the great herring highway

the heart of the 'herring highway' - a series of rocks form graduated pools to help spawning herring and alewife.

these pink flowers belong to the Mimosa Tree, or Persian Silk Tree, or Pink Siris, or Lenkoran acacia or bastard tamarind. Apparently its kind of an invasive species, though a considered ornamental in some cultures. The Mimosa Tree also suffers, especially in the Eastern U.S., from a common vascular disease limiting its proliferation. The thing thats cool about this plant is that the finger like leaf's open and close, during the day and night respectively...its alive.

concrete person with pet - this was a collaborative effort.

Drake Mallard duck. It should be noted, the Mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimize heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare, as they lack external ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold. The above is obviously a cut and paste mallard fun fact, I'm not ornithologist.

small waterfall and at the top of the picture you can see the newly installed concrete baffling system that helps herring and other bait fish navigate upstream for spawning. This concrete baffling system is just a series of ledges adjacent to the waterfall which allow smaller fish to traverse the waterfalls.