The jungle never sleeps
By Ted Farnworth One of the activities that we carry out at the FWG is to introduce or re-introduce bushes and trees into the property that will maintain and enhance the various habitats we are trying to highlight. A lot of thought, discussion, and planning goes into deciding which plants should go where. This is followed by a bit of grunt work, when volunteers clear chosen areas in preparation for planting. The actual planting of a bush or a shrub [...]
Christine’s walks: early September 2013
by Christine Hanrahan How time flies. Here it is, early September, with all the signs of approaching autumn now firmly in place. The old field is full of asters and goldenrods, the latter already losing their bloom. Fruit is heavy on the vine and tree, some of the sumacs are turning vivid red, and of course, birds are migrating through the area, as they have been and will be, for some time. I made it my mission to look for [...]
Christine’s walks: mid-August 2013
by Christine Hanrahan Mid-afternoon at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, August 14th. A sunny and pleasant afternoon to be looking for things to photograph for the PBase Blog. My first sighting was of the Sphex ichneumoneus, the Great Golden Digger as it is sometimes called, nectaring on swamp milkweed. Its counterpart, the Great Black Digger, S. pensylvanicus, is often more numerous, but both are large and impressive. Other insects found include numerous Acutalis treehoppers, one of our smallest treehoppers, tiny little [...]
Christine’s walks: 6 August 2013
Ruby-throated Hummingbird nectaring at cardinal flowers by Christine Hanrahan You can certainly see that summer is pushing on. Goldenrod is blooming, New England Asters are starting to flower, Evening Primroses are finishing up, Solanum is fruiting, many grasses are in seed - food for wildlife is abundant. Families of Grey Catbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, and Song Sparrows are vocal and noticeable. A Green Heron was calling from somewhere near the pond, a lone Fed-winged Blackbird male flew into the [...]
Christine’s walks: early July 2013
by Christine Hanrahan Despite coolish temperatures and grey skies, there was much to see at the garden today. House Wrens busy feeding young Birds are VERY active feeding their young. I watched a pair of house wrens constantly carrying food to their nest. Meanwhile, a male Common Yellowthroat sounded the alert when I inadvertently walked past his nest site. He was joined by Grey Catbirds, a Red-eyed Vireo, one of the House Wrens, Song Sparrows (one carrying food), [...]
Christine’s walks: 4 June 2013
by Christine Hanrahan Tuesday afternoon at the garden, June 4th, and a lovely day to be wandering through the FWG. Mating pair of silvery blue butterflies Silvery blue butterflies were fluttering around in many locations, including this mating pair near the new woods. Common ringlets were indeed common that day but hard to photograph as they land low down in the vegetation much of the time. One posed briefly, however. Cabbage whites and a couple of hobomok skippers [...]
DSV vs the Dandelion digger
By Ted Farnworth I gave the dandelion digger a test run on the north face of the ravine to see if it would work against DSV in a real-life situation. The plot where I have been focusing my attention this year is actually starting to look like DSV is not taking over as it has done in so many other parts of the garden. But using the dandelion digger in the ravine has taught me a few lessons. The digger [...]
Christine’s walks: birds and insects in the rain
by Christine Hanrahan Dodging the rain showers and gusty winds, I spent several hours walking around the garden looking for birds, plants, insects... Naturally, the latter were scarce and had to be looked for under leaves, huddled against stems and branches, seeking shelter from the rainy weather. I did see a pretty common spring moth in the Backyard Garden (BYG), but it flew off before I could photograph it. If you are interested in seeing this black and white beauty, [...]
Christine’s walks: mid-May 2013
by Christine Hanrahan Black Walnut in bloom It was a blustery, coolish day at the garden, but as always, there was much to see. Starting with birds, the kestrels were flying around the barn, a green heron flew to the pond, red-winged blackbirds, tree swallows, chickadees, yellow warblers, song sparrows, one lone white-crowned sparrow, both hairy and downy woodpeckers were all found. Robins were bathing in the Backyard Garden pond (they love the dripping water between the top [...]