Arlington’s Great Meadows is a 183-acre parcel of land owned by Arlington located in east Lexington adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway. It is the largest piece of undeveloped land in the Arlington/Lexington area, serving as public open space for the surrounding communities.
View the AGM brochure and Tour Guide, and more about AGM.
Photos by Harvey Cote, Ellen Finnie, David White.
We received reports of two trees blocking the Circle Path near Fottler Avenue. So the rapid response team was activated on Sunday September 6. And there were indeed some big trees down across the path. Some preliminary work had been done by an anonymous volunteer but it needed to be finished up.
So we went to work and Greg with some help from Laurel Carpenter and David White were able to clear the path as shown below.
Arlington’s Great Meadows contains a very unique wetland complex in the middle of a busy suburb. Extensive wet meadows and vernal wetlands abound. Amphibians such as the wood frog and spotted salamander inhabit the strictly vernal wetlands while other frog species and turtles utilize both temporary and permanent bodies of water. Given the uniqueness of these wetlands in such an urban environment Zoo New England’s Field Conservation Department felt it would be interesting to conduct a turtle survey to determine species composition.
In May of 2026, the ZNE’s Field Conservation Staff conducted a 2-week survey in May in various wetlands at the Arlington Great Meadows. There had been a few turtle reports from as far back as the 2001 Biodiversity Day event, and a few iNaturalist reports of Painted and Snapping turtles were noted especially around Peepers Pond just outside of the Great Meadow.
No formal survey has ever been done for turtles at Great Meadows.
Spotted turtle top shell (carapace). This one is particularly brightly spotted.
In all this was a great experience as when one enters the habitat of their study subject one sees
and experiences things that would otherwise be rarely encountered on the main trails. At
Arlington’s Great Meadows, hidden vernal pools were found. Of note; Jack-in-the-pulpit was far
more abundant here than any of the numerous wetlands I’ve been to. The abundance of
Amphipods in all the survey wetlands was also noteworthy. Possibly some were the state listed
Mystic Valley Amphipod. Wood frog adults and tadpoles, green frogs and their egg masses and
even crayfish were found. Deer trails were throughout the area which helped navigate dense
vegetation. Even a Muskrat and a Little Blue Heron observed. Many other common plants and
animals of course were observed during their spring progression.
The full report is available here: https://foagm.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AGM-Turtles-ZNE-26-07.pdf
Postscript: The only species of turtle we caught were Spotted turtles. A total of 17 Spotted turtles (6 females and 11 males) were caught plus one we saw swim away from us. I was a little surprised we didn’t catch any Painted turtles or even see any basking. No doubt they are in Peepers Pond just to the south of AGM but didn’t survey there.
The AGM boardwalks were constructed over twenty years ago and with time things decay and need repair. For a number of years we have been replacing the walking treads that decay. But sometimes more substantial work is needed. This Spring two of the supporting piers on the Lily Pond boardwalk were showing signs of failure.
Fortunately one of our stewards noticed this and organized a repair crew which jacked things up in rather mucky terrain.
Thanks to the work of Greg Shenstone, Bruce Neumann and David Markun all is secure again.
