasons............
Kathryn Flynn Jun 19, 2011, 10:43pm UTC
it is a really wonderful perspective to see all 4 seasons. I hope to get this right in the next year.
Dennis Gilman Jun 20, 2011, 12:09pm UTC
So beautiful, so peaceful, so relaxing. I'd love to experience that place personally one day.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 20, 2011, 1:23pm UTC
nature is our most beautiful goddess, esp. trees. you know how i love trees. who doesn't? but really, trees, then mountains are my favorite landforms. then ocean.
Robert - just a simple man - B. Jun 20, 2011, 12:35pm UTC
I needed a 5 minute break from studying, this was perfect. Especially the winter shots. I always have a warm spot in my heart for winter's snow.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 20, 2011, 1:22pm UTC
:)
dreya y. Jun 20, 2011, 7:44pm UTC
Trees and blue winter shadows are a beautiful combination. Going to google this place. Looking forward to seeing the next round.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 20, 2011, 10:00pm UTC
it is hard to google duck pond even duck pond belmont mass.

i think 'mdc duck pond belmont mass'
Kathryn Flynn Jun 20, 2011, 10:05pm UTC
beaverbrook duck pond belmont mass


here is a very old postcard - you can see how little the trees have changed

http://postcards.bidstart.com/Belmont-Mass-MA-Postcard-Duck-Pond-Beaver-Brook-Reservation-/18463267/a.html
Mustafa Demiri Jun 20, 2011, 9:43pm UTC
I love places like this... I visit them whenever I have any free time... beautiful photos all.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 20, 2011, 9:59pm UTC
Thank you for enjoying, Mustafa. I hope to create even better photos in the next year or so. I know now which perspectives work best, and I will try to recreate about five scenes each peak season.... trees are god.
Diana Raabe Jun 21, 2011, 12:36pm UTC
I love these photos - they're so calming. Thanks for putting this together.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 21, 2011, 7:14pm UTC
they really are calming..... we drove by there today....
Kay M Jun 21, 2011, 12:53pm UTC
Wonderful photos of this beautiful place.
Kathryn Flynn Jun 21, 2011, 7:15pm UTC
it truly is blessed.........
Anne G. Jul 2, 2011, 11:07pm UTC
Absolutely breathtaking! You are making me homesick (but not quite enough to move back ;) though)

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