page_title: Weymouth Back River
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Weymouth Back River / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Upper tidal marsh of the Weymouth Back River, taken from the south end of Great Esker Park on the Weymouth side of the river below the Humane Society.
context_page_description: The Weymouth Back River, sometimes called Back River, is a short, primarily tidal river in Hingham and Weymouth, Massachusetts, about 10 miles south of Boston. It arises from a number of tributaries in ponds and swamps, most notably Whitmans Pond, flows northward, and empties into Hingham Bay.
context_section_description: The river is part of the Weymouth Back River Area of Critical Environmental Concern (about 950 acres), of which some 180 acres (0.73 km²) are tidal waters. It is home to about 150 species of birds in its salt marshes and is bounded by wooded wildlife preserves.
  A sizeable herring run was an important food source for Weymouth's citizens as documented in town records as early as 1648. At Iron Hill Park off Iron Hill Street, Whitman's Pond was dammed to turn the machines which processed the natural bog iron for the Weymouth Iron Works. Later, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts installed a herring ladder to allow the herring to bypass the dam on their spawning runs. Historically the herring ran to Whitman's Pond, and beyond up Mill River and Swamp River, to Great Pond. River herring commonly refers to two species, Blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and alewife ((Alosa pseudoharengus)). Today, 1/2 million river herring and Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) run up the river each year to spawn (although they are not able to ascend the fish ladders and only utilize the tidal portions of the river).
  Several nesting platforms were constructed and are in use by the Osprey, or fish hawk, (Pandion haliaetus), which has white under parts and a wingspread of 5 to 6 ft (152 to 183 cm). It feeds almost exclusively on live fish including flounder, herring and perch, and is usually seen hovering over the water, into which it plunges feet first to grasp its prey.
caption: Upper tidal marsh of Weymouth Back River taken from Great Esker Park, looking upstream from below Humane Society.
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 4", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.6.6", "Image DateTime": "2012:08:05 14:30:55", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.6.8", "Image ExifOffset": "218", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/457", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:07:29 13:35:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:07:29 13:35:35", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "10303/1166", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4281/1441", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "4996/631", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "77/20", "EXIF SubjectArea": "0", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2521", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1883", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard"}