August
Aug. 23: BARN SWALLOW fledglings, having learned how to catch flying insects over Fort Pond Brook, migrate south with their parents.
Aug. 27: An insect lays tiny eggs in a circular pattern approximately 1 inch in diameter on a West Acton window screen.
Aug. 28: SOLITARY SANDPIPER rests on a stream-side log at Nashoba Brook Conservation Area in North Acton.
Aug. 29: HONEY MUSHROOMS cluster in Wright Hill Conservation Area.
Aug. 30: TURKEY VULTURE spirals high above Windsor Avenue in West Acton.
Aug. 31: NORTHERN WATER SNAKE warms up among sun-baked bricks in North Acton yard (click here to see Rebecca Harvey’s video of the same snake).
September
Sept. 6: MILKWEED pods burst and send forth fluffy pappuses from West Acton yard.
Sept. 9: AUTUMN SEDUM’s succulent pink blooms erupt across Acton.
Sept. 10: Abundant GARLIC CHIVES show fragrant white blossoms under several adjacent mailboxes on Joseph Reed Lane.
Sept. 11: PAINTED SUILLUS mushrooms thrive in the piney soil of Guggins Brook Conservation Area.
Sept. 12: PEELING PUFFBALLS emerge beside Massachusetts Ave. in West Acton.
Sept. 14: WOOLGRASS and many other grasses go to seed in West Acton Boardwalk Campus bioswales.
Sept. 16: WHITE SNAKEROOT blooms on Half Moon Hill. Milk from cows who ate this plant are reported to have killed Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln, in Illinois in October, 1818…spiked seedhead of RATTLESNAKE MASTER emerges on Half Moon Hill.
Sept. 17: SHOWY GOLDENROD blossoms draw hundreds of bees, wasps, hover flies, and other pollinators in West Acton yard.
Sept. 18: PAPER WASP nest dangles a short distance from the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in a RED MAPLE tree.
Sept. 20: BURNWEED (6 feet tall), THISTLE, and other seeds float off drying seed heads behind Elm Street fields in West Acton.
Sept. 20: COOPERS HAWK dares to fly nimbly among the trees of the Acton Arboretum.
THANKS to Acton Nature Watchers Frann Addison, Ann Glannon, Rebecca Harvey, Peter Norton, Franny Osman, Jane Robbertz, and Leah Whitehouse.
Green Acton’s Biodiversity Committee will meet Thursday, October 16 at 8 PM. The main agenda item will be on progress related to how to reduce or prevent use of Second-Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) and other rodenticides in Acton. For information about the agenda and how to connect, contact biodiversity-contact@greenacton.org.
In the coming month, watch for fall leaf colors, jewelweed pods (also known as “touch me nots”) with their explosive seeds, and migrating hawks. Finally, the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture (MA DAR) warns that spotted lanternflies have been identified in 50 cities and towns in Massachusetts. Marlborough is the closest nearby confirmation to Acton. Any sightings yet, nature watchers? If you do see what you think is a spotted lanternfly, the MA DAR offers this information.
Rob Gogan is a West Acton resident and compiles the Acton Nature Watch feature. He is one of the organizers of Green Acton’s new Biodiversity Committee.
