Wildlife Along the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers

Through support from the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Wild & Scenic River Stewardship Council, Sudbury Valley Trustees staff and volunteers have gathered a collection of photographs and video of local wildlife in their natural habitat along the rivers and streams of our community. 
The media, gathered with motion-sensing wildlife cameras, offers a peek into the lives of animals not often seen in our day to day lives.  For more information about the equipment used in this effort, and to get involved yourself, see our Camera in the Woods page.
Corridors of natural life, our rivers are both home and highway to a wonderful variety of plants and animals. Great blue herons have nest colonies nearby, and present themselves for admiration, stately on the wing or stalking prey in shallow water. Osprey glide over the heads of boaters, who occasionally witness their talons-first plunge into the river as they attempt to capture fish. Over two hundred bird species nest in or visit riverside areas. Otters, muskrats, beaver, and mink swim alongside painted and snapping turtles, large-mouthed bass, pickerel, and many smaller fishes. The food chains leading to the top predators rely on invertebrates such as whirligig beetles, and, ultimately, on plants. Cattails, buttonbush, and red and silver maples are typical native riverside flora.
Despite the long history of human settlement, nearly 4,800 acres of wetland along the rivers support 13 state listed, river dependent vertebrate, mussel and amphipod species. Twenty one species of state listed plants are found within one tenth of a mile of the river and over 221 species of birds have been recorded at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  - SuAsCo River Stewardship Council