ACTIVITY ALERT - March's Exploring the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve Walk
March brings spring. An early spring walk down the middle section of Rattlesnake Brook to view the beginnings of a new season and sniff a skunk cabbage.
Each spring the skunk cabbage is one of the first plants to flower. They are “thermogenic.” Thermogenic plants have the ability to produce heat which allows them to shorten their period of dormancy thereby giving them a competitive advantage by allowing them to start growing while competing wetland species are still dormant in winter mode. The warmth also disperses the flower odor and encourages pollinating insects to hang around.
March 14, Saturday, 9 a.m. We will meet at the intersection of Bell Rock Road and Haskal Path, Freetown, MA. Dress for the weather and wear appropriate footwear for springtime trails which may have wet/muddy sections. Water and snack always a good idea. Rain cancels walk. Length of walk approximately 4 1/2 miles.
Directions to trailhead: From Route 24 north/south take Exit 9 onto Route 79 north approximately 1/2 mile to High Street, across from the white church (Saint Bernard). Right on High Street, which becomes Bell Rock Road after crossing Copicut Road, approximately 2 1/4 miles to the gate at Haskal Path on Bell Rock Road. You will see other cars. Park alongside the road.
Walking over the old Civilian Conservation Corps bridge spanning Rattlesnake Brook.
WINDY MARCH
-Author Unknown
Windy March is blowing, with all its might.
Brooks are overflowing with foam all white.
Though it's cold as winter, snowy, blowy,
Little pussy willow came to town last night.
Pussy wore here mittens of light gray fur,
Downy as a kitten they surely were.
Though it's cold as winter, snowy, blowy,
Little pussy willow came to town last night.
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INFO ALERT - Tentatively comes spring
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
- Charles Dickens
A few March photos from the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve:
Mourning Cloak butterflies spent the winter hibernating in hollow trees and other protected nooks and crannies. They are out now on sunny March days.
Snowdrops are popping up in woods and gardens. Not native, originally from Europe and western Asia. They have escaped and naturalized.
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The wood frog is one tough amphibian. Has "anti-freeze" for blood. Hear that excited quacking in that vernal pool? The male frogs are calling to the females.
The small, inoffensive garter snake is now out and about too.
Witches' butter appears magically on old wood on the forest floor.
The question mark butterfly. Another butterfly that overwinters in cracks and crevices.
The common blue violet blooms in open woods and city lawns.
White violets prefers sunny wet areas out in the woods.
In March the evergreen Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid brightens the florist floor.
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Spotted salamanders leave their burrows and head for vernal pools on wet and rainy nights to mate and lay their eggs.
Crayfish awaken and patrol close to shore searching for a dead plant or animal dinner.
Spotted turtles awaken from hibernation and head for vernal pools too.
See the result of all that quacking? Wood frog eggs in a vernal pool. A tasty snack for the spotted turtles.
Evergreen goldthread begins to grow in shaded, damp forests.
An early March morning on top of Breakneck Hill in the Freetown State Forest section of the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve.
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ACTIVITY ALERT - March's Walk Exploring the Southeasetrn Massachusetts Bioreserve and next walk in April
This past Saturday found us on an almost four mile hike searching for signs of early spring out in the Bioreserve. And, we found them!
Unfortunately we also found extensive and continuing examples of damage to to our public land and the flora and fauna that call it home. More about that, later.
You don't need a calendar to tell you it is spring. In our neck of the woods you know spring has arrived when pussy willows bloom. For more pussy willow information go to the end of this page.
Eager March explorers out on the trail.
"Oh, bother," said Pooh. "A perfect spring day for playing Pooh Sticks in Rattlesnake Brook."
We discovered wood frogs actively calling and laying eggs. Walker Tom had two eager males climb onto his walking stick. Wood frogs are the first frogs to awaken from hibernation in the spring.
Although too early to be flowering, we did see some mayflower, aka trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens), the state flower of Massachusetts, sporadically along a trail were were walking. Unfortunately, this fragile species is fast disappearing due to legal and illegal off-road vehicle use allowed by a dysfunctional Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
A barren and seriously eroded forest hillside along lower Rattlesnake Brook. Sadly when we explore the bioreserve we often avoid this geologically interesting and historic section of the state forest because of the lack of care, concern and stewardship of the land. The place is a mess. For a sample of MA DCR dysfunction, that goes on year after year, go here: http://www.greenfutures.org/?content=wfrmNza9lpT940Fe
Back to pussy willows:
It is spring. Go out and pick a few pussy willows and welcome spring into your home.
The pussy willow is a native deciduous shrub ranging from southern Canada south to Maryland and West Virginia, west and then north to eastern Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Pussy willows are found along wetland edges and in open swampy areas. They need full sun and do poorly in even partial shade. You will not find them in the forest in the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve (SMB), but will find them along the forest’s edges where wetlands occur.
Reaching as high as thirty feet pussy willow shrubs have many perennial stems composed of soft wood. They grow rapidly at the rate of two to four feet during the spring and summer. The leaves are oval and toothed beyond the middle of the leaf; leaves are 3 to 5 inches long and green above and whitish beneath.
The flowers are soft, silky catkins, borne in early spring before the new leaves appear. A catkin is a dense, cylindrical, cluster of single sex flowers found in willows and a few other shrub and tree species. Like the holly tree (our December’s SMB Flora of the Month) the pussy willow is dioecious; male and female catkins on different shrubs.
The male pussy willow catkins produce copious yellow pollen. Both male and female catkins produce abundant nectar. The female catkins are both wind and insect pollinated and develop into a small dry seed capsule filled with tiny brown seeds.
Pussy willow is a winter food for whitetail deer and cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares, meadow voles, muskrats and beavers will eat the twigs and bark. Ruffed grouse relish the large winter buds.
Pussy willow bark contains salicylic acid. Until the invention of aspirin, which contains acetylsalicylic acid, willow bark brews were used to treat a variety of ailments such as headaches, fevers, colds, menstrual pains, muscle aches and rheumatism.
Before the pussy willow catkins fully develop they are covered in a soft, grayish fur, resembling the fine, fluffy coat of a pussycat …hence the name, “pussy” willow. The catkins appear in late winter, before the leaves sprout, and are one of the earliest signs of spring.
Many people decorate their homes with pussy willow shoots or weave pussy willow stems into decorative wreaths each spring. The flowering shoots of pussy willow are often used in spring religious decorations on Palm Sunday and at Easter instead of …or combined with …palm branches.
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April's Walk Exploring the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve will be April 11. Location will be announced in an early April "Alert". Watch for it!
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ACTIVITY ALERT - Anxiety, stress, depression all around? Social isolation taking a toll?
A solo walk in the forest during this difficult and challenging time might be what you need. Walking in your natural environment should help alleviate stress, improve mental health and boost the immune system.
The Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve has thousands of acres for you to explore without running into another person. Many local communities have conservation commission parcels and private land trust properties open to the pubic for walking/hiking.
On your own, you can walk slow, fast or trail run. If warm and sunny you might want to stop and sit on a log or beneath a forest tree and just enjoy the view or listen to the mating calls of quacking wood frogs, the songs of just returning neo-tropical birds, or simply meditate on the natural beauty that surrounds you.
If you should meet someone else out walking, simply wave and step off the trail to keep the suggested government social distancing of at least six feet as they pass.
Here are a few photos of things you might see or find on your solo forest ramble:
You are more likely to spot forest wildlife when walking alone rather than in a noisy group, especially if walking in the early morning or evening.
Feral daffodils are starting to bloom.
As are feral narcissus too.
Notice that tree that was hit by lightning? Along the way, do you see anymore tall trees with lightning scars from top to bottom?
Look, here by this mud puddle in the middle of the trail. It appears a raccoon walked this same trail last night.
If is very early in the morning and very quiet you might see red fox pups playing outside their den.
Mr. Buck drops his antlers during the winter after mating season. Is that an antler over there in those briers? See the small v-shape space in the antler in this photo? A woods mouse or vole nibbled that antler to get some calcium. Mother Nature recycles.
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