Highlights
JUNE 2022 - Turtle Walk, WRWA Walk
ACTIVITY ALERT - ANNUAL JUNE TURTLE WALK
Ms Snapper and two of her sisters.
If you've been out and about the past few weeks you may have spotted a turtle crossing the road or a turtle quietly sitting in a sunny, sandy location by the side of a bike trail or walking path. Maybe, if you live close to a lake, pond or river, a turtle has suddenly appeared in your yard. From late May through June local turtles are searching for the ideal location to dig a hole and lay their eggs. On this June walk, if we are lucky, we may find a turtle already in the act of laying her eggs in the nest hole she's dug.
June 11, at 8:00 a.m. We will meet at Mill Brook Bogs Wildlife
Management Area, within the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve,
Freetown, MA.
Approximate length of walk 2 miles. Walk as little or as much as you like. Insect repellent a good idea on walks from April to November.
Directions to Mill Brook Bogs Wildlife Management Area (WMA) parking area:
From Exit 11 on Route 24 take Route 79 north, approximately 2 mile, to Forge Road. Right on Forge Road, approximately 1/4 mile to Howland Road. Right, east, on Howland Road approximately one mile and a quarter to the WMS parking area on your right. If you get to the Freetown /Lakeville town line you've gone too far. Turn around and return west on Howland Road to the entrance to the parking area wich will now be on your left.
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ACTIVITY ALERT - Reminder - Annual June Turtle Walk
I see you.
On this June walk, if we are lucky, we may find a turtle in the act of laying her eggs in the nest hole she's dug.
June 11, at 8:00 a.m. We will meet at Mill Brook Bogs Wildlife Management Area, within the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve, Freetown, MA.
Approximate length of walk 2 miles. Walk as little or as much as you like. Insect repellent a good idea on walks from April to November.
Directions to Mill Brook Bogs Wildlife Management Area (WMA) parking area:
From Exit 11 on Route 24 take Route 79 north, approximately 2 mile, to Forge Road. Right on Forge Road, approximately 1/4 mile to Howland Road. Right, east, on Howland Road approximately one mile and a quarter to the WMS parking area on your right. If you get to the Freetown /Lakeville town line you've gone too far. Turn around and return west on Howland Road to the entrance to the parking area which will now be on your left.
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ACTIVITY ALERT - Our annual June Turtle Walk was this past Saturday. It was a wonderful late spring morning outdoors with some turtle friends.
And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten.
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten.
-- James Russell Lowell
Thank you to Liz and Tom for the following photos of snapping and eastern painted turtles laying their eggs. Also a photo of a monarch mimic, the viceroy butterfly. Monarch butterflies taste bitter so butterfly predators stay away. Viceroy's taste delicious and so have evolved to mimic the monarch. Also a photo of a beautifully blue sheep's bit (Jasione montana) wildflower that we noticed growing in a dry, sandy spot near the trail.
Next Walk will be Saturday, July 9. Walk location undecided at this time. More info will go out the last week in June, Watch for it!
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INFO ALERT - Headwaters - Where a river starts
This past Saturday we helped facilitate a Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) walk to the headwaters of the Westport River, East Branch. The Westport River, both branches, in their entirety, surround and embrace the town of Westport. What a lucky town!
Many people know and love the lower Westport with its salt marshes, dunes, beaches, scenic vistas, boating, swimming, fishing, etc. Fewer know where it starts, way upriver, as fresh water upwelling from springs and seeps and from intermittent rainwater streams and permanent brooks in deep dark Atlantic white cedar bogs and red maple swamps.
For info on the Westport River Watershed Alliance, go here: www.westportwatershed.org
The nascent Westport River, flowing as the Copicut River, south from Boiling Spring and the Copicut Cedar Swamp. How long would it take a drop of water from the Boiling Spring to flow downstream to tidal water and then, with an outgoing tide, reach the mouth of the river and the Atlantic?
The boiling spring in 2010. Unfortunately, the spring is difficult to photograph. Maybe with a waterproof camera? Despite the poor photo quality one can see that the water is free of algae and clear. Looking down into the water one could see the white and tan quartz sand "boiling" as water upwelled out of the spring and flowed southwest beginning the river.
On a walk to the spring in 2019 the frantic "boiling" had mostly ceased. More leaves and debris in spring . Sad to see since the spring had probably been "boiling" since the retreat of the last glacier 10,000 years ago.
Something is wrong with the spring. Water still flows, but the quartz sand no longer "boils" and the spring is full of algae and/or moss. Any hydrologists reading this? Any ideas? Any ideas from anyone on why the spring no longer boils? Maybe it's Biden's fault? Putin's? Let us know what you think at www.greenfutures.org
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