During a recent evening walk around the pond at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers (Westchester Co.), Barry and I observed Cedar Waxwings foraging in the vegetation that thickly covers the pond, turning it into a meadow. The plant cover is contiguous round fans of a triangular, toothed 1" leaf. A local nature photographer told us the pond is fed by pipes to the east near a hospital. The water (Tibbetts Brook) flows over small waterfalls at the north and south ends, but apparently this vegetation is rooted in silt many feet deep, which a park employee once told us would be too dangerous and expensive to dredge.
We'd thought of suggesting that Westchester County use grass carp to clean up the eutrophied mess but have learned they are bad news. Anyway, the Great Egret we saw on a tree branch and the Green Heron seem content with the situation. We also saw a female Wood Duck with three ducklings (we were told later she has five) along with the usual Mallards and an Eastern Kingbird.
Rita and Barry Freed
