This quarter-acre freshwater pool is known as Big John's Pond, after the obliging tractor operator who excavated it for a park ranger in a spare moment on the job in 1982.

Big John's is a vernal pond, which means it dries up in late summer. It cannot support animals that need a body of water year-round, but is just the thing for spring peepers, grey tree frogs, Eastern painted turtles, salamanders and newts.

Above: Big John's Pond sandwiched between Cross Bay Boulevard on the left and East Pond on the right (satellite view).