Sense of Place - Concord

Fleeting Winter Glimpses

2012-01-27T22:00:00.001-05:00

Crows grazing on lotus seeds

Yesterday's bright, quiet morning offered brief glimpses of wintery moments before today's deluge arrived. Retuning my seasonal clock one moment at a time.

Ice shelf on the river

Mink scamperings

Swamp dogwood glow

Long-awaited sight of hooded merganser swimming upstream

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - February

2012-01-25T23:43:00.002-05:00

Sunday, February 12, 3-5 pm

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants and seasonal wonders
of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord

This winter has been empty of snow but full of surprises. The open water pools and many overwintering coot have attracted a variety of rarely seen raptors. Rails, mink, beaver, and muskrat have been active along the shorelines. We'll take this last wintery opportunity to reset our seasonal clocks, exploring whatever appears and inspires. Our foray will finish with a long gaze toward the setting sun.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933

Snowy Giant in Fairyland

2012-01-22T00:46:00.002-05:00

Fairyland's old growth pine, mantled in white.

Towering stature

Ample trunk

And toes

Phase Change

2012-01-16T12:34:00.001-05:00

Assabet River - flash frozen

For as long as I can remember, my inner clock has been set to rhythm of New England's seasons, in all their glory. For these past few weeks, I've been waiting to feel my annual reset kick in. This usually comes with the first delicate calls of returning juncos, the low hanging sun highlighting the landscape, a silent snowfall, and the interplays of ice with all of the elements. With this year's snowless winter, my attention has been drawn to subtler manifestations of our coldest season to realize the annual phase change that sets me right for the coming year.

In yesterday's flash frozen landscape, that transformation began. Bundled up for the 3º windchill, this is what I saw (through watery eyes).

No matter how much each season conforms to my expectations, in the end I'm reminded to go with the flow...

Snow Melting into Music

2012-01-14T10:57:00.002-05:00

Brian Pertl, Dean of Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music where my son is now a student, writes that, "Part of becoming a better listener is to embrace silence." He goes on to write about the conservatory students' experience in 2010 with visiting artist Gordon Hempton, Grammy award-winning natural sound recordist. "Silence in nature, Hempton reminds us, is never truly silent, but rather contains worlds of music just waiting to emerge. To listen into such silence takes a quiet mind," writes Pertl.

In my walks and programs, I often emphasize the importance of quieting the mind and cultivating deep listening as a foundation to forming a more intimate and inspired relationship with the natural state of this world...of which we are a part. Yesterday, this lesson was offered spontaneously by a pair of swans coming in low over the heads of my students who were amazed by the remarkably flute-like tones made by the powerful beating of their wings. This morning, I'm delighted to discover this understanding so beautifully articulated in the context of my son's college learning experience too.

Inspiration for this post came from http://blogs.lawrence.edu/conservatory/2010/10/%E2%80%9Csnow-melting-into-music%E2%80%9D-the-art-of-listening.html.

Thanks to photographer, Stephen Gingold, for sharing the link to this clip on Hempton's silence conservation efforts, "One Square Inch of Silence," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0xHfFC_6n0&feature=related.

Exploring Winter's Changing Moods

2012-01-13T23:26:00.001-05:00

January fog with first snow since October.

Our homeschool adventurers got to see and feel the many moods of winter today. Arriving in the stillness of a foggy morning, we made introductions and headed out into a white on white land and marshscape. We spied coots bobbing and diving in newly opened pools in the ice. As members of the rail family, they appear to walk more adeptly than they paddle or fly. Along the way, we investigated lotus pods and scats and tracks that appeared to belong to some canine - likely a large fox or small coyote.

Walking along the river where the trees open up, a pair of mute swan came flying in low overhead with a loud whistling of wings to merge white feathers with white fog before landing in the water. Just then the sun began to brighten and a breeze to gently blow.

Breeze clears the fog away

Within minutes the fog blew away and revealed blue sky and billowing clouds. We anticipated the coming cold front, checked the wind direction - still southwesterly - and walked on to check the screech owl's roost. It wasn't in the "doorway" this morning. As we headed down the old RR bed trail, the winds picked up and began to shift westerly. By the time we reached the parking lot, small branches were falling and gusts were strengthening. Clouds thickened and as cool air met warm, a light rain filled the air. Just after everyone but I had departed, the sun came out to brighten the showery sky and I looked around quickly for a rainbow and spotted a double arc dropping down into the eastern side of the marsh...a perfect finish to a beautiful morning.

Rare Great Meadows Goshawk Nabs a Coot

2012-01-10T19:56:00.003-05:00

A rare sighting and photos of a juvenile goshawk yesterday, by Roy Haddock, has the area's bird world in a buzz! To see images of the catch in action, go to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74104618@N08/6674598031/in/photostream/

Coot Tales...and Feet

2012-01-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

Twenty hearty souls turned out for this month's Great Meadows walk. With no obvious signs of this season on the ground, we set out ready for surprises. The low sun angle cast a raking light across the marshes, highlighting every detail. Clouds in the western sky brimmed the setting sun, focusing its light dramatically across the landscape.

Along the way, we studied patches of ice, the plants in the floodplain forest, and ducks in the river (female buffleheads and mallards). A harrier perched on a duck box, a pair of swans swam serenely in the late day light, and gatherings of Coot were bobbing in open pools and skittering across the ice.

One of our walkers discovered piles of dark feathers strewn along the eastern Dike Trail under an overhanging tree. Trying to make sense of someone's apparent demise, we then discovered pieces of brilliant red carcass and the telltale foot of a coot...distinguished by its green color, lack of webbing, and distinctively shaped toes. It likely was lunch for the day's visiting bald eagle or marsh hawk.


India Rose holding coot's foot

The foot's reptilian-like scales highlight the coot's distant ancestry

Silver-lined clouds and silhouetted lotus stems gave painterly detail to the setting sun's deepening glow.

And many coot skated across the ice toward the Dike Trail as the sky darkened, coming close as they waited for us to move out of their way. Over the past few weeks, I've become very fond of these gregarious and awkward little birds, who have become the easy meal of choice for the refuge's many winter raptors.

As we neared the parking lot, some 60 robins flew in from the marshes and perched, mumbling in the oaks overhead. India left the coot's foot under the blackboard for all to see. The evening's geese flew in and we all bid farewell.

Bald Eagle's Repast

2012-01-04T23:14:00.001-05:00

Bald eagle dines on coot right next to its swimming kin

A bald eagle has been making long daily visits to Great Meadows since the fall. Open water has persisted in both the river and the marshes all the way into January, with just enough ice to corral the waterfowl and provide a handy feeding platform for their predators. Add to that, a record number of coot staying on for the winter, and the refuge has become a destination dining experience for the eagle and other raptors.

On this cold winter day, I've been watching the eagle perch and move about the refuge for some two hours since 10 a.m. Having lost track of him while photographing some long awaited river ice formations, I was surprised to re-spot him sitting on the ice at the far end of the lower impoundment enjoying a coot for lunch with nearly forty others swimming at his side. Wished I'd had a 500mm lens to catch that uncanny juxtaposition!

The coots' taking refuge at the refuge this winter, gives new meaning to living in the moment.

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - January

2012-01-04T16:46:00.005-05:00

Silver ice bells

Sunday, January 8, 2:30-4:30 pm

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord

The interplay of snow and wind, ice and sunlight, and the wandering signs left by wild ramblers continuously reshapes the winter landscape. We'll explore the ephemeral beauty of frozen forms and the long rays of changing light along the trail. The warm glow of the setting sun will complete the afternoon. Bundle up, wear appropriate footgear, and grab those hand and toe warmer packets.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933

See Anything Interesting?

2012-01-01T00:10:00.008-05:00

So many Great Meadows' visitors stop to ask me this question. Of course, most want to hear that there's a rare bird up ahead. Many are baffled when I mention the small caterpillar adorned in flower petals, the prismatic light reflecting off of river ice, or a perfect collection of snowballs adorning one of the refuge benches.

Rarely a moment passes when Great Meadows doesn't offer something interesting. So in honor of all those questions, here are some of my most memorable encounters in 2011!

Snowballs relaxing

New Year's Day pilgrim

Ice etching

River reflections

Ice out, eagle in

Great blue heron

Water magic

Wavy-lined emerald caterpillar adorned in fleabane petals

Bedazzled by lotus

Spider weaving over evening primrose

Primrose rosette revealed

Wooly aphids dining on alder

A Sunday stroll with the kids - always interesting!

Yesterday's sunset

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!
May 2012 bring you many happy and interesting returns

Reassuring Signs

2011-12-13T16:47:00.004-05:00

New ice

Last evening I put on my layers and tall rubber boots and headed out to Great Meadows' flooded trails to catch the sunset. In the shadowy pools along the entry drive, starry ice formations were gathering around waterborn twigs.

It was 4:05 pm and the sun was poised for its final descent, with perfect streaming clouds ready to catch the spray of color that would follow. I headed out the Dike Trail, leaving behind other visitors who weren't dressed for high water. The calf-deep flooding around the first footbridge gave way to drier ground where the views to the west opened up.

It was completely calm and so silent an evening, that I slipped easily into my zone of perfect communion with the gathering dark and blushing sky and the wildlife's dusktime bustle.

Hearing the softest sound behind me, I turned slowly around to find a young, solitary snow bunting feeding on spilled evening primrose seeds right at my feet. We kept quiet company with each other for nearly five minutes, exchanging soulful glances in between its mouthfuls and my shutter clicks. I've never seen a snow bunting up close and was truly stirred by its soft beauty and remarkably calm and engaging disposition.

Male snow bunting in winter plumage

As the dark gathered around us and coots and muskrats began to scurry across the trail, I reluctantly turned to go while I could still see to ford the flooding. Just as I reached the kiosk and turned for one last look at the fading light and color, the nightly battalion of Canada geese, a couple hundred strong, came surging over the western horizon toward the marshes, their crescendo of honking breaking the stillness until all tumbled down and were quietly settled on the dark water.

Geese heading in for the night

I left, reassured by the signs, that winter indeed is upon us.

Old Growth Trees in Fairyland

2011-12-06T14:49:00.005-05:00

Venerable roots

Deep in the protected hollows of Fairyland, in the heart of Concord's Town Forest, grows a venerable, old-growth pine. It measures some 15' in circumference (5' in diameter at breast height), towering above the forest floor with the top of its crown barely visible from the ground. I was reminded of this ancient and secluded corner of Fairyland today by a friend's Facebook post of her recent visit there.

Old growth pine's towering crown

This grandmother tree likely was a sapling some 150-200 years ago, when Thoreau and Emerson walked these woods, her large rooty toes now providing a sturdy anchor to her enormous size. No doubt, it weathered the 1938 hurricane thanks to the protection provided by the steep glacial kame of Brister's Hill that rises steeply to the southeast.

Yellow birch with powdery blue lichen

On this glacial slope, not far away, stand numerous large old yellow birch trees whose shimmering bark are given a touch of added color from a powdery blue lichen.

Skunk cabbage and Canada mayflower carpet

The wet bottomland of this forest, fed by the outflow stream from Fairlyland Pond, supports a lush growth of skunk cabbage, Canada mayflower, ferns, mosses, and mushrooms that in warmer months further accentuate the primeval atmosphere of this special place.

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - December

2011-12-01T18:00:00.002-05:00

December Ice Dragon, 2010

Sunday, December 11, 2:30-4:30 pm

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord

As we approach the Winter Solstice, daylight wanes and opportunities multiply to meet beauty and wildlife on the threshold of darkness. On this month's walk, we'll explore the landscape for details highlighted by the low hanging sun, the bustle of birds feeding and settling, the dusk-time activity of beaver, and revelations of resident owls. We'll hope for a sunset finish to the afternoon's adventure.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

Email any questions to cherrie.corey@verizon.net

Exploring Seasonal Wonders in Concord - 2012

2011-12-01T12:27:00.004-05:00

Table ice in the floodplain

Environmental Learning Program for Homeschoolers

Join Cherrie Corey for a series of monthly adventures exploring the mysteries and wonder of three of Concord's renowned natural areas -- Great Meadows NWR, the Estabrook Woods, and a thriving great blue heron rookery. In this five-part monthly program, students will learn to form an attentive and personal connection with wild landscapes, to ask critical questions and seek answers about their observations and experiences, to recognize varied habitats and their plant and animal inhabitants, to compare notes with Henry David Thoreau, and to build an ongoing relationship with place through the rhythmic cycle of seasonal changes.

Dates and Locations: Fridays, 10 am - 12:30 pm; January 13/Great Meadows, February 10/Great Meadows, March 9/Great Meadows, April 20/Estabrook Woods, and May 11/Heron Rookery

Fee: $100/child ($103 with PayPal). Limited to 10 children (ages 9-14). If you register with your payment through PayPal/Credit Card below, please send your child's name and your address, phone(s), and email to cherrie.corey@verizon.net.

If you prefer to pay by check, send an email to Cherrie with the above information and request additional mailing information.

Registration is encouraged by December 16 and will be confirmed when payment is received.

Great Meadows Calendar 2012

2011-11-29T19:23:00.001-05:00

Photographer Larry Warfield created a beautiful wall calendar with images of memorable encounters at Great Meadows NWR in Concord. The calendar measures 8.5 x 11" (closed), is spiral bound, and is available for $15 while supplies last. To see calendar images and arrange a purchase, go to http://www.greatmeadowsconcord.com/2011/11/great-meadows-calendar-2012.html

Ode to Milkweed

2011-11-20T22:57:00.004-05:00

Nothing in the plant realm catches light and wind quite so magically as milkweed fluff. As the autumn days shorten and shadows lengthen, I'm drawn to the light that radiates out from these beaky pods. A slow release of gossamer strands warms chilling days with a soft glow and grace.

An abundance of both Common and Swamp milkweeds grow at Great Meadows NWR, getting ever more numerous thanks to the exuberant releases of seeds that many of us encourage. As the twinkle of these travelers subsides, the season turns toward colder days and ice covered landscapes where light will again lure us in.

Dr. Lawrence Millman Presents Northern Fungi Talk

2011-11-17T22:38:00.010-05:00

I ran into Dr. Millman this evening at the Concord Public Library and he passed along this invitation.

Fungus man - a drawing of a carving by Charles Edenshaw in the late 1800s
depicting the Haida myth of the origin of women
Courtesy of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

"How to Banish Evil Spirits:

Uses of Fungi by Northern Peoples"

Friday, November 18, 8 pm
(7 pm cash bar and social hour)

Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel, Allston, MA

Hosted by the New England Chapter of the Explorer's Club

$10 donation requested

Explorer, author, and mycologist Lawrence Millman will talk about the various ways northern indigenous people use mushrooms - as fire starters, smudges, disinfectants, tobacco substitutes, but almost never as food. The talk will include an introduction to ethnomycology (the cultural uses of mushrooms), a display of various mushrooms important in northern cultures, and a demonstration of how the Siberian Chukchi use polypores to rid their homes of evil spirits.

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - November

2011-11-09T14:01:00.002-05:00

Saturday, November 12, 2-4 pm

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants
and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord

We'll focus on the season's turning point, when luscious swaths of color and liveliness yield to muted tones and subtler stirrings. It's time to shift perception,
as we welcome in the November landscape.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation
will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment
and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Witch Hazel - Symbol of Eternal Life

2011-11-06T22:09:00.003-05:00

Witch hazel grove in October

In late autumn, when most of the landscape is having its last blush and preparing for a long winter's nap, golden groves of American witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana L.) quietly burst into bloom, festooning damp wooded hillsides with yellow, spidery blossoms.

This humble shrub has a rare multi-generational lifestyle. Its delicate flowers share their zigzaggy branches with the ripened pods from the previous year and the dried empty seed capsules from the year before that. On warm sunny days, while the fragrant blossoms are attracting bees and various other insects, the ripened pods pop open and fire their seeds across the forest floor making a soft rhythm on fallen leaves.

It's a long road through the next twelve months to grow and ripen those pods. I recently learned from Charley Eiseman's latest post on his BugTracks blog, http://bugtracks.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/late-bloomer/, that fertilization of these late bloomers doesn't take place within the flowers until the following May, after several months of dormancy in the cold months. Eiseman also details the many pollinators that are now known to visit witch hazel blossoms.

Witch hazel's overwintering calyx and leaf bud

Syncopated Seasons!

2011-10-31T23:45:00.001-04:00

Strange juxtaposition - catalpa leaves in snow

On the 20th anniversary of "the perfect storm", the infamous 1991 n'oreaster, the northeast gets walloped by a huge blizzard while still waiting for the oaks to turn. Concord was spared much of the rath, but its fields lay flooded and frozen and its vistas are hauntingly disheveled and beautiful.

Unharvested corn stalks marooned in frozen, muddy field

East Quarter back yard "resorts"

October wearing December's costume

Frosty Gowing's Swamp

Taking Wing

2011-10-29T09:26:00.000-04:00

Protecting Paradise: Gowing's Swamp and Thoreau's Bog

2011-10-17T21:52:00.000-04:00

A slide presentation andtalk by Cherrie Corey

Wednesday, October 26, 7 pm

Visitors Center – AssabetRiver NWR

680 Hudson Road, Sudbury, MA

Offered free of charge bythe Friends of the Assabet River NWR

The program will include my photographs, historic materials, recent research, and stories that recount the natural and social history and unique ecology that make Concord's Gowing's Swamp and Thoreau's Bog such an intimate and magical landscape, one that has inspired more than a century and a half of study, reflection, and protective response. Also, learn about recent citizen efforts to defend this fragile wetland complex from the potential impact of proposed development and to seek permanent preservation of its waters and surrounding shorelines.

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - October

2011-10-04T22:09:00.002-04:00

Sunday, October 23, 9:30-11:30 am

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants
and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord

The warm glow of October's oaken hillsides can be felt as much as seen. Grasses have turned to gold, cattails hold their cottony seeds aloft, mushrooms burst from rotting wood in the floodplain, and waves of blackbirds ripple across clear skies. Join us for a walk in beauty throughout the refuge.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation
will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment
and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Mushrooms Galore!

2011-09-29T23:21:00.007-04:00

Lactarius indigo in damp mixed oak/pine woods, 9/22/11

Armillaria mellea on oak roots, 9/15/11

Mushrooms have been popping up all over Concord, creating magical scenes wherever they mysteriously appear. There's been such a buzz about the prevalence of mushrooms this year that NPR's Ira Flatow decided to do a fungi feature on his Science Friday this month. Regular intervals of precipitation and warmth throughout this summer and fall, along with the occasional hurricane deluge, likely account for this year's magnificent displays. And perhaps, this year's fruiting bodies are making up for time lost during last year's extreme drought when relatively few mushrooms appeared.

Here are a few of the fungi that have caught my attention along the trails around Concord's East Quarter and the Estabrook Woods. Far from expert in this area, I've made my best guess at many identifications. Experienced readers, please use the comment window to advise or correct me!

In a shady niche of old pine log, 9/15/11

Macrolepiota procera (?), hiding in ferns, 9/13/11

The inconspicuous:

Old Man of the Woods (Strobilomyces floccopus), 9/17/11

Horn of Plenty (Craterellus cornucopioides), 9/20/11

Trametes body suits:

Trametes sp. on dying birch, 9/20/11

Turkey-tail (Trametes versicolor) on hardwood roots 9/13/11

Big and Small:

Soccer-ball sized Giant Puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), 8/20/11

Thousands of Marasmius capillaris dot the leaf litter, 9/29/11

The mushrooms are even eating other mushrooms:

Asterophora lycoperdoides eating decayed Russula brevipes (my educated guess), 9/13/11

To learn more about mushrooms and identify your discoveries, visit these sites:
The Mushroom Expert, Roger's Mushrooms, and Tom Volk's Fungi.

Great Meadows Mystery Insect

2011-09-18T09:37:00.000-04:00

Dogwood Sawfly larva (Macremphytus testaceus), final instar

On today's Great Meadows walk we encountered a swamp dogwood shrub crawling with caterpillar-like larvae - powdery white above, yellow below, with a black head. Having first met these creatures last fall, memory failed me yesterday when trying to recall their identity. The larvae will seek rotting wood or debris within which they can make their cocoons to overwinter. The emerge in the spring as adult sawflies who will seek out fresh dogwood shrubs on which to lay their eggs.

Sawflies are related to bees and wasps, but their larvae look remarkably like caterpillars, with some physical and behavioral differences. Sawfly larvae always have more than six pair of prolegs (soft, unsegmented legs) along their abdomens, while caterpillars never have more than five pair. Sawfly larvae often appear in large numbers on a single tree or shrub and seem prone to congregate together in interesting justapositions and poses (eg., above).

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - September

2011-09-12T22:03:00.001-04:00

American lotus pod

Saturday, September 17, 9-11 am

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants
and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord

From the crescendo of bloom in August to the symphony of colors in October, September's landscape provides a bridge of subtler vistas and silky-seeded appointments. Walk the dike trail and river edges in search of these transitory impressions of summer's merging into fall and become familiar with the seed capsules, late bloomers, glistening seed fluff, and mushrooms along the way.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation
will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment
and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA

(Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933; for additional information and photo links, go to http://sense-of-place-concord.blogspot.com

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - August

2011-08-08T10:14:00.019-04:00

Blue vervain spires

Saturday, August 20

9-11 am

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist

and photographer

The progression of blossoms up flowering spires, sounds of crickets and cicadas, the busying swirl

of dragonflies and butterflies, and gathering flocks of blackbirds all signal the waning days of summer. Join us for a taste of this beautiful and

bountiful summer landscape.

Cardinal flower reflections

Meet at GMNWR in Concord, MA

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net.

Cardinal Flowers Ablaze

2011-08-06T08:49:00.002-04:00

Cardinal flowers along the Concord River, opposite GMNWR

"The cardinals in the ditch make a splendid show now, though they would have been much fresher and finer a week ago...They look like slender plumes of soldiers advancing in a dense troop...That is the most splendid show of cardinal-flowers I ever saw." - Thoreau, Journal, August 27, 1856

Cardinal flowers are coming into bloom on-time this year and, echoing Thoreau's 1856 observation, it is the most splendid show many of us have ever seen.

Caterpillars of Great Meadows - July Workshop

2011-07-11T13:11:00.003-04:00

Sunday, July 24, 10:30 am - 2:30 pm
Re-scheduled to Sunday due to heat
Co-sponsored with Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge

Participants study a four-horned sphinx caterpillar

Enjoy a summer day exploring and studying these beautiful, transformative, and secretive creatures at Great Meadows NWR with Sam Jaffe, one of the area's leading authorities on eastern Massachusetts caterpillars and local naturalist/photographer Cherrie Corey.

The program begins in the refuge's maintenance shed with an up-close look and discussion of live, collected caterpillars on their food plants, including a review of their lifecycles and natural history in Massachusetts. Following a lunch break, participants will return to the parking lot for the field portion of the program. (Transportation to and from the maintenance shed will be provided.) The remaining half of the workshop will be spent exploring the trail and parking area edges for caterpillars, highlighting the various visual and habitat clues that lead to productive discoveries. Along the way, both Sam and Cherrie will also help ID the butterflies, moths, and food plants and flowers that are encountered. All discoveries will be helping to build the species lists for the refuge!

Program fee: $45 Limited to 20 participants, ages 9-adult

Meet in the parking lot at Great Meadows NWR, off Monsen Road, Concord, MA

Pre-payment and registration is required and will assure any last minute logistical communications. You can register and pay securly by credit card or through PayPal using the link below. For registration details by mail, please email Cherrie Corey at cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call her at 978-369-4289 (and leave your name and phone number in voice mail box #1).

Monthly Walk at Great Meadows - July

2011-07-03T23:33:00.000-04:00

Saturday, July 9, 8-10:30 am

Downy swamp milkweed

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR in Concord

Flowers are featured in July as the early weeks of summer roll out a breathtaking carpet of bloom. We'll roam the Dike Trail enjoying a profusion of showy tick-trefoil, swamp milkweed, white sweet clover, blue vervain, and meadowsweet blossoms. Beautiful insects, too numerous to mention, will dazzle us along the way. Remember your sun protection. Cameras and binoculars are welcome.

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program

and Friends of the Assabet river NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA

(Monson Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road cureves right)

For questions email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933/cell

Wet!

2011-06-26T12:22:00.004-04:00

Lotus heart

While the wildlands and most of us have had our fill of cloudy, rainy days, the damp and moody atmosphere of the past week was a delight for this photographer and her new macro lens. I moved slowly through the mists, looking closely to see how the water flows, festoons, and drenches as it moves through the landscape in my favorite places.

July Photo Foray at Great Meadows

2011-06-22T18:33:00.003-04:00

Saturday, July 2, from 8-10:30 am

Umbel Moment - Milk parsley

In July, Great Meadows transforms into a garden of earthly delights. Join me for a journey into this fertile landscape, let your senses open, and inspiration lead you to the perfect photographic moment. In an adventure of seeing, learning, and creating, we'll tune-in to this season's beautiful colors, robust forms, and liveliness. Tips on composition, lighting, exposure, and depth of field will be shared along the way. Bring a digital or film camera and familiarize yourself with its basic operation prior to our foray. This link covers the design and operational details on many camera models, from simplest to professional, http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/. All levels of experience are welcome.

Co-sponsored with Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program

Fee: $25. Limited to 12 participants, ages 9 - adult

Pre-payment and registration is required and will assure any last minute logistical communications. You can register and pay securely by credit card or through PayPal using the link below. For registration details by mail, please email me at cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-369-4289 (and leave a message in VM box #1).

Meet in the large parking lot at the Ripley School, end of Meriam Road, Concord, MA.

Fee: $25 Limited to 12 participants, ages 9 - adult.

Impromptu Walk at Great Meadows

2011-06-22T16:28:00.003-04:00

RESCHEDULED to
Sunday, June 26, 7 - 8:30 am

Solstice greetings! Please join me for an early morning walk at Great Meadows on Sunday, 6/26, from 7 - 8:30 am. We'll put off an evening walk and firefly watching for fairer weather.

Great Meadows is most vibrant in the early morning hours, often cloaked in mist and festooned with spiderwebs. After the long wet spell, the wildflowers, fledglings, and water life will be reviving themselves and the air will be filled with the heady fragrances of milkweed, swamp azalea, black locust, and catalpa blossoms. Looking forward to greeting the day with you!

Common Skullcap

A $5 donation will be gratefully accepted. Co-sponsored with Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program. The walk will take place unless there is a downpour or thunderstorm. Call me if unsure, 978-760-1933.

Stay tuned for future impromptu evening and early weekday morning walks, as the weather and my calendar allow.

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - June

2011-06-09T14:37:00.002-04:00

Sunday, June 12, 9-11:30 am
Rain or Shine

Black swallowtail caterpillar on milk parsley

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR in Concord

As we approach the summer solstice, join in an exploration of June's lush flora and some of the many caterpillars, butterflies, and other insects that dine on and pollinate them. Massachusetts caterpillar maven, Sam Jaffe will join me for a casual look at many of these unseen residents...a preview to summer workshops on the caterpillars, butterflies, and moths of Great Meadows. Remember your sunscreen. Camera, notebooks, and binoculars are welcome.

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

and Sam Jaffe, naturalist and expert on Massachusetts caterpillars

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program

and Friends of the Assabet river NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA

(Monson Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road cureves right)

For questions email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933/cell

May - Visions of Life Creating Itself

2011-05-26T10:32:00.002-04:00

Pink ladyslipper in evening backlight

With May come blossoms, courtship, and babies. While many have complained about the relative coolness of this spring, I have enjoyed the opportunity to savor all of the unfolding life at a relaxed and comfortable pace. From bare quiet landscapes to a cacophony of bird and frog songs and a festival of flowers and color, this month, like no other, reveals the power of the creative life force that we all share.

Shadbush bloomed began bloomed into early May this year, closer to its historical bloom time than it's been in a decade.

Bog violets at Great Meadows NWR, photo by Nancy Hartle

Love is in the air - Northern water snakes mating, the smaller male is wrapped around the female.

Special Photo Foray, Saturday, May 21, 9-11:30 am

2011-05-17T13:03:00.003-04:00

Chestnut leaf highlights

Gowing's Swamp and Great Meadows

Boggy blooms and brimming pools, ladyslippers, vistas, and skyscapes. Join me for a journey into the vernal landscape at Gowing's Swamp and Great Meadows NWR - two of Concord's most beautiful wetland wonderlands. In an adventure of seeing, learning, and creating, we'll tune-in to the subtle colors emerging in the landscape, the softening light, and all the lively signs of the season. Tips on composition, lighting, exposure, and depth of field will be shared along the way. Bring a digital or film camera with which you are familiar. All levels of experience are welcome.

Photo Foray - Saturday, May 21, 9-11:30 am

Meet in the large parking lot at the Ripley School, end of Meriam Road, Concord, MA.

Fee: $25 Limited to 12 participants, ages 9 - adult.

Pre-payment will secure your registration and assure any last minute logistical communications. For registration details by mail, please email me at cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-369-4289 (and leave a message in VM box #1). You can also pay directly and securely with PayPal or your credit card, using the button below:

May Walk at GMNWR - Spring surprises

2011-05-15T16:08:00.001-04:00

Bog or Lance-leaved violet (Viola lanceolata), photo by Nancy Hartle

We had a calm and relatively dry morning for our May walk, with a soft green light and few biting bugs. It began with the beating wings of two circling swans and a chorus of warbling vireo, Baltimore orioles, yellow warblers, yellow throats, and the incessant creaking and calling of redwing blackbirds and grackles. Crab apple blossoms light up this dark day and perfume the air.

Several new walkers were introduced to some of the history and various plant communities at Great Meadows: oak-pine forests, transitional lower slope woodlands, red maple swamp, shallow emergent marshlands, floodplain forest, and seepage areas. Some of the plant highlights included northern sweet gale, marsh equisetum or horsetail, emerging swamp dogwood and northern arrowwood leaves, highbush blueberry blossoms, various floodplain trees, and some early spring mustards including cuckoo flower, winter cress, and garlic mustard.

Swallows were busy gathering low flying insects, chimney swifts were darting above the trees along the river, and a few new Canada goose goslings were out strolling with their watchful parents.

Walker Nancy Hartle discovered a small grouping of Bog violets on the eastbound segment of the dike trail (shown above), adding a new plant species to our Great Meadows list.

Stay tuned for upcoming walk and program dates through the coming months!

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - May

2011-05-13T17:30:00.001-04:00

Cherrie (right) introduces some of the trees at Great Meadows.

Sunday, May 15, 9:30-11:30 am
Rain or Shine

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR in Concord.

Join me for spring revelry along the trails at Great Meadows. This weekend marks the annual crescendo of spring songbird migration and vernal blossoming. We'll explore the plant life, abundant birdsong and emerging snakes and turtles along the marsh, riverside, and woodland trails. Remember your sunscreen and bring binoculars and a camera, if you have them.

Shadbush blossoms in early May

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environ. Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right.)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933.

Musketaquid Earth Day Celebrations, Sat., April 30th

2011-04-29T12:11:00.001-04:00

Musketaquid Earth Day Parade 2010

Celebrate the Earth and Concord's wild places on Saturday, April 30! Festivities get underway at 10 am by the Concord River, at the Lowell Rd. boat ramp and bridge with a river ceremony. At 10:45, carry a puppet in the annual parade, that sets out from the river to Monument Sq. and to the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts on Stow St. From 11:30-2, the Earth Day festival takes place outside the EU with food, live musical performances, information tables, and crafts. Also, don't miss the annual Earth Day arts exhibition on the 2nd floor of the Umbrella.

Special note, my son Colin Nevins' jazz quartet will be making their Musketaquid Earth Day debut, on the stage at 12:30. In his younger years, he helped lead the parade dressed and dancing as an eagle.

For more information, see http://www.emersonumbrella.org/musketaquid/earth-day/.

Peeping, Croaking, Quacking - What's That Frog?

2011-04-13T10:48:00.002-04:00

Bullfrog at Great Meadows in June

With the warming temps and spring rains, comes a chorus of frog song in Concord's marshes and vernal pools. These early crooners are hard to spot, so learning their calls breeds our deeper familiarity. Here is a great website out of the U. of Michigan with images and varied calls for all of the common frogs and toads of the Northeast, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/topics/frogCalls.html. I've also added the link to this website under "Resource Links" in the right-hand column of this webpage.

On the April monthly walk at Great Meadows we heard pickerel frogs, green frogs, and spring peepers.

Meeting Spring at Gowing's Swamp/Thoreau's Bog

2011-04-06T12:33:00.000-04:00

Sunday, May 1 from 10 am - noon

A nine-acre bogland nestled off the eastern flank of Revolutionary Ridge in Concord, Gowing's Swamp is one of the area's most unique and beautifully sculpted wetland landscapes. I will be leading a walk for Sudbury Valley Trustees around the bog as it awakens after this long, snowy winter.

For information and registration, go to http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/events-calendar/meeting-spring-at-gowing%E2%80%99s-swampthoreau%E2%80%99s-bog. For a detailed history and survey of this magnificent bog, see http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/current-projects?q=gowings-swamp-concord.

First Flowers

2011-04-04T01:01:00.000-04:00

Skunk cabbage family

Blooming in a wet ditch or damp woodland near you!

April Fool's!

2011-04-01T23:55:00.000-04:00

Frosted maple surprise

Hope springs eternal

Monthly Great Meadows Walk - April

2011-03-24T18:44:00.004-04:00

Saturday, April 9, 10 am - noon

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR in Concord.

The landscape awakens in April! Flocks of returning birds, fattening buds, sunning turtles, and brilliant cattail shoots all reassure us that life is renewing. Join me on our first venture into spring along Great Meadows' marshlands and riverbanks.

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environ. Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right.)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933.

Photo Foray - Saturday, April 2, from 3-5:30 pm

2011-03-24T16:55:00.000-04:00

Warmly dressed for early blooming!

The birds, bees, and early bloomers know that spring has sprung. Join me for a photographic journey through the wet meadows of Concord's East Quarter and Great Meadows where pussywillows and skunk cabbage are blooming, Blanding's turtles may be basking, and flocks of early birds stop in to graze the shallows and shorelines. In an adventure of seeing, learning, and creating, we'll tune-in to the subtle colors emerging in the landscape, the softening light, and all the lively signs of the new season. Tips on composition, lighting, exposure, and depth of field will be shared along the way. Bring a digital or film camera with which you are familiar.

Photo Foray - Saturday, April 2, 3-5:30 pm
We'll begin at the National Park Service's Meriam Corner lot on Lexington Rd. and move on from there.

Fee: $25 Limited to 12 participants, ages 14 - adult.

For registration details, please email me at cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-369-4289 (and leave a message in VM box #1).

Moonrise Over Carlisle

2011-03-19T23:50:00.002-04:00

Full moon rise over Spencer Brook headwaters
(Hand-held, please excuse the blur)

Spencer Brook cuts through a long valley that connects Carlisle to Concord. Tonight some 60 Carlisle residents and friends joined the Carlisle Trails Committee for their annual full moon walk. Setting out from the Spencer Brook Reservation, we walked past shadowy wolf pines and through many spring seeps across linked parcels of conservation land. We stopped to enjoy a woodcock's "peents" and aerial display before heading through the woods, into a back field, just in time to marvel at the moon rising over a distant pine knoll. Soon we could see the silvery meanderings of Spencer Brook glowing in the marshlands before us.

Steve Tobin welcomes moon walkers of all ages.

The Trails Committee -- including Steve Tobin, who many will know from our monthly Great Meadows walks -- has recently completed a remarkably constructed wildlife viewing platform out over the marsh. Some stairs and finishing touches will complete the project, but our entire entourage easily mounted the deck to enjoy tonight's brilliant spectacle. For photos of this remarkable community construction effort, see http://ccf-web.org/ccf_platform_progrss_0211.html. For future visits, park at the closed off section of Spencer Brook Road near West Street and follow the fields and trails to South St. and the Benfield Conservation Land access. Maps to Carlisle Conservation lands and trails can be accessed at http://carlisletrails.pbworks.com/w/page/28000949/MapMaster.

Big Birds in Town!

2011-03-18T21:41:00.002-04:00

Adult bald eagle at Great Meadows

Bald eagles returned to Great Meadows as the dense ice over the marshes began to melt a couple of weeks ago. They have been daily visitors since, making a springtime feast of a bounty of carp and other fish. Yesterday there were two adults and one immature eagle fishing, perching, and soaring together in the late afternoon delighting a crowd of us watching from the observation tower.

One eagle flew down to an island of cattails and, curiously, gathered a clump of dried leaves and carried them up to the branch where the other birds were perched. Likely these big birds will move on as the weather warms, to return late in the year as winter closes in once again. But let's not go there just yet!

Great Meadows Walk - Sun., March 13, 2:30 - 4:30 pm

2011-03-12T11:30:00.002-05:00

Ephemeral morning river ice

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR.

March brings the water element back to Great Meadows. Ice gives way to dark brimming pools, the rising river, and muddy trails. Freshets flow and visiting gulls and bald eagles may come by for an early spring feeding frenzy. Muskrats emerge, redwings return, and fattening maple buds bring a red haze to the floodplain forest. Join in the exploration of winter's retreat and spring's awakening.

Warm layers, waterproof winter boots, and ice cleats are recommended. There will be a strong, chilly breeze and the back trails are still covered with ice and patches of snow. While the dike trail is currently flooded we'll have great opportunities for wildlife encounters.

No pre-registration required. A $5 donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right.)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933.

Spring Feeding Frenzy

2011-03-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Gulls pull dead carp through the ice for their annual feeding frenzy in the Great Meadows NWR impoundments. Bald Eagles often join the feasting on either end of the day, as long as the ice lasts.

Snow, Ice, Wind, Rising Waters - It Must Be March!

2011-03-10T23:31:00.000-05:00

The floodplain has donned its spring attire and the Dike Trail is underwater. Both a photo foray (3/12 at 2 pm) and the monthly Great Meadows Walk (3/13 at 2 pm) are scheduled for this weekend. The Great Meadows walk will take place as planned, skirting the edge of the marshes and exploring the woodland trails. I'll be sending out a note about logistics to photo foray registrants tomorrow.

It won't be long before we can't keep up with all the awakening life!

Where Are We Now?

2011-03-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

The sorting hat - spring, winter...spring!

Late Winter Photography Forays

2011-02-15T22:04:00.014-05:00

Our photo forays continue, following the transition from winter's retreat to spring's doorstep Melting snow layers, delicate, and ephemeral ice patterns, sparkling freshets, and the earliest bloom and buzz about pussy-willows and skunk cabbage.

Bring your favorite camera (film or digital, simple or professional and join me for an afteroon of being in the 'wild moment.' Learn to frame that experience through the lens in a way that expresses your own unique sensibilities.

Photo Foray/Great Meadows NWR - Sunday, 2/27, 2-4:30 pm
Photo Foray/Great Meadows NWR - Sun., 3/6, 2-4:30 pm, for teens 13-18
Photo Foray/Great Meadows NWR - Sat., 3/12, 2:30 - 5 pm
Photo Foray/Great Meadows NWR - Sun., 3/27, 9:30 am - noon

Fee: $25/foray or $60/all three adult forays
Limited to 12 participants, ages 16-adult, except for teen sessions

To register using a credit card or PayPal, use the "Add to Cart" button below, and choose the session(s) you want from the pull down menu. To pay by check, make the check payable to Cherrie Corey and mail to 277 Old Bedford Road, Concord, MA 01742. Please include your name, address, and home/cell phone numbers.

Photo Foray at Great Meadows - Sun., February 13, 2-4:30 pm

2011-02-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

Put down your shovels, pick up your cameras, and join me for a seeing journey into this unprecedented winter wonderland. In February, I'll be offering two winter photography forays across Concord's wild and frosty landscapes, for high school teens - adult . In an adventure of seeing, learning, and creating, we'll tune-in to the season's interplay of sparkling light and shadows, its sculpted and crystalline forms, and the "decisive moment" in picture making. Tips on composition, lighting, exposure, and depth of field will be shared along the way. Bring a digital or film camera with which you are familiar.

Photo Foray/Great Meadows NWR - Sun., 2/13, 2-4:30 pm

Fee: $25 Limited to 12 participants, ages 14 - adult.

Additional forays are being planned over the next few weeks...stay tuned.

For registration details, please email me at cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-369-4289 (and leave a message in VM box #1).

Great Meadows Walk - Sat., February 12, 2-4 pm

2011-02-09T21:03:00.001-05:00

Feb. 6th sunset at Great Meadows

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR.

In February, Great Meadows becomes an ice kingdom. Frozen layers reveal worlds within worlds and bring heaven to earth with the sky reflected underfoot. Walk with me in the ice bound floodplain and discover the exquisite beauty winter brings to the riverside. Bundle up, wear appropriate footgear, and grab those hand and toe warmer packets.

No pre-registration required. A $5 donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR.

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933.

Blizzard Birds

2011-02-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

Mr. Cardinal, glowing like an ember in the snow

Our sense of place can be defined at the window. Here are some photos of my encounters with wild and feathered ones during the last few blizzards. All the photos were taken from our second story kitchen and bathroom windows, http://picasaweb.google.com/khadro06/BlizzardBirds#.

All That Glitters is Snow

2011-01-23T23:59:00.008-05:00

Just when I began to wonder when the snow would sparkle this winter, in comes the cold to sharpen the crystals. I stepped out early yesterday morning into a twinkling landscape, looking as if fairies had sprinkled glitter about while we were sleeping. This is the gift that these sharply cold and snowy days bring to us.

Lotus pods among diamonds

Sparkling spillway

Frosty showy tick-trefoil

Sharing the Trail on a Snowy Morning

2011-01-23T22:37:00.008-05:00

Breaking trail

Little rodent wanderings

Skis, snowshoes, and coyotes

A Week of Stunning Sunsets

2011-01-21T23:40:00.005-05:00

For a snow and ice lover like me, this week of multiples storms and freezes and thaws gave way to rhapsodies of light overhead and underfoot that were magnificant. All of these visions were beheld from the same location along the central Dike Trail at Great Meadows NWR.

Silver flash on frozen ground (1/15)


Sundown with 'sundog', after the teen photo foray (1/17)

New snow, blows and glows...today

Photo Forays - Tuning In

2011-01-12T23:52:00.009-05:00

Breathe deeply, empty your mind of thoughts and expectations, awaken your senses, and be alert to all the liveliness in the landscape.

Francesca Belouin focuses on diamonds

Photography is first and foremost about seeing and being alert in the moment when light, movement, and composition come together. We create a compelling image when we combine this seeing experience with a growing understanding of how to frame what we see through the lens and setting our cameras to capture the light and details as we'd like them to be. In our first photo foray at Fairyland Pond in Concord's Hapgood Wright Town Forest, participants did just that. We had a beautiful afternoon photographing together, ending with a moment of cosmic serendipity.

Fairyland diamond

Sundog - An auspicious ending

There are a few spaces left for the three remaining photo forays. See previous post for registration details. I am also posting a ongoing sampling of my favorite winter photos in the Winter Light album, http://picasaweb.google.com/khadro06/WinterLight#.

Afterglow

2011-01-06T22:11:00.001-05:00

January sunset on the Concord River

Great Meadows Walk - Sat., January 15, 2:30-4:30 pm

2011-01-03T16:55:00.001-05:00

Snow devils spin across the ice

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR.

The interplay of snow and wind, ice and sunlight, and the wandering signs left by wild ramblers continuously reshapes the winter landscape. We'll explore the ephemeral beauty of frozen forms and changing light along the trail. Bundle up, bring snowshoes if you have them, and grab those hand and toe warmer packets.

No pre-registration required. A $5 donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA. (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right.)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933.

GMNWR Autumn Walks Wrap-up

2010-12-31T23:29:00.010-05:00

Common threeseed mercury (Acalypha rhomboidea)

In October, our monthly walk explored the floodplain forest, wizened by the summer's long drought. The identity of two vigorous and unfamiliar plants with lingering blooms puzzled us. Three-seeded mercury and climbing hempvine (Mikania scandens) found enough moisture by the river's edge to flourish.

Leaf miner trails

Wild cucumber fruit cross-section

Numerous mushrooms, including the beauties shown above, grew from still moist and rotting logs. Leaf miners left their calligraphy on the forest understory. And the loofa-like fruits of wild cucumber vines fascinated everyone.

November walkers encountered several mysteries, some of which have since been solved...a deer scrape, the still robust leaves of rough avens, an inexplicably large wad of cattail fluff resting in the shoreline shrubbery, muskrat strewings, and a Canada goose egg! Our walk ended in a celebratory gathering with refuge staff on the new observation deck.

And in December, we explored all of the beaverworks at Great Meadows....

December in the beaver yard

Season's Blessings

2010-12-24T23:47:00.000-05:00

Last embers of 2010

As this year circles to the next, I want to thank all of you who have walked with us and shared your revelations, wisdom and love for our beautiful wild places...by river, bog, forest and field. May you find the light that burns, sparkles, and reflects in these darker days and let it dazzle you!

Thanks to walker Anne Whitaker for letting me share her serendipitously ember-like image of a Great Meadows sunset taken on our December walk.

Beaver Works and Sunset Walk, Sat., Dec. 11, 2-4 pm

2010-12-08T22:03:00.004-05:00

Active beaver lodge on the Concord River

Over the last few years, the beaver have been active at Great Meadows. Three very different lodges, tunnels, tracks, and many a gnawed tree offer testimony to their eager engineering. Join us for an exploration of these beaverworks and discover the many creatures and colors that come alive as the sn goes down. Dress warmly!

No pre-registration required. A voluntary donation of $5/person will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA.
(Monson Road, off Rte. 62, turn left where road turns right)

Great Meadows Walk: Sat., December 4, 10 - noon

2010-11-18T14:12:00.008-05:00

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR.

November light and shadows, open vistas, last stirrings, and first crystalline etchings on the landscape...we'll walk the trails to look for ephemeral signs of the earth's readying for her long winter's nap.

No pre-registration required. A voluntary donation of $5/person will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord MA.

(Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, turn left where road turns right)

Gossamer and Light

2010-11-14T17:02:00.004-05:00

To quote Thoreau, yesterday was a "gossamer day." From every weed and floating seed, to every branchlet, grass and sedge, fine silken lines filled the air at Great Meadows. Thin, bouncing waves of light spun by tiny spiders that seem to skitter and blow from one anchor point to another. Says Thoreau, "Methinks it is only on these very finest days late in autumn that this phenomenon is seen, as if the fine vapor of the morning were spun into these webs." The Germans, he said, called this fall rite "Der fliegender Sommer", the flying or departing summer and he puzzled about why the spiders appeared to empty themselves just before winter's arrival. Thanks to Alan Bragg for pointing me to Thoreau's Oct. 31, 1953 Journal entry.

In the midst of honoring darkness and the daily rush toward night, I'd forgotten how exquisite light becomes during the dark months of the year. It's the angle or reflection of light that catches our attention now -- in the illumined roots and branches of the forest...

in a bright feather come to rest, in foxtail grass, or in the glow of the landscape whitened with the flocking of cattail seeds blowing and clinging everywhere.

History of the Night - A Far Cry Orchestra

2010-11-12T22:53:00.005-05:00

JP Concerts presents: A Far Cry, the self-conducted, cooperatively directed string orchestra described by the Boston Globe as "thrilling, "brilliant," and "intrepid," in the second concert of its fourth season, themed "History of the Night." During the course of this season, the group will explore the concept of night, as reflected in both traditionally nocturnal works and more standard repertoire.

Seasons in Orbit

* Part: Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
* Elgar: Serenade for Strings
* Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
* Piazzolla: Las Cuatro Estaciones Portenas for Guitar, Bandoneon, and Strings

*Kernis: Musica Celestis

A Far Cry in Jamaica Plain | Buy Tickets!
December 18 2010 4pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Jamaica Plain MA

A Far Cry at the Gardner Museum | Buy Tickets!
December 19 2010 1:30pm
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston MA

Blazing Edge of Night

2010-11-11T00:08:00.002-05:00

The long, gray nor'easter pushes away this evening leaving a blaze of color in its wake. Watching the treetops ignite from my kitchen window, I hurry over to Great Meadows to be with the burst of light and flight that comes just before dark. It moves quickly. Gold and flushes of rose give way to fiery orange and deepening shadows, all dancing on a canvas of streaming clouds. As the day releases its last flush, the sky fills with wave upon wave of geese and ducks coming in for the night. And I am left content in the darkness with the wooshing sound of their descending flight and the settling murmur of their voices.

Entering the Darkness

2010-11-06T10:06:00.006-04:00

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) afterglow at sunset

The afterglow of a female winterberry is a welcome sight on November evenings as we begin our descent into winter's darker days. Winterberries, a member of the Holly family, inhabit bottomlands, swamps, and bogs in the Concord area. Watch for the added touch of color as bluebirds and robins dine on these berries in the late fall and early winter months.

Tiny Bird with a Regal Name

2010-11-06T09:39:00.002-04:00

Ruby-crowned kinglet (female or juvenile)

This little bird caught my attention on the Dike Trail while fluttering about between a European spindletree and my head. He was so close that it was hard to get a focused shot and clear identification. Ruby-crowned kinglets pass through during migration and are not seen in as much abundance as their Golden-crowned counterparts.

Great Meadows Walk: Saturday, Nov. 6, 1-3 pm

2010-10-30T08:23:00.004-04:00

New observation platform at Great Meadows NWR

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR.

We'll focus on the season's turning point, when luscious swaths of color and liveliness yield to muted tones and subtler stirrings. It's a time to shift perception as we welcome in the November landscape. At 2:30 we'll circle back to the new observation deck for a celebratory gathering and refreshments.

No pre-registration required. A voluntary donation of $5/person will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord MA.

(Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, turn left where road turns right)

New Visitor's Center Opens Oct. 17 - Assabet River NWR

2010-10-17T11:12:00.005-04:00

The new Visitor's Center for the eastern Massachusetts division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's refuge division opens Oct. 17 at the Assabet River NWR. Programming, refreshments, and opportunity to tour the center and its new exhibits will continue throughout the day. Read more about the Center and plans for its future programs and resources at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/10/07/visitors_center_to_open_at_assabet_river_national_wildlife_refuge_in_sudbury/.

Dining on Dogwood

2010-10-17T09:59:00.006-04:00


Dogwood Sawfly larva (Macremphytus testaceus)

Earlier this month, I received several inquiries about these white "caterpillars" who appeared to be decimating some of the swamp (or silky) dogwood shrubs at Great Meadows NWR/Concord. Checking in with Sam Jaffe, he advised that these are the larvae of the Dogwood sawfly. Adult females can lay up to 100 eggs on the underside of a single leaf, so it's no surprise that an entire shrub's foliage can be consumed in fairly short order.

Great Meadows Walk: Sunday, October 3, 9-11 a.m.

2010-09-19T11:21:00.009-04:00

Lotus leaf reflections

A continuing series of monthly walks exploring the landscape, plants, and seasonal wonders of Great Meadows NWR in Concord.

Cooler days bring welcome color to the landscape after an unusual stretch of flooding, heat, and drought. We'll enjoy the autumn palette, seed bursts, and wild encounters togetheras we explore the dike trail and floodplain forest.

No pre-registration required. A $5 voluntary contribution will be gratefully accepted.

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist and photographer

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program
and Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows NWR in Concord, MA

(Monson Road, off Rte. 62, turn left where road curves right)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933

September Bounty - Grapes, Smartweeds, and Other Surprises

2010-09-18T23:21:00.006-04:00

Ripened fox grapes

Even after drought and floods, never underestimate the gifts and surprises that wild places have to offer. Our September walk at Great Meadows NWR had many. Thanks to those who joined me for their curiosity and revelations.

The musky, sweet aroma of ripening Fox grapes perfumed shady stretches of the Dike Trail where large fruit clusters hung overhead in the shadows. The dryness has made them extra flavorful this year. These are a seasonal clue for our next surprise encounter with...Cut-leaved Grape ferns with ripened spores. I haven't seen Grape ferns in many years. Veteran walker, Steve Tobin, spotted these growing amidst moss covered roots of a large silver maple tree.

Cut-leaved grape fern, fertile and infertile fronds

The ever-present and perplexing smartweeds (Polygonaceae family) raised many questions. Why are they "smart?" It's their chemistry. Their peppery leaves can make the skin and mouth smart, warding off some foragers. Great Meadows has a variety of smartweeds and their relatives, challenging for many to identify. Here's a sampling...


Water-pepper (Persicaria hydropiper)


Pennsylvania and Nodding smartweeds (Persicaria pensylvanica and P. maculosa) Lady's Thumb (Persicaria maculosa)

Great Meadows Walk: Sept 12 from 8-10 a.m.

2010-09-07T23:41:00.006-04:00


New observation platform under construction

The seeds of change have come to Great Meadows. New vistas have opened with the construction of an observation platform. Late blooming fall flowers and seeds of every description herald autumn's transformations. We'll take a lively walk to the Borden Ponds and back to catch all the changes.

Delicate downy swamp milkweed pod and seeds

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program and Friends of Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA. For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933

You'll Never Walk Alone - Caterpillar Encounters at Great Meadows

2010-08-27T21:07:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Sam Jaffe's guiding eye on our August 21st walk at Great Meadows, we discovered many caterpillars munching away at the foliage all around us. Humbling to realize how much life teams around us as we take each step. Here are some highlights...


Harvester butterfly caterpillars (Feniseca tarquinius) dining on wooly aphids (white) on alder branches

American dagger moth (Acronicta americana) feeding on maple in the GM parking lot

Silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus) eating showy tick-trefoil leaves in parking lotion

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) caterpillar wrapped in a sassafras leaf

Spicebush swallowtail, large 4th instar, bird dropping mimic

Yellow-shouldered slug caterpillar (Lithacodes fasciola)

Four-horned sphinx (Ceratomia amyntor) on elm

Waved sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa) on ash

Sam Jaffe, with a Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar, telling us stories about these marvelously transformational creatures.

Great Meadows Walk: Aug 21 from 8-10 am

2010-08-11T10:17:00.009-04:00


Pandora sphinx caterpillar

WILD PLANTS AND THE CATERPILLARS THAT EAT THEM

Join Cherrie Corey and Sam Jaffe to commune with late summer flora and the caterpillars that dine on this buffet. And bring your binoculars for both bird and caterpillar watching.

A $5/person voluntary donation would be gratefully accepted. Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment and Friends of Assabet River NWR

Led by Cherrie Corey, local field naturalist and photographer and Sam Jaffe, local expert on Mass. caterpillars

Meet at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA (Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933

Omniscience in a Lotus Field

2010-08-11T09:53:00.004-04:00

Imagine a Buddha sitting atop each lotus blossom at Great Meadows! A closer encounter with these magnificent plants gives a palpable sense of their symbolic importance in Buddhist stories and beliefs.

Potential (bud)

Creative expression (blossom)

Omniscience (ripened pod)

Wisdom (seasoned leaf)

Great Meadows Sunset Walk on Aug. 7

2010-08-07T00:28:00.005-04:00

Saturday, Aug 7 from 7-8:30 pm

One of my favorite summer sounds is the "qwack qwacking" of black-crowned night herons as they make their sunset flight before settling in to roost. Their appearance this week at Great Meadows has inspired me to offer an impromptu sunset walk tomorrow evening. Tonight, on my pre-amble, I encountered the night herons swooping up into their dusky flight as the sky blazed its last colors. They were followed by clouds of swallows and waves of blackbirds, various shorebirds descending, geese stirring, and the crickets and katydids stirring up a mighty chorus. I can promise some of that magic tomorrow.

Meet in the GMNWR parking lot a bit before 7. We'll head out onto the dike trail promptly so not to miss the precision timing of this late day choreography. Co-sponsored with Friends of the Assabet River NWR and Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program. As always, a $5 voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted. See tonight's sunset photos, http://picasaweb.google.com/khadro06/SummerSunsetMoments#

Black-crowned night heron

Watch the sky, Aurora Borealis Predicted

2010-08-03T23:59:00.002-04:00

A huge eruption in the sun's northern hemisphere on Sunday blasted plasma into space in the direction of Earth. A rare ocurrance of northern lights is predicted over the norther US and Canada around the hours of 3 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm on Wednesday 8/4 and around 2 am on Thursday. Look for wavering curtains or waves of white, pink, or green light that pulse with intensity. For more information see http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/08/_nasaap_an_x-ra.html

For those wanting more info see the NOAA POES website of auroral activity in the northern hemisphere, http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html.

Dragonflies and Other Photo Additions - Great Meadows NWR 2010 album

2010-08-03T21:55:00.004-04:00

Halloween pennant (Celithemus eponina)

Midsummer dragonflies, wildflowers, and landscapes have just been added to the Great Meadows NWR 2010 photo album, http://picasaweb.google.com/khadro06/GreatMeadowsNWR2010#. You can use the photo albums as seasonal field guides to Great Meadows. The years vary a bit, so be sure to check them all if you have an ID question.

Great Meadows Caterpillar Revelations

2010-08-03T12:31:00.003-04:00

Sam Jaffe shows us a Hog Sphinx caterpillar munching on fox grape leaves.

On July 25th, we had a wonderful evening of up close and personal caterpillar encounters led by our informative and inspiring guide, Sam Jaffe. Some thirty participants turned out as a brief shower was clearing, punctuated by the flash of a rainbow and brilliant long rays of the evening sun. The evening began and ended with some very special finds and was bathed throughout in moonlight and the distant glow of lotuses, laid out like snowy fields.

Caterpillar introductions included:

Harvester Butterfly (Feniseca tarquinius), as many as six caterpillars feeding on wooly aphids on speckled alder. A sought after species in the butterfly world!

Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax), a single second instar caterpillar feeding on a black cherry. The caterpillar eats away the flesh of the leaf blade at its apex and rests exposed on the remaining mid-vein.

Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta), a single early instar on a nettle plant.

Silver Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus), a few early instar caterpillars in their folded leaf
enclosures. There are many of these caterpillars at Great Meadows, worth searching for them in a week or two after they grow up a bit.

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus), one large final instar caterpillar rolled up in a sassafras leaf and a few early instar caterpillars on nearby plants.

Blinded Sphinx (Paonias excaecatus), a single fourth instar on birch

Hog Sphinx (Darapsa myron), a single pale green early fifth instar caterpillar on grape

Elm or Four-horned Sphinx (Ceratomia amyntor), a fourth instar green morph on elm near the river. A remarkable caterpillar!

Double-toothed Prominent (Nerice bidentata), three or four third instars on scrubby looking elm at near river. Would be fully grown in ten more days!

Maple Looper (Parallelia bistriaris) - We found very early instars of these on red maple bordering the parking lot.

An autumn caterpillar foray will be scheduled for this fall and the date posted soon. For great caterpillar photos and ID guide, see Sam Jaffe's website http://www.pbase.com/spjaffe/massachusetts_caterpillars (also under links on this blog).

A Delicate Seaside Moment

2010-07-20T23:03:00.001-04:00

Bindweed waving gently in the breeze at the head of Morgan Bay in Surry, ME...my other favorite place!

Great Meadows Double-header, Sunday 7/25!

2010-07-19T21:50:00.009-04:00

Buttonbush inflorescence

Sense of Place

Exploring the Landscape at Great Meadows

Monthly Walk

Sunday, July 25 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Brimming with blossoms, butterflies, and activity, the lush summer landscape beckons us. Wildflower marvels include buttonbush, blue vervain, rose mallow, spotted joe-pye weed, groundnut, early goldenrods, fringed loosestrife, and various smartweeds.

Full Moon Walk and Caterpillar Foray

Sunday, July 25, 8 - 9:30 p.m.

This is the summer night when thousands of white lotuses light up the marshlands at Great Meadows in the moonlight. Enjoy views from the observation tower and along the dike trail while learning more about the nighttime landscape. I'lll be joined by Sam Jaffe, local expert on Massachusetts caterpillars, who will guide walkers in sleuthing out some of these wonderful creatures in the wildflowers, shrubs, and trees along the way.

No pre-registration required.

$5/person voluntary donation for each walk will be gratefully accepted. For evening walk, wear long pants, socks, and shoes and bring a handheld flashlight.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid Arts and Environment and Friends of Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA. For questions, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933

Thoreau Farm Opens to Public

2010-06-26T11:58:00.005-04:00

This weekend marks the opening of Thoreau Farm at 341 Virginia Road in Concord. Having long sat vacant and deteriorating, Thoreau's birthplace has been preserved through an ambitious fundraising effort and fully restored by local architects and artisans. Set in the historic landscape of his childhood neighborhood, Thoreau's birthplace is now appointed with period gardens created this spring by Concord's Debbie Bier. For a schedule of opening events, see http://www.thoreaufarm.org/lib/category/general/ and for a detailed article on the Farm's renovations, go to http://www.boston.com/travel/explorene/massachusetts/articles/2010/06/27/farm_updated_with_thoreaus_love_of_environment_in_mind/

During your visit, take a walk out back to the inspired growing fields of Gaining Ground and don't miss their new sugar house on the circular driveway. For more on Gaining Ground, see http://www.gainingground.org/.

Carnivorous Plants at Great Meadows!

2010-06-19T22:24:00.005-04:00

Common bladderwort (Utricularia macrorhiza) makes its home in the shallow waters at Great Meadows. This delicate and inconspicuous plant traps insects to supplement its diet, through small bladders attached to its submerged leaves. When tiny swimming insects brush against the trigger hairs around the mouth of a bladder, it opens, sucking in its prey. At best, these special plants are uncommon here, so please do not disturb them. For more on common bladderwort, see http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/aquatics/utriculariamac.html

Snakes in Concord

2010-06-17T11:38:00.003-04:00

Three snake encounters this spring seem worth sharing.

A northern watersnake threesome, found mating in mid-May at Great Meadows. The smaller snakes are the two males.

A 4.5 foot long milksnake crossed my path on the historic cart path behind the Ripley School and near the shoreline of Gowing's Swamp.

A tiny screaming voice in the grass brought my attention to this drama between a garter snake and a frog. This encounter occured in the exact same spot crossed by the milk snake a few days before.

REMINDER: Great Meadows Walk, Sunday, June 20, from 7:30-9:30 am

2010-06-15T10:20:00.004-04:00

Marsh Wren

NOTE EARLIER START TIME!

An early start on this first summer walk, brings us the wonders of the lush landscape at its freshest. Enjoy the lingering dew, choruses of birdsong, wildlife encounters, and many new summer blooms before the heat of the day arise. Bring binoculars and repellent.

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid and Friends of Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA

(Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

At the Ready!

2010-05-30T23:56:00.002-04:00

As I passed by, a visitor asked, "why would the refuge allow these folks to advertise their canoe for sale here?" I offered that it's poised for the big water chestnut harvest next week. Gettin' any emails, Alan?

Tufted Loosestrife in Bloom at GMNWR

2010-05-30T13:37:00.005-04:00

The small colony of tufted loosestrife (Lysimachia thrysiflora) burst into bloom this week during the hot spell. A native member of the Primrose Family and unrelated to purple loosestrife, this is a lovely yet hard to spot wildflower that prefers cool, wet and protected wetland areas.

Screech Owl Birth Announcement

2010-05-27T18:42:00.004-04:00

Screech owl

While Michael Kolodny was processing his recent photos of the Great Meadows screech owl, he was surprised to see an owlet emerge in the image of one of them. Follow the link to his photos,
http://o3cpcs.blogspot.com/2010/05/eastern-screech-owl-and-owlet-52410-gm.html

Monthly Walk at Great Meadows - Sunday, June 20, 7:30-9:30 am

2010-05-23T00:01:00.003-04:00

NOTE EARLIER START TIME!

No pre-registration required. A $5/person voluntary donation will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by Musketaquid and Friends of Assabet River NWR

Meet at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA

(Monsen Road, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right)

A Beautiful Caterpillar Resource

2010-05-22T23:28:00.005-04:00

If you're interested in butterflies, moths, and their caterpillars, Sam Joffe's photos and field notes are a must see. Sam has documented the caterpillars of Massachusetts in stunning photographs and detailed field notes. He will be exhibiting his photos at Mass. Audubon's Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary from June 2 - July 30th. Also see his photo and field note archive at http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabambc/. All of Sam's photos can also be seen on his website, http://www.pbase.com/spjaffe/broadmoor_audubon_caterpillar_show

Sam hopes to join one of our monthly GM walks in the near future.

Fringed Polygala is Blooming

2010-05-15T22:29:00.003-04:00

Polygala paucifolia, also known as Gaywings, is a tiny, delicate beauty that blooms in mid-May in some mature Concord woodlands.

Poison Ivy - Don't Touch!

2010-05-10T12:34:00.003-04:00

Poison ivy is abundant this year, bolstered by this spring's added rainfall and ever increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. It's various spring guises are pictured here.

Storm Light

2010-05-09T22:56:00.003-04:00

Walking out the Great Meadows dike trail in search of the light play at the end of yesterday's storm, I was greeted by these heavenly displays.

Imagine the amazing double rainbow reflecting off the

water. I missed it but these walkers savored the moment.

Martha's Point in Concord

2010-05-08T15:32:00.002-04:00

Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

I joined Emily Wheeler and others for a short walk around Martha's Point yesterday, in search of columbine and other spring flowers. The dry, rocky outcrops that rise above the silty soils along the Sudbury River's eastern shoreline support an interesting mix of native and introduced beauties. In addition to sessile-leaved bellwort, starflowers, and canada mayflower all in bloom, we did find the beautiful wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), hairy solomon's seal (Polygonatum pubescens), and common barberry (Berberis vulgaris). Where woodlands met a driveway, we also encountered health escaped swaths of white Vinca or periwinkle (V. minor var.) and Golden dead-nettle (Lamium galeobdolon). See all in the Concord Wildlands 2010 photo album..

Great Meadows Twilight Walk Recap

2010-05-08T13:25:00.004-04:00

Several joined in a twilight walk at Friday evening. The air was still and the water calm as the weather began to shift from blue skies to gray. Songs of returning birds filled the air and buds, maple keys, and leaves were noticeably larger from earlier in the week.

Phantom-like clouds of "schooling" gnats hung under leafy bows and another ghostly flying species made dense clouds of synchronous movement above the dike trail, but very little biting from any of them. These are a feast for the likes of the swallows we saw patrolling the pools and the first appearance of several teetering nighthawks. A handful of spotted sandpipers dropped in for a night's rest. Marsh wrens were bubbling enthusiastically all along the dike trail punctuated by the common moorhen calling from the same location it occupied last year. Our walk carefully wove through a long line of Canada geese parents and their fetching little golden chicks. Different parenting styles and chick personalities were very much in evidence last night. Though the sunset colors were few, it was a sublime evening.