April
April 24: TROUT LILIES show their yellow face-down flowers for a few short days near Mass. Ave. in West Acton.
April 26: PILEATED WOODPECKER climbs CHERRY TREE in Acton condo and casts a suspicious glance through a window at their human spectator.
April 27: NORWAY MAPLE blossoms dot cars and driveway in W. Acton, frustrating an outdoor painter…last DAFFODIL blossoms open…TREE- and BARN SWALLOWS return to Boardwalk Campus skies.
April 28: GOLDEN SWEAT BEE flashes emerald green in deep yellow dandelion blossom in Acton Arboretum.
April 29: LILIES of the VALLEY in gardens and CANADA LILY in the woods start to waft their sweet scents throughout shady spots across Acton.
April 30: First LILAC blossoms emerge in Acton Arboretum.
May
May 2: RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS visit pink-flowered quince bush in West Acton and COLUMBINE flower in North Acton.
May 4: GREAT-HORNED OWL calls on Arlington Street on a rainy evening.
May 5: APPLE and CRAB APPLE petals fall and puddle in cool rain. Sunny weather on several previous days allows plenty of time for pollinating insects to visit the blossoms, promising a good fruit set this year.
May 6: A purple WISTERIA blooms on an Arlington Street arbor.
May 7: The peak of the annual WARBLER wave hits Acton: One birdwatcher in Acton Center sees and hears 24 species within a span of 10 minutes…WARBLING VIREOS and NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER sing in South Acton by Fort Pond Brook…YELLOW WARBLERS show up in Acton Center, behind Mt. Hope Cemetery, and on Half Moon Hill.
May 8: Two male WHITE-TAILED DEER duke it out, boxing like kangaroos, standing on their hind legs, in Acton woods.
May 9: The magnificent song of the HERMIT THRUSH enchants listeners in Acton Center.
May 10: Melodious BALTIMORE ORIOLE claims territory on Boardwalk Campus marsh near school parking lot.
May 11: In new rain gardens downstream from Boardwalk Campus playground, wild-seeded WINTERCRESS shoot up their tall yellow blooms…In another nearby pond, LEAST and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS join KILDEER couple, wading for insects living in the nine-month-old pond…a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD hovers and tastes nectar of an unidentified pink flower (see Rebecca Harvey’s stunning video here).
May 13: KINGBIRDS appear over Fort Pond Brook at Boardwalk Campus; these fast-fliers are also seen at NARA Park today on Acton Conservation Trust Birdwatch with Al Sgroi.
May 14: The first DRAGONFLIES hover above the walkway by the beaver dam in Heath Hen Meadow Brook, where LADY SLIPPER flowers also bloom in the woods.
May 16: ONE-FLOWERED CANCER ROOT blooms tap into the roots of greenery in Pope Road back yard; these parasitic plants get their nutrients from fungi living in and near other plants… and the first SPITTLEBUGS froth leaf stems of FLEABANE stalks next to Gates-Douglas School.
May 18: The first DAMSELFLY is seen in a W. Acton back yard.
May 19: A LONG-TAILED WEASEL pauses on a stone wall on Mass. Ave. near Fort Pond Brook marsh before retreating into the low foliage.
May 20: In Guggins Brook Woods Conservation Area, an unidentified MAMMAL skull, a few vertebrae, and a little fur is all that remains of a small carnivore…
…and in the circle of life, a young FISHER cub peeks out of a hole in a mature tree in Mt. Hope cemetery in W. Acton.
May 22: Abundant SUGAR MAPLE samaras (winged seeds) line the edges of numerous puddles during a spring nor’easter, rimming the high-water mark and rising with the over-two-inch rainfall.
May 24: First TULIP TREE blossoms, orange and green, unfurl high over Spruce Street…
…while BARN SWALLOWS build new nests atop last year’s, leaving scant clearance only the breadth of a bird’s head from a Boardwalk roof.
THANKS to a record-setting 16 Acton Nature Watchers this month: Frann Addison, Jude Aronstein, Brewster Conant, Jim Conboy, Carolyn Davis, Jody Harris, Rebecca Harvey, Anne Jones, Kim Kastens, Susan King, Eleanor Matthews, Wendy Munson, Franny Osman, Amelia Sagoff, Al Sgroi, and Debra Simes. Please send us your observations and photos to actonnaturewatch@gmail.com. Fishing enthusiasts please tell us what you are catching too! We have heard that the River Street dam removal last year has broadened the range of several fish varieties in the upstream range of Fort Pond Brook, but we need more evidence! We are always curious about any wild animals, plants, and fungi within our borders.
JOIN the newly-chartered Green Acton Biodiversity Committee, by emailing info@GreenActon.org! Recent projects include participation in “Wildlife of Acton and Boxborough” Bioblitz (with 406 species noted by 23 observers) and efforts to reach out and educate the Town and residents about the dangers to wildlife of using SGAR rodenticides. [The Acton Exchange covered the 2023 Bioblitz.] Biodiversity Committee members will be tabling at the upcoming Acton Boxborough Farmers’ Market Community Table on July 6.
WATCH FOR fledgling birds early in the upcoming Strawberry Moon; mushrooms and lichens should be fruiting copiously after our May rains. (Some have grown to 16 cm so far, over a hand’s breadth!) Abundant insects will also likely be emerging.
Rob Gogan is a West Acton resident, and compiles the Acton Nature Watch feature.