JUNE 2019 - Q River Festival, Turtle Walk
ACTIVITY ALERT - Quequechan River Festival - June 30, 12:30 PM to 5 PM
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ACTIVITY ALERT - ANNUAL JUNE TURTLE WALK
A walk to see if we can find a local turtle out and about searching for the ideal location to lay her eggs. We may be fortunate enough to locate one already in the act of laying her eggs in a nest hole she dug in the ground.
June 8, Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. We will meet at Fighting Rock Corner at the intersection of Wilson, Blossom, and Bell Rock Roads in the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve, Fall River, MA.
Approximate length of walk 1 mile. Insect repellent a good idea since it has been a very wet spring and mosquitoes almost always like to accompany us on our walks at this time of year.
Ancient box turtle digging a nest hole for her eggs. When in the act of laying their eggs turtles allow a close approach. They become oblivious to anything else that may be going on around them.
Momma snapping turtle heading back to the pond after laying her eggs and perhaps stopping by a skin care spa for a moisturizer treatment?
A young female painted turtle tucked safely in her shell while laying her eggs.
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ACTIVITY ALERT - June's Bioreserve Turtle Walk and July's Exploring the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve Walk
This spring with its cold temperatures slowed the annual trek of cold blooded turtles to their favorite nesting sites. This past Saturday was finally warm and sunny and if this weather continues for the rest of this month it looks like many female turtles will be out and about, as they have been doing since the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, searching for the ideal location to dig a nest hole and deposit their eggs.
On this year's walk we did not encounter the ancient female box turtle that we have seen, off and on over the past twenty years, scratching out a nest hole in the gravelly soil adjacent to the powerline corridor that runs through the Bioreserve. Unfortunately there has been lot of activity on the powerline corridor recently due to National Grid's planned expansion of their powerline. Unfortunately, from all the dead vegetation along the line it appears they have also sprayed herbicide about the area including right down to the shore of the North Watuppa Pond, a regional drinking water supply. Turtles have been around for 220 million years. The first Homo sapiens, us, apparently evolved into what we are today only 200,000 years also. Bad news ever since for the turtles and most other forms of wildlife.
Our next walk will be July's. We will be exploring the far northeast corner of the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. More info will be emailed out later this month.
Here are a couple of photos from this year's walk:
A shy female painted turtle digging her nest hole Saturday evening.
Do it in the road. Ms Snapper's photo shoot.
Our friend the ancient female box turtle digging a nest hole back in June 2017. We have seen her, off and on, over the past twenty years. We did not see her this year. Is she still a Bioreserve resident ....or, has she been crushed, poisoned or turtlenapped by invasive Homo sapiens?
You can find out more about painted turtles in our October 2013 Newsletter here: http://www.greenfutures.org/?content=DdWp5V9yro0AbATT
More snapping turtle in our April 2013 Newsletter here: http://www.greenfutures.org/?content=EdjrPn32Ggjb93XR
Box turtle info from our June 2012 Newsletter here: http://www.greenfutures.org/?content=rc6sWx5QMpQ8jNYG
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Helmet Giveaway / Bike Safety Huge success!!
The Fall River Police Department, Bike Fall River, Friends of the Quequechan, Partners for a Healthier Community, Mass Bike, Saint Anne's Hospital, Mass In Motion Fall River and others got together on Sunday, June 30, 2019 at the Quequechan River Festival to bring Bike Safety to Fall River families.
Bike Fall River would like to thank all the volunteers that took part in the event!! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment and if you are on Facebook click the following bookmark for the full range of pictures from the event:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/fallriverbikecommittee/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2557806494243397&__tn__=-UC-R
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