BUILDING BOARDWALK
It all starts with a plan and permit when wetlands are concerned, but the latest stewardship project at Macricostas Preserve simply involved maintenance on a previously approved stretch of boardwalk through Meeker Swamp. Several sections had deteriorated after a decade of great use and needed replacing. The beat boards were white oak, a good choice […]
Calling Marsh Birds
Calling Marsh Birds – Beams of mist shine from the headlights as I turn into Macricostas Preserve’s parking lot. Wheels lightly crunch over dirt and gravel until slowing to a stop. Another vehicle is stationed at the trailhead and two Steep Rock Association (SRA) citizen scientists emerge. Convening and taking one last glug of coffee, […]
DISSECTING an OWL PELLET
Steep Rock Association trustee, committee chair, and conservation easement landowner, Natalie Dyer, poked into the office this spring possessing some treasure. “It’s an owl pellet!”, she exclaimed with wonder and excitement bubbling up as usual. And a big one at that. Looking down at a roughly 3 inch long and 2 inch wide mass of […]
SQUIGGLING AND SQUIRMING our way through SPRING
It’s that time of year again when thrushes and warblers serenade forest dwellers, buds burst, and a rejuvenated environment even teases of summer with an occasional tree frog sounding off. For Steep Rock Association, these cues trigger a certain stewardship action being the monitoring of our critically-important vernal pools. A balmy rain-soaked night has aroused […]
#64
With snowshoes strapped, baggies at the ready, and GPS fixed, I head out into one of Steep Rock Association’s (SRA) preserves characterized as overgrown field rejoicing my career choices and the presence of such preserved land. A cold-water stream runs through it. Seeps percolate from tall grass and alder groves, wind past cedar trees, and […]
PURSUIT for PELLETS
They’re not the easiest to obtain. Stooping, crawling, and dipping through young forest, citizen scientists with Steep Rock Association (SRA) earned their cottontail scat (or pellets). The native species, New England Cottontail (NEC), prefer this brambly habitat type over more open fields and meadows where the non-native eastern cottontail dominates. Forest succession and interspecific competition […]
THE FUNGAL ARMS
Essay and photos by Peary Stafford It’s January… and there’s precious little nature to study in Steep Rock. Few birds, no insects and for sure no flowering plants. But there’s always something and these desolate winter days, BK and I (OK, mostly I) have taken to investigating the fungal life of our beloved Land Trust. This particular […]
AN ULTRASONIC EAR to the NIGHT SKY
Bats not only flap webbed digits to get around. They also use echolocation to navigate through their surroundings and capture insects, rapidly emitting high-frequency pulses of sound and interpreting the echo produced when they bounce off nearby objects. This behavior allows for non-invasive sampling through a method known as acoustic monitoring. Detectors housing a microphone […]
GASTROPODS have the RIGHT OF WAY
Our summer days and nights have normalized in comparison to last year, interspersed with thunderstorms that moisten the air and briefly lower air temperatures. June 2016 held about 2.5 inches of rain while June 2017 showered 5.75 inches. With 3 inches of rain so far this month, July 2017 is also on pace to exceed the […]
SOME common and uncommon SPRING SIGHTINGS
