Early turtle

Just for the record, there was a turtle near Cutler Pond on Wednesday April 2. While I was walking, I saw a woman with a camera intently looking at the swamp just past the end of the pond. I asked her if she had seen anything interesting, and she said, “yes, two turtles.” They weren’t there, but back across the road from the pond, in a small stream leading from the culverts that are the outlet of the pond down toward the Charles. We walked back there and a few yards off the road until she could see the spot where they had been. One was still there, a painted turtle with a shell maybe eight or nine inches long. I was very surprised to see it that early in the spring. It was a warm day, but there had been ice in some parts of the pond just days before.