A great blue heron feeding a whole nest of hungry mouths at Jerry's Pond.

From Photographer George Mclean

The two Great Blue Heron nests at Jerry’s Pond have 10 birds, five in each nest. This shows the story of family devotion and parenthood modeling. The most amazing part for me is that the parents are using the fish in the pond for food for the young and not foraging at the stormwater wetland, or Little Pond or Little River. The pond is thriving with fish and the wildlife is prolific! Underground springs feed the pond and there is a stream running into Alewife Brook for the overflow. Since the herring run is still happening, and there seems to be a direct connection, Jerry’s Pond might have herring in the Pond. Water assessment is needed for fish species.

Imagine a rookery in the middle of a business and dense residential area; a possible 5 acres beautiful pristine pond with a fence around it protecting it since the early 60’s and since W.R. Grace contaminated the Mystic River watershed via the Aberjona River and right here at Russell Field and the DCR property. The amount of wildlife is astounding in my experience over many years photographing wildlife for Audubon, Mt Auburn cemetery, Brooks Estate and Middlesex Fells, and the Mystic River Watershed Association. There should be no price on beauty and our natural resources for those who are planning to change the area for recreation. Outstanding is the fact that the parents are providing fish from the same pond they are nesting on and chicks are thriving. My camera is located 100 yards away off of Rindge Ave. Jerry’s Pond conditions shine high above the other polluted water body areas of river and stream flow which it connects with as part of the watershed.

A note from FAR:

You can read about the history of Jerry's Pond as a recreation site and about the continuing effort to clean it up here