My Slightly Disappointing Yet Still Wonderful Trip to Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

On Saturday April 17th, I was visiting my family in Concord, Massachusetts and went out birding with my mom from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. It was 48 degrees and windy, with high cloud coverage. Great Meadows is a wildlife refuge of about 4,000 acres outside Boston and in my hometown of Concord. The majority of the refuge is made up of freshwater wetlands surrounded by hardwood forests and is home to a diverse array of wildlife year round. The area of the refuge I walked in was the main trail slicing through the middle of the water, with dry marshy plants on either side and some trees scattered around. Several beaver and muskrat lodges and nests were spotted with birds occupying them as well. Much of the area is open water.

Great Meadows is home to a plethora of migratory bird species, and all the local Boston birders are everywhere there, so I was really hoping to see some cool birds during my visit. I've heard about some really interesting species stopping by Great Meadows already this early in the year, for it is an ideal destination and home for so many migratory birds. Unfortunately, I was only in town for one day and it was snowing the morning of my outing, so I waited for the weather to be a little more forgiving for the sake of myself and the birds. I ended up waiting until the late afternoon, in which I have still seen some cool species in the past, yet I knew it would be on the later side. I was slightly disappointed, for I only saw some of the same few species I see daily in Vermont, however Great Meadows is one of my favorite places on the planet and I was still happy to see how much wildlife was hopping around, even on a slightly more miserable spring afternoon.

Julkaistu huhtikuu 19, 2021 02:25 IP. käyttäjältä cloverkoval