Rob Gogan

Acton Nature Watch: Pink Moon March 19-April 16, 2026

April 18, 2026

by Rob Gogan

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:…

Acton Nature Watch: Worm Moon (February 19 – March 18, 2026)

March 28, 2026

by Rob Gogan

February Feb. 19 : RIVER OTTER trio scampers through light snow atop a frozen brook in N. Acton, leaving broad skid marks. See Rebecca Harvey’s trail cam video here. Feb. 27: A large RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perches on one leg in a SOURWOOD tree in a S. Acton back…

Acton Nature Watch: Snow Moon (January 18 – February 18, 2026)

February 28, 2026

by Rob Gogan

January Jan.18: Two male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS [possibly over-wintering] pause at a backyard bird feeder in Indian Village. A male and female red-winged were also seen on a feeder during the February northeaster, but no migrants have returned so far. Jan.19: A male WHITE-TAILED DEER forages the greenery in…

Acton Nature Watch: Wolf Moon (December 19, 2025 – January 17, 2026)

January 24, 2026

by Rob Gogan

November Nov. 30: A COYOTE family yips, whines, and howls in N. Acton woods (thanks for this and all trail cam videos monitored by Rebecca Harvey). We don’t have wolves in Acton anymore, but our healthy population of coyotes has moved up the food chain to the top.…

Russ Cohen, plant forager, speaks in Acton

December 20, 2025

by Rob Gogan

Russ Cohen, noted author and wild food expert, came to Acton Town Hall to share his knowledge and recipes at the Middlesex Conservation District (MCD) Annual Meeting on Monday, December 8. Nearly 50 guests came out for the brief business meeting and the talk, entitled “Nibbling on the…

Acton Nature Watch: Cold Moon (November 20 – December 18, 2025)

December 20, 2025

by Rob Gogan

November Nov. 2: A FISHER easily carries its GRAY SQUIRREL quarry across a log bridge in North Acton. (See this and other videos from the prolific trail cams curated by Rebecca Harvey.) Nov. 20: At least 30 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS flash their cerulean wings under the deep blue autumn…

Acton Nature Watch: Beaver Moon (October 21 – November 19, 2025)

December 6, 2025

by Rob Gogan

October Oct. 21: A FISHER pauses on a log to scan the North Acton woods [See this and other of Rebecca Harvey’s trail cam videos here]. Oct. 28: EVENING PRIMROSE continues to blossom despite frosty weather that has wiped away most other flowers in W. Acton. Oct. 30:…

Acton Nature Watch: Hunter Moon (September 22 – October 20, 2025)

November 1, 2025

by Rob Gogan

September September 26: A BALD EAGLE perches atop a dead tree on the shore of Nagog Pond by Great Road. September 27: A FOX (mated pair?) investigates a stream bank in North Acton as TREE CRICKETS sing their September song. Before moving on, they touch noses and one…

Acton Nature Watch: Corn Moon (August 23-September 21, 2025)

September 27, 2025

by Rob Gogan

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…

Acton Nature Watch- Sturgeon Moon (July 24 – August 23, 2025)

September 6, 2025

by Rob Gogan

June June 21: A PORCUPINE crosses a log over a N. Acton woodland stream [Thanks to Rebecca Harvey for this and other trail-camera videos.]. July July13: A SHORT-TAILED WEASEL, its eyes aglow, hunts in a N. Acton hemlock grove. July 22: A GREAT HORNED OWL perches on a…

Acton Nature Watch: Buck Moon (June 25 – July 24, 2025)

August 2, 2025

by Rob Gogan

June June 7: A BOBCAT patrols a sun-dappled hemlock grove in E. Acton [click link to see Rebecca Harvey’s video]. June 17: A frisky WHITE-TAILED DEER explores the gap in a stone wall in N. Acton while its shy sibling lingers closer to the doe, who watches nearby.…

Acton Nature Watch: Strawberry Moon (May 26, 2025 – June 25, 2025)

June 28, 2025

by Rob Gogan

May May 23: WOOD DUCK mother leads a clutch of a dozen ducklings down an Acton forest stream several times…GREAT BLUE HERON wades, flies briefly, and continues walking downstream in N. Acton brook [Click links to see Rebecca Harvey’s spectacular videos]. May 24: BLUEBIRD eggs laid one per…

Marking the monuments

June 14, 2025

by Rob Gogan

Acton Select Board Members Jim Snyder-Grant and Dean Charter met their counterparts from Littleton to “mark the monuments,” a centuries-old English tradition last observed there on that side of Acton in 1986. (Select Board members marked the monuments at the intersection with Stow and Boxborough in November, 2016;…

Ten years of give-and-take at Acton Swap Shop

June 7, 2025

by Rob Gogan

The Acton Swap Shop opened for the season Thursday, May 8. Despite the rainy weather, visitors to the Acton Transfer Station dropped off and picked up hundreds of reusable items at no cost to them or the Town of Acton. This begins the tenth year of this local…

Acton Nature Watch: Flower Moon (April 27 – May 25)

May 31, 2025

by Rob Gogan

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…

Pink Moon Nature Watch (March 29 – April 26)

April 26, 2025

by Rob Gogan

March March 30: Vernal pool in Spring Hill Conservation Area hosts several animals over the course of the Pink Moon: BARRED OWL (ten times!), RACCOON, WOOD FROGS, WHITE-TAILED DEER, and more. Thanks as always to Acton’s trail cam guru Rebecca Harvey for these and all videos in this…

Acton Nature Watch: Worm Moon 2025

April 5, 2025

by Rob Gogan

February Sightings March Sightings THANKS to this month’s Nature Watchers Ian Borgemann, John Goreham, Rebecca Harvey, Jody Harris, Alissa Nichol, Amelia Sagoff, Debra Simes, and Leah Whitehouse! What to look for in April This month (Pink Moon), watch for TREE SWALLOWS (back to Acton April 5, 2021 and…

A nighttime picture of a bobcat. The night camera gives the cat a ghostly glow and its eyes look like little lights.

Acton Nature Watch: Snow Moon (Feb. 2025)

March 1, 2025

by Rob Gogan

January sightings 17: Three male WHITE-TAILED DEER in Spring Hill Conservation Area stand off and stare each other down, eventually tangling racks until one of them wins grazing rights. [Click blue hyperlinks to see Rebecca Harvey’s stunning trail camera videos.] 26: A RACCOON stands on hind legs to…

January 2025 (Wolf Moon): Acton Nature Watch

February 8, 2025

by Rob Gogan

December December 15: A CRAYFISH scuttles across the gravel bottom of Nagog Brook, still free of ice cover. Kyran Vig, a student at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School who monitors stream depth weekly for the Green Acton Water Committee, noticed the crustacean next to the stream gauge. Biologists at…

Acton Nature Watch

December 21, 2024

by Rob Gogan

The Acton Nature Watch is a compendium of sights seen by folks around town. The nature watch notes are not always complete sentences – they just give you, the reader, an idea of some of the residents in town that we only see if we stop and look.…