The Wetland at Williamstown

Today I am going to delight in another of our area's free treasures, the Williamstown Wetland Trail. Leased to the Williamstown Women's Club by the owners of DaVinci's restaurant (who also allow parking behind their building), the wetland is a natural sanctuary right off of a busy street and a popular business.

Unlike some natural areas, this one is accessible to the mobility-impaired, with a ramped entrance from the parking lot and a wide, generally flat, boardwalk punctuated with benches (and while the trail is short enough for even the marginally fit to navigate it without resting, the benches provide great places for appreciative viewing and listening).

Unfortunately, invasives have found their way here, including Japanese knotweed and the poster child for invasive plants, the balefully beautiful purple loosestrife.

The good news is that so far, native plants seem to be holding their own. The wetlands are full of cattails and marsh grasses, along with such wildlife-friendly plants as duck potato (sagittaria latifolia)

and shrub dogwoods. (I think this may be cornus sericea, also known as kinnikinick.) 

I am pleased to report that the critters seemed to be going about their business totally untroubled by the vehicle traffic on Highland Avenue and Route 14. Birds I couldn't identify were calling, red-winged blackbirds were being their usual cranky selves, and at least two species of frogs were croaking from the waters just beyond the boardwalk. This thoroughly satisfying nature experience was tucked into a fifteen-minute break between errands. Life as it should be.