Highlights

AUGUST 2022 - August Bio Walks, Return to the Forest pt.2

ACTIVITY ALERT - August's walk will be the first in a series to springs and seeps in the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. 


The eastern half of Massachusetts is in a severe drought. Are local springs and seeps still flowing? Let's take a walk and find out. Check out the U.S. Drought Monitor here: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ 


August 13, Saturday, meet at 8:00 a.m. on *Quanapoag Road, Fall River.

*Directions to meeting location: Quanapoag Road, Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. Roads in the Bioreserve vary from excellent to vehicle destroying. To avoid destroying your vehicle, arrive from the south. 

From Route I-195, Dartmouth, traveling east, take Exit 19 to Reed Road. Go left, north, on Reed Road. Traveling west on I-195 take Exit 19B on to Reed Rd. and continue on Reed Rd. heading north.

Stay on Reed Rd. which becomes North Hixville Rd. after approximately 1 1/2 miles. Continue north on North Hixville Rd. through Hixville and continue to follow North Hixville Road for approximately 1 1/3 miles. Upon passing the sign for the Road and Gun Club of New Bedford, on your right, take the next right which will be Copicut Road. Note the Copicut Chicken Farm on your right as you make the turn onto Copicut Road.

Travel approximately 2 miles on Copicut Road. Turn right onto Quanapoag Road which is not paved. Travel approximately 1,500 feet where you will see our vehicles parked along the south side of the road.


Approximate length of walk 2 1/2 miles. Bring water and snack. Wear shoes/boots suitable for walking forest trails and uneven ground. Insect repellent containing DEET or picaridin is good to have on walks until first heavy frost in late autumn.

Rain cancels walk.

 

Spring bubbling up out of the ground.
 

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ACTIVITY ALERT - August's walk and date of next in September 


After weeks of hot weather, what a gorgeous Saturday morning for a walk in the forest. As expected the Boiling Spring was not boiling. It wasn't even flowing at all. Only a trickle of water was flowing down the Copicut River at the Quanapoag Road crossing.

Next walk will be Saturday, September 10. It will be the second in our series of Bioreserve walks checking on springs and seeps. Watch your email in late August for more info on September's walk and meeting location. 

 
On the hike from Boiling Spring to Mystery Stone IV.


No water at Boiling Spring.


Mystery Stone IV is still a mystery.

 

Meadow beauty blooming by the Copicut Reservoir.

 

A young female eastern box turtle enjoying, like us, a perfect summer morning in the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. These beautiful gentle creatures are slowly disappearing from the Bioreserve due to lack of enforcement of state regulations and laws by the state agencies and private organizations that mismanage the Bioreserve.
 
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INFO ALERT - You were born to be wild! Return to the forest, your ancestral home - Part 2


Besides hiking, more wild and fun things to do in a forest!




Little kids love to play pooh sticks. Might be a little difficult right now during this summer's drought, but with fall fast approaching autumn rains should quickly restore woodland brooks and streams to full flow. Don't know how to play Pooh sticks? Check this out and you will: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poohsticks

 


And, adults can play Poohsticks too. Here we are on a hike in the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve stopping to play a round of Poohsticks before continuing on.


 

In our neck of the woods, here in Southeastern New England, global climate change means winter might bring rain instead of snow. If rain, stay indoors and read a good book. If snow, go cross-country skiing. Great exercise and a wonderful way to view the snowy woods as you silently glide along. Watch for tracks of forest inhabitants and learn to identify them.




Or, should we really get clobbered with a snowy nor'easter, pass on the skis and go snowshoeing.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
-Robert Frost
Geocaching is an outdoor activity where one uses a GPS receiver to find the way to a geocache. Go on the hunt for caches in your area. Info on geocaching go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching

 

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ACTIVITY ALERT - Spring check in the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve


The second in our series of walks to local springs and seeps. We will be visiting two of them.

September 10, Saturday, 8 a.m. Meet at the Watuppa Reservation parking area at Blossom Road, Fall River, Massachusetts. The parking area is approximately 400' south of the Watuppa Watershed Office at 2929 Blossom Road. Blossom Road is a disaster north of 2929 Blossom Road, so approach the meeting location from the southern end of Blossom Road coming in through Westport.

 

King Philip's Spring will be our first stop. Will it look the same as it did in this old photo from many years ago? How did it look when King Philip, Weetamoe and their followers camped here 347 year ago in July of 1675.


Approximate length of walk 5 miles. Bring water and snack. Wear shoes/boots suitable for walking forest trails and uneven ground. Insect repellent containing DEET or picaridin is good to have on walks until first heavy frost in late autumn.

Rain cancels walk.


 



 

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