Blue Lake isn't part of Pondhawk Natural Area, but its 23 acres butting up against the natural area are pretty hard to ignore. It's also worthy of attention because it attracts its share of wading birds and ducks, not to mention that it's really the first thing you see as you approach the natural area. To get to Pondhawk, one has to cross a pedestrian bridge over a canal that drains the lake. The lake here is shallow and a good spot to find foraging little blues, great blues, great egrets, mottled ducks and, as seen in the above photo, blue-winged teals during the cooler months. Two bits of trivia: Blue Lake Scrub and Blue Lake Preserve were originally proposed as the name of the natural area. The name Blue Lake comes from the time when IBM, nicknamed Big Blue, owned the property. NEXT PHOTO.
