Celebrating 40 Years of Preserving and Protecting Westford's Open Space and Natural Resources.
Happy Fall, wildlife lovers, here we have arrived at the end of summer, and I haven’t checked in for quite a while. Westford Wildlife Watch was first published in 1990, and has appeared monthly since then—34 years! This article will occur only occasionally in the future, as I plan to spend the next year collecting … Read more
Early Birds Its clear that spring has started early. Precipitation is seven inches above normal this year, and above average temperatures suggest that this will be a warm spring. As I write this at the end of April, many trees are in full bloom, and are already opening their leaves, blueberry bushes are blooming, starflower … Read more
Spring has come early this year, at least if you watch and listen for emerging amphibians. Many amphibians usually emerge from their winter hibernation in late March or early April. They wait for very specific conditions: a rainy night after the ground has thawed and the temperature is at least 40 degrees. Amphibians migrate from … Read more
In May of 2020, northern Westford experienced a furious microburst of wind. It came on very suddenly and knocked down huge swathes of big old pine trees in its path. Our condo and some others were damaged by trees falling. The forest to the north of us which borders on Snake Meadow Brook and Keyes … Read more
This winter has been very mild in general, but we have had a few snowstorms. When there is snow on the ground, I love to go out looking for animal tracks. Around here, the most numerous are squirrel tracks and rabbit tracks. White-tailed deer are quite often seen, and its always a surprise to see … Read more