The Charles River White Geese in the Heat of Summer

The Charles River White Geese in the Heat of Summer

1. Introduction.
2. Photos.

1. Introduction.

I have three stories pending.  I am doing them in the order that my personal work effort has progressed.

Today, I will show you photos of the Charles River White Geese from last Wednesday, August 19, 2015.

My next report will likely be of a report I am getting concerning the treatment of Canada Geese by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (the Dreaded DCR) or the City of Boston in the Muddy River Reservation.  This reservation is a mile or so south of the BU Bridge on the road which crosses the BU Bridge.  I hope I have the name correct.  The naming situation is similar to that of highways in the New England area, use as many different names as possible for the same entity.  That will confuse drivers and make the situation that much more dangerous.

After that, I anticipate I will report of the MassDOT meeting, also on Wednesday, which showed some fruitful sparks.  MassDOT has been the adult in the room with the Dreaded DCR and the City of Cambridge.  Among other things being discussed is introduced parkland on the Boston side of the Charles River.  One suggestion I will have is that MassDOT gets very specific to prevent more environmental irresponsibility by the Dreaded DCR.

2. Photos.

It was a hot day, in the 90s.

The destructiveness of the Dreaded DCR is particularly apparent.

The Dreaded DCR’s designated environmental destroyer, the falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” did major destruction of ground vegetation promptly after being designated by the DCR as its agent for environmental destruction.  They destroyed as much ground vegetation as was feasible, given plans for excessive destruction as part of the Dreaded DCR’s BU Bridge repair plans.  That destruction was at least 50% more than was necessary.

The Dreaded DCR then made things worse by allowing /encouraging use of this sensitive area for parking by railroad workers when parking was readily available next to Memorial Drive.  MassDOT did responsible parking implementing DCR plans for the BU Bridge work.  DCR lowered itself to its proudly vile level.

The Cambridge Conservation Commission objected to the destructive parking.  The DCR told the workers to back up beyond the tiny CCC jurisdiction.  The stones were dumped on the ground apparently gratuitously.

The first photo is in the area of the Dreaded DCR blessed destruction under a magnificent tree, an area which used to be heavily vegetated and beautiful.

The second photo includes area within the jurisdiction of the CCC, near the river.  Destruction had already been accomplished and the Dreaded DCR would not show any decency, of course.

Here are a couple of photos of the Charles River White Geese enjoying the water and apparently preparing to go in.

In the first photo, the goose with black markings, on the right, is a second / third generation goose descended either from Brown Beauty, the White China female with vestigial Brown China Markings who was the daughter of Bumpy, or from the Brown Toulouse who was abandoned in 2000 and found a mate in the gaggle.

Third from the right in the first photo and at the very right in the second photo is the male White China with vestigial Brown China markings, he was bred in 2005.

The two photos I led with above are enlargements of the following two photos, cropping into the featured birds.

Here is a solo photo of the brown male.

Here is a photo of the apparent survivor of two sibling Pekin Ducks abandoned in 2006.

The Charles River White Ducks were found by a large group of us doing a memorial service on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Bumpy, the then long time leader of the gaggle.

The Charles River White Ducks were so innocent that they thought dogs were their friends.  I saved one of them that day by kicking a dog who had his teeth on the neck of one of them.

The head of the Charles River Urban Wilds Initiative showed the Charles River White Ducks what that blue stuff was for by backing into the Charles River while hand feeding the siblings.  Once the siblings found out what the blue stuff was all about, they took to the Charles River like ducks to water.

In the photo, there are two female Mallard Ducks below the White Ducks survivor.  The two White Ducks added one of Mallard females as a friend quite awhile ago.  I have had extended periods when I was not certain if one of the two White Ducks had passed away because I would only see one of the White Ducks with their female friend for extended periods. The missing member eventually showed up again, perhaps having attempted to nest.  Most recently, it has looked like the current threesome.

Here is a photo from 2008, courtesy of Phil Barber, showing the Charles River White Ducks, Daphney and Mandrake.

I have a Phil Barber photo of them which I looked for and have not found.  It shows the proud pair with their then brood on the Charles River.  No member of the brood survived.  Our guess has been that the babies were prey to hawks, and the parents, not having been raised in the wild, did not have the skills to know how to defend / hide the babies from threats.

And here is a photo of the same area as above from the BU Bridge, in the manner of my last group of photos.

Here are examples of nature healing the outrage created by the Dreaded DCR.

The gray line is a plastic wall that separated the BU Bridge work / “replacement” area from the area destroyed by the Charles River "Conservancy."  The large bushes are native bushes remaining after the vile attacks.  The vegetation on the ground is runners from the undestroyed native vegetation.  Nature is healing itself.

And all those stones are the Dreaded DCR / its accomplices bragging about their rottenness.

Charles River, 2015, Charles River White Geese enjoy their summer

Charles River, 2015, Charles River White Geese enjoy their summer

Passing on a few summer photos of the Charles River White Geese in the Charles River, taken from above.

These photos are taken from the BU Bridge.  The railroad bridge to the right is the Grand Junction railroad bridge, sought to become an off ramp from I90 (Mass. Pike) to Cambridge.

The treed area is the Destroyed Nesting Area where the Charles River White Geese are confined without food.  Looking at the shore line very carefully, you will note a brown area.

This probably was created by the destruction of the falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” which conducts environmental destruction on the Charles River for the dreaded DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation).

Not long after the CRC started destroying for the dreaded DCR, massive amounts of ground vegetation were destroyed, pretty much all the ground vegetation in the Wild Area on the east side of the railroad tracks, and, once again, probably more than half of the destroyed nesting area, including the important parts, on the Charles River and below the railroad tracks.    The rest of the destruction is areas left over from the BU Bridge project which were left as dirt.

Ground vegetation not destroyed by the CRC was part of the CRC avoiding the areas slated to be destroyed as part of work on the BU Bridge.  Poisons must have been used because the destruction has continued for years as bare earth, only made worse by employees of the railroad with the approval of the dreaded DCR.

The best remaining ground vegetation is vegetation which bordered on the BU Bridge construction area.  That area is vibrant and excellent, exactly what would have continued without these vile people.

Here are three photos, along with croppings.  They look beautiful to me.  I hope you like them.

Some dark shapes may be seen in the middle of the Charles River White Geese.  I presume these are members of the gaggle who show vestigial Brown China markings or the female Toulouse Goose who was abandoned in fall 2000.  The Toulouse mated with a member of the gaggle and they have raised a family.

Some of the offspring of the Brown China marked geese and of the Toulouse continue to have dark features in their coats.

This is the beauty which vile government entities and their undisclosed cheerleaders are attacking.  Further destruction is probably included in the State House’s $20 million vote of 2014, which also destroys hundreds of trees between here and the Longfellow Bridge on the Charles River.

The Cambridge City Council is working on their own destructive plans for the Grand Junction Railroad.  They lie about the plans through omission.  They brag about the stuff which will please the voters and lie by saying, through omission, that the plans have nothing to do with the Charles River.

The voters get very touchy about the Charles River, and if reality were in play in the City of Cambridge, ten city councilors (out of nine) would have explanations to give, at minimum, particularly the environmental destroyers who lie that they love the environment.

ADDENDUM: The little guys are probably Mallard Ducks.  Interesting there are no Canadas in any shot.

Woody Allen and Responsible Environmental Management

Woody Allen and Responsible Environmental Management

1. Context.
2. Responsible Environmental Management.
3. Photos.
A. Woody Allen’s set.
B. The rest of the area.
C. Other, undated shots.
4. Photos of the Charles River and Cambridge.
5. The difference.


1. Context.

Yesterday, July 31, 2015, I saw Woody Allen’s just released “Irrational Man” at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA.  It has apparently been released on a limited basis with negligible advertising.  I want to thank Elaine Victoria Gray for tipping me off.

I am a professional, union, actor.  In addition to serious movie acting, I do background work.  Last Summer, I worked in the Newport area on this Woody Allen movie.  I knew what to look for, so I did see me in one shot, although I would anticipate people without inside information will probably miss me.

My “reel” which is selected samples of acting work cut down to a total of two minutes, may be viewed at http://youtu.be/0hdkCK9iX9w.  This is not an environmental link.  This is presented just to show that I know how to act.

The final still in the link, however, is a posed shot from a news report of a show performed live in East Harvard Square (Boston Phoenix on line / Derek Kouyoumjian).  The venue directly abuts a very large part of Cambridge’s Massachusetts Avenue where I did the initial writing and was key in planning for changes of zoning to make the zoning more environmentally responsible, albeit large.  The area whose zoning I impacted working with one group or another covers about 85% of the area between Harvard and Central Squares.

I was personally responsible for saving a small park directly in front of the venue, which went from small bushes to a rather magnificent little piece as part of the City Manager’s related apology to the Cambridge City Council.

2. Responsible Environmental Management.

Some of the best scenes in Woody Allen’s movie were shot in a location with which I am well familiar.

They were shot in an federally owned and maintained animal habitat on the coast.  The shots were of ocean / bay, beautiful, rugged rocks with a lot of flat areas, and a small beach.

I have known this area since about 1980.  When I first visited it, the area was overwhelmingly asphalt.

The feds got serious about our world in the 1980's.  What they have done to this location is nothing less than spectacular.

The approach of the feds has been exactly the opposite of the approach to the Charles River by the City of Cambridge and their accomplices in the state bureaucracy’s Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The difference is that between horribly destructive massive expenditures of money on the Charles River and responsible, careful, financially economical love of the environment near Newport.

The feds simply closed off most of the reservation.  They prohibited private vehicles and kept people out of the most sensitive areas.

The large expanses of asphalt which were there were then left untouched by humans.  Plants and animals regained this part of the world and overwhelmed the asphalt on their own.

The feds did next to nothing else.  They let nature heal itself.

The place is now spectacular.


3. Photos.

These are photos taken of the area when I auditioned for a gig in Newport in 2011.  Somewhere, I imagine, I have a much better collection.  The short of this is that, like the Charles River, this is an area close to a major city.

Further away from the city, but responsibly managed.

A. Woody Allen’s set.

I am pretty certain the beach shot is of the beach used in the movie.  The other two views are nearby locations.  The exact shore line was always pretty much untouched, but the parking lots came close.  The shot of rocks, green and water probably includes the edge of a former parking lot to the left.  Now to the left is a tiny footpath, and green, green, green.

B. The rest of the area.

When it comes to natural beauty, the beauty frequently is in the overall expanse, and of the lack of apparent touch of “civilization.”  Part of this beauty is the lack of irresponsible development.

C.    Other, undated shots.

These were probably taken before I started work one day on the Woody Allen gig.  Note the relative size of the man in the third photo.

4. Photos of the Charles River and Cambridge.

http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/charles-river-more-money-for.html.

5. The difference.

The difference is between responsible people and destructive liars falsely claiming to be saints.