Wayland Mill Pond July 2014 Status The Wayland Mill Pond (Off Plain Road) is a dammed portion of the Mill Brook, about 750 ft. long and 200 ft. wide at it's widest point. It was dredged during the 1970s and is used during the winter for ice skating, in the Spring for a children's fishing derby, and is just generally a very nice small pond, abutted by conservation land on the shoreline across from Plain Road. The pond is a great place for turtles and has a healthy population of largemouth bass (small) and sunfish. The pond has several problems: Filling In - At the upper end the pond is only a foot or so deep, with several feet of muck before a harder bottom is reached. The filling material appears to be leaf litter and other organic material. The middle and lower portions of the pond are deeper (5 or 6 feet deep), with less muck on the bottom (a foot or less). Fallen Trees - Two very large pines fell into the pond in recent years, and a maple tree in foliage fell into the pond just in the last few weeks. The trees will tend to collect organic debris that will hasten the filling in of the pond. They are also an impediment to ice skating. Wood debris at Dam Area - Various wood debris, including some very large rounds cut from one of the fallen pines are in the area are clogging the area just above the dam. Duckweed - Duckweed (Lemnaceae) is present in the pond during the warm weather months and is often mistaken for algae. From Wickipedia: "Duckweeds tend to be associated with fertile, even eutrophic conditions.... Duckweed is an important highprotein food source for waterfowl.... The tiny plants provide cover for fry of many aquatic species. The plants are used as shelter by pond water species such as bullfrogs and bluegills. They also provide shade and, although frequently confused with them, can reduce certain light-generated growths of photoautotrophic algae"....etc. There is less Duckweed in the Mill Pond than there was last summer and it has tended to accumulate above the dam, along the borders and around the fallen trees, and in the upper part of the pond. (That comment was from 5 days ago, now it is bank to bank duckweed.)
Millpond with fallen pine in foreground, newly fallen maple, in foliage, in background. Pond is largely clear of duckweed.
Millpond from the bridge on 7/22/14. Duckweed is bank to bank, unlike photo above from 5 days earlier.
Closeup with fallen pine, newly fallen maple behind.
White pine at 45% angle to bank. This pine is closest to the dam.
The top of the pond from the Plain Rd. bridge. This is the part of the pond that has only a few inches of water above several feet of muck.
Large cut pieces of pine that have floated down toward the dam, parking area is to right. There is also smaller woody debris above the dam that impedes the exit of duckweed from the pond.
Debris below the dam is quite unsightly.
Millpond turtle catching some rays on a fallen log. It appears to be covered in duckweed.
Millpond largemouth bass caught on a "Sneaky Pete" fly. This fish is about 9". In about 40 years of fishing the pond (every other year or so) I've caught only one bass over the legal size limit of 12". Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides are an introduced species to Massachusetts.