ATHOL – Motorists driving between Winchendon and Royalston inevitably pass a small, inconspicuous sign letting them know they’re near the Eagle Reserve Conservation Area.

From the road it appears to be just another wooded area set aside for protection from development. But a short walk – maybe 100 yards or so – will lead to the shore of a pond that seems to take visitors back in time.

“It doesn’t actually have a name,” said David Small, director of conservation for the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. “It’s a kettle hole bog that’s quite unique in its presentation. It has a lot of sphagnum moss and actually harbors quite a few rare species, both flora and fauna...I know we’ve had such things a pie-billed grebes nesting there, ring-necked ducks, and several dragonfly species that are uncommon. So, it’s actually quite an interesting spot.”

He added that eagles have nested in the area “quite consistently over the past few decades. That’s where it gets its name.”

The 139-acre conservation area is owned by Mount Grace, which purchased the property from the Zimmerman and Solinas families in 2016. The organization was assisted in its efforts by the Town of Royalston. According to its website, in 2023 “Mount Grace was awarded a grant from the Hollis Declan Leverett Memorial Fund to support our efforts to control invasive species that are encroaching on the shoreline at Eagle Reserve.”

“I’ve been involved with it right from the beginning, as we were trying to figure out how to protect that area,” said Small. “I’ve been on the lands committee for Mount Grace for probably 15 years or more, and it was one of the projects that came up and one of the ones I was interested in right from the beginning.

“Back when I was a kid, back in the 50s, it was one of the first beaver dams in the area. I remember my dad taking me up there to look at the beaver dam; it was long before beaver were really common. It’s a natural pond, and the beaver adopted it.”

A pair of beaver lodges can be seen from a deck along the shore.

The pond is fed by several small streams, including Beaver Brook – which also serves as an outlet for the pond – was well as an unnamed stream which enters the pond from the north.

There are two trails that wind through the reservation, the David H. Small Community Trail and the Peninsula Trail. The former trail is accessible from 55 Winchendon Road in Royalston, the other from 70 Winchendon Road.

Small said that on one of the initial trips he took to the property with Mount Grace staff, as the project was being considered, “there were probably a half-dozen eagles, mostly immature, that were flying around. One of them turned out to be an immature golden eagle.”

Small he added he often takes field trips to the reservation, but not all visitors are local.

“People come from all over the state just to come and see some of the rare dragonflies we’re able to find there.”

For anyone interested, Small said he’ll be leading a trip to the reservation around Memorial Day and will be providing more details in the near future.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.