Wildlife Watch is a series of monthly stories by Honorary Director Marian Harman. Marian has been writing these since 1990! We’re delighted to feature her new stories here to share with you!
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – October 2018
The 2018 weather has been the most extreme many of us in the United States and even in Europe have ever experienced. In fact, instead of global warming, the climate change we are seeing is being called by scientists “global weirding”. It is thought that the extremes of cold and snow we experienced this winter … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – October 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – September 2018
August and September are bird migration months, and we are sad to see them go. Most of our hawks leave us mid-September when wind conditions are right, as do our hummingbirds, warblers and many others. Sometimes we wish that we could follow along as they make the journey, and now we can. In 2013, Judy … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – September 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – August 2018
Are the critters getting smarter, or am I getting dumber? This year, the squirrels and chipmunks have been besting us at every turn. It is sometimes comforting to think that humans are smarter than other animals, but if I ever believed that, I no longer do. As some of you know, my husband and I … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – August 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – July 2018
Do you enjoy feeding and watching our most beautiful birds the ruby-throated hummingbird? I have been reading a book with my book club titled The Fastest Things on Wings by Terry Masear. She is a Hollywood-based wildlife rehabilitator who works only with hummingbirds. In her fifteen-year career as a hummingbird rehabber, rescuing thousands of hummingbirds, … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – July 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – June 2018
Are you a birder? If so, are you a contributor to eBird? This interactive birding website was developed by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and launched in 2002. Anyone can join free of charge. The website describes the program this way: “eBird transforms a global birding community’s passion for birds into critical data for research, conservation, … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – June 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – April 2018
Now that May has arrived and our spring trees, shrubs and wildflowers are blooming, we should give some thought to bees, our most important pollinators. Without them, we would have very few plants. Or as a recent USDA report states, “The world as we know it would not exist if there were no bees to … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – April 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – March 2018
Who’s top bird at your feeder? An interesting thing to observe while you are identifying birds is who is displacing whom at the bird feeder. This displacement behavior in birds is called a “dominance hierarchy”. For instance, we think of doves as peaceful and jays as aggressive. Cornell Lab of Ornithology set out to study … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – March 2018
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – February 2018
Of all the winter birds, seeing a snowy owl is the most exciting to me. We don’t see them in Westford; the habitat just isn’t right for them here, they are tundra dwellers. But, I have been lucky enough to see them on Plum Island and at Salisbury Beach most winters. Some years are better … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman – February 2018
January 2018 Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
On those frigid days of winter when the wind is high and the temperatures plunge below zero on some nights, I’m sure you feel as sorry for the birds as I do. How do they stay warm in winter? It seems something of a miracle when we see them at our feeders in the morning. … Continue reading January 2018 Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
December 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Happy New Year! At this time of year, I like to review all the flora and fauna reports for the past year. In 2017, we had 32 reporters, who sent in 1294 reports on flora and fauna they had seen. This is a smaller number of reporters than in the past few years, but these … Continue reading December 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
October 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Can there be any doubt now that climate change is affecting the United States dramatically? Its effects are felt strongly in the number and intensity of hurricanes forming in the Atlantic and hitting Texas, Florida, the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico. The number and severity of these hurricanes come about as a result of the warming … Continue reading October 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
September 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Now that fall is here, have you got your bird feeders up and running again? Or maybe you feed birds all summer long. In either case, its both personally gratifying and valuable to science to keep records of the birds you see at your feeders and in your yard. We hope you will send your … Continue reading September 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
August 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Do you have a large glass window or slider at your house? If so, chances are you have seen a bird strike that glass at some time. If the bird is lucky, it will just stun itself, perhaps need a few minutes to “come to” and then fly off. Sometimes, though, the bird is killed … Continue reading August 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
July 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Most of us enjoy seeing cottontail rabbit families in our yards (unless they are nibbling on our lettuce, of course). They’re definitely cute. The bunnies we see in our yard are almost certainly the hybrid Eastern Cottontail. The “real” New England Cottontail has become threatened here due to loss of habitat. It is very difficult … Continue reading July 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
June 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
While working in your yard this summer, you might want to identify the plants and determine if they are native or non-native species. Many non-native invasive plants are outcompeting our native plants with disastrous consequences for our native birds. Non-native honeysuckles are particularly problematic. National Wildlife Federation encourages us to remove them. Fruit eating birds … Continue reading June 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
May 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
If you are trying to tread lightly on the earth, and reduce your carbon footprint, one of the most effective steps you can take is to eliminate palm oil from your life. Palm oil is cheap to produce and is shelf-stable, so is the oil of choice for many companies. But, palm oil production has … Continue reading May 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
March 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
To eat a healthy diet, you need to eat organic. That is the message from the Cornucopia Institute (www://cornucopia.org). But the consumer needs to be careful, because not everything labeled “organic” is truly healthy or humane. The Cornucopia Institute is a non-profit, based in Wisconsin, which does research and investigation into agricultural and food issues. … Continue reading March 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
February 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Farmland is disappearing in Massachusetts. We are losing agricultural lands and farming opportunities at an alarming rate. To try to stem the tide of farmland loss, the Mass Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) established the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program in 1979. It was a first-in-the-nation model for many other states. The MDAR website states, … Continue reading February 2017 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
December 2016 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Happy New Year! At this time of year I like to review the reports to Westford Wildlife Watch from the past year. In 2016, fifty-three residents and one elementary school from all over town sent in flora and fauna reports, some monthly, and others only once or twice. Altogether, there were 2123 different reports. That’s … Continue reading December 2016 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
November 2016 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
At this season, our native trees are on full display. We notice some are still lovely in their fall foliage, especially the oaks which tend to hold on to their leaves long into winter. Other deciduous trees are now bare and displaying beautiful branching patterns we may not notice when they are covered in leaves. … Continue reading November 2016 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
October 2016 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
As fall and winter approach, birders are thinking about keeping our birds fed in the cold weather. Many bird lovers in Westford note down the different species and numbers we see, and many of you report your findings to Westford Wildlife Watch, so that we can all read and enjoy them. An additional way to … Continue reading October 2016 – Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Westford Wildlife Watch, September 2016 – Marian Harman
Farmland is disappearing in Massachusetts. In response to open space loss, about ten years ago, the Mass Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, developed a continually updated document titled the Smart Growth Tool Kit. The Tool Kit website states, “We are losing agricultural lands and farming opportunities at an alarming rate….over 16,000 acres of … Continue reading Westford Wildlife Watch, September 2016 – Marian Harman
Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
Marian’s Wildlife Watch Blog Probably you are discouraged by the severe drought we are having in the northeast. It’s hard on our yards and gardens, and especia lly hard on wildlife, which need extra water put out at our bird feeders to survive. But there is one very big upside of the drought from my … Continue reading Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman
August 2016 – Wildlife Watch
Westford Wildlife by Marian Harman Probably you are discouraged by the severe drought we are having in the northeast. It’s hard on our yards and gardens, and especially hard on wildlife, which need extra water put out at our bird feeders to survive. But there is one very big upside of the drought from my … Continue reading August 2016 – Wildlife Watch
July 2016 – Wildlife Watch
How are the birds doing in North America? To answer that question, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, a consortium of forty conservation organizations and government agencies has just published an important new document titled “The State of North America’s Birds”. More than 350 species of our migratory birds, such as the gray catbird, Baltimore … Continue reading July 2016 – Wildlife Watch
June 2016 Wildlife Watch – Marian Harman
Last fall was a huge “mast” year in Westford. In other words, there were a lot of acorns on the ground. We predicted that there would be a lot of chipmunks this spring as a result of the abundant food source, and that prediction has certainly been realized. “Lots of chipmunks” would be an understatement. … Continue reading June 2016 Wildlife Watch – Marian Harman
Ravens are making a comeback
May 2016 Wildlife Watch by Marian Harman Ravens are making a comeback in eastern New England, specifically in Nashua, NH and Westford. This spring, and for the past few years, ravens have been nesting under an overhang at the Lowe’s store in Nashua, and in the Westford Highway Department’s salt storage shed. This is great … Continue reading Ravens are making a comeback
Trails at Lakeside Meadows
by Marian Harman Lakeside Meadows, a subdivision built in 1995, on an approximately one hundred acre hayfield, abuts Lake Nabnasset and Shipley Swamp. Because of the sensitivity of the land, so close to water, the subdivision was carefully planned to retain as much open space as possible. Lakeside Meadows includes sixty-eight acres of conservation land, … Continue reading Trails at Lakeside Meadows