Bare Pond in the Webster Woods

By Richard B. Primack

 

“[Walden] pond never breaks up so soon as the others in the neighborhood, on account both of its greater depth and its having no stream passing through it to melt or wear away the ice. It indicates better than any water hereabouts the absolute progress of the season, being least affected by transient changes in temperature.” Henry David Thoreau in Walden.

 

Bare Pond is a hidden gem in the Webster Woods. 

Due to its small size and shallow depth, Bare Pond is constantly changing from day to day and bringing new surprises with each season. 

Photo 1: Bare Pond in autumn, with unusually high water levels for this time of year. 

 

Bare Pond’s rapid changes are in contrast with larger and deeper bodies of water, such as Walden Pond in Concord. 

Video 1: On a winter afternoon as the sun is setting, springtails jumping on the pond surface create a delightful sparkling display.  

In a typical year, the pond fills with water in the autumn and winter and dries out by the following summer, making it “bare” (and explaining the reason for its name). Because of this cycle, the pond does not have any fish, making it ideal for breeding amphibians and their larval stages. 

The pond is a breeding site for the rare yellow-spotted salamander. “Save the salamanders” became the rallying cry of citizen efforts to protect this section of the Webster Woods. Wood frogs and spring peepers also breed in the pond.

Video 2: On Sunday, March 10 of this year, hundreds of wood frogs floated on the surface of the pond, creating a distinctive quacking chorus.