March
Mar. 16: On Acton’s first “Big Night,” a YELLOW SPOTTED SALAMANDER safely crosses Fort Pond Road under escort by an Amphibian Crossing Brigade volunteer.
Mar. 24: A CEDAR WAXWING flock of 25 birds swarms CRABAPPLE trees between the Silver Unicorn and the Mobil gas station.
Mar. 25: SPRING PEEPERS sing loudly at Pratt’s Brook.
Mar. 26: Along the Assabet River Rail Trail, A BEAVER swims down Fort Pond Brook…a PAINTED TURTLE suns on a clump of last year’s TUSSOCK GRASS.
Mar. 27: A FISHER climbs down a maple tree just beyond the dog fence in a Huron Street yard.
Mar. 28: TURKEY VULTURE couple perches atop a Northbriar Road house roof.
Mar. 29: An EASTERN PHOEBE sings its presence in a N. Acton back yard.
Mar. 30: SPRING PEEPERS join in a resounding chorus in Pacy Woods Conservation Area…the frogs make much less noise than last year in Elm Street and Mass. Ave. swamps in W. Acton.
Mar. 31: WATER STRIDERS skate across the surface of a small stream in the wetlands behind Acton Boxborough Regional High School athletic fields.
April
April 1: First LITTLE BROWN ANTS emerge from their nest to explore the underside of a cardboard box littered on Massachusetts Ave. roadside.
April 2: A PAPER WASP flies near the ramp to the Boardwalk Campus floating raft.
April 3: JUMPING SPIDER ventures out from winter rest onto a sunny shed door in West Acton.
April 4: PAINTED TURTLES pile onto a sunny tussock to bask in the sun together in Fort Pond Brook near the Boardwalk.
April 7: ALDER flowers dangle from sun-blessed branches in the Acton Arboretum.
April 8: RED MAPLE blossoms show crimson against the deep blue spring sky on Spruce Street.
April 9: BROWN TROUT stocked by Mass Wildlife ripple the surface of Fort Pond Brook.
April 13: The first BUMBLE BEE shakes off winter torpor to patrol a Central Street front yard…a CARPENTER ANT emerges from the Massachusetts Ave. Swamp to cross over the brook on the Route 111 bridge handrail.
THANKS to Acton Nature Watchers Julie Beckerdite, Rebecca Harvey, Anne Jones, Miriam Lezak, Jim Snyder-Grant, and Tom Wolf!
In the coming month, watch and listen for returning migratory birds, trout lilies and other early blooming wildflowers, rose family trees like apples, dragonflies, and more. Keep us posted! Submit your observations and photos to actonnaturewatch@gmail.com.
For information about making Acton less friendly to pests but safer for our raptors, attend Green Acton’s Biodiversity Committee meeting the third Thursday of every month at 7 PM. For information about the agenda and how to connect, email biodiversity-contact@greenacton.org.
Two ways to help Acton’s natural neighbors: ACTON CLEAN-UP WEEK, sponsored by Green Acton, is a chance to pick up litter and remove invasive garlic mustard plants. See ActonCleanup.info to sign up.
Second, our sixth annual BioBlitz, NATURE OF ACTON AND BOXBOROUGH 2026, starts April 24 and runs through May 4. Sign up at the iNaturalist app on any smartphone on the “Projects” page. Help us photograph, document and celebrate the amazing flora, fauna, and fungi in our towns. Wildlife ecologists monitor and confirm citizen scientists’ observations off the app and use confirmed sightings and data in their research. Data entered between April 24 and 27 are automatically credited to Greater Boston’s tally in the international City Nature Challenge, so help the Olde Towne compete with sister cities around the world. Who in Acton or Boxborough will document the most species? For the past five years, it has been your Acton Nature Watch compiler. He would like nothing better than to see a crop of new entrants challenge his count of 182 species identified in 2025. Last year the BioBlitz had 23 Acton and Boxborough observers who saw 404 species. Let’s beat those marks!
Rob Gogan is a West Acton resident and compiles the Acton Nature Watch feature. He is one of the organizers of Green Acton’s Biodiversity Committee.
