Boston Flora

Tag: Quabbin Reservoir

  • Thursday, December 4, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern – Welcome to the Dark Side: Discovering Moths, Online

    Join naturalist Dave Small online on December 4 at 7 pm Eastern for an introduction to attracting and watching moths in your backyard. Discover the native plants you can introduce to your landscape to attract a wide variety of butterflies and moths. Learn how to use lights and bait to attract moths for viewing and get a glimpse of some of the moths you might encounter on a warm summer evening.

    Dave is the Director of Conservation leading a team of land protection specialists in fulfilling the mission of Mount Grace in protecting our open spaces. Dave retired in 2013 after 35 years with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he served as Assistant Regional Director at the DCR Quabbin Reservoir. His dedication to conservation and natural history continues as he leads a team tasked with protecting the landscapes he loves.

    This webinar is sponsored by Newton Conservators, a nonprofit citizens’ group advocating for Newton’s open spaces. Sign up: https://shorturl.at/8keDR

  • Sunday, February 18, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Clearing the Valley

    It took twelve years to clear the valley of homes and people before the Quabbin Reservoir was created.  Join DCR Visitor Center Manager Maria Beiter-Tucker on Sunday, February 18 at 2 pm to learn about the process.  The free program will be held at the Quabbin Visitor Center, 485 Ware Road in Belchertown.  All ages are welcome. Call 413-323-7221 for more information.

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  • Thursday, January 16, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – The Fight Before the Flood: Rural Protest and the Debate Over Boston’s Quabbin Reservoir

    In 1919, state engineers proposed solving Boston’s water supply crisis by damming the Swift River, flooding a western Massachusetts valley and evicting 2,500 people. The contentious six-year debate that followed does not fit the standard story of urban conservationists versus rural peoples, as many valley residents defined themselves as rural and conservationist, and thus offers scholars a chance to see fresh nuances in early twentieth-century land management, rural life, and urban development. The Massachusetts Historical Society welcomes Jeffrey Egan of University of Connecticut, with comment by Karl Haglund, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, on Tuesday, January 16 from 5:15 – 7:30, at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston. To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.

  • Sunday, February 12, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – The Influence of Weather Patterns, Forest Ecosystems, and Human Use on Water Supplies

    Southern New England is typically described as a “well-watered” temperate forest landscape. This is generally accurate until prolonged periods of low rainfall and/or mild winters substantially alter the water balance. Reservoir water levels begin to decrease when rates of withdrawal and use exceed rates of inflow from streams and aquifers. In extreme cases, such as the 1960s, the effect can persist for years. On Sunday, February 12 from 2 – 3 pm, please join Dr. Paul Barten, Professor of Forestry and Hydrology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, to learn more about the vital and dynamic connection between the forest …and the faucet. The free lecture is presented at the Quabbin Visitor Center, Ware Road in Belchertown, and for more information call 413-323-7221.

  • Timber Rattlesnake to be Reintroduced to Massachusetts

    The Timber Rattlesnake is listed as an Endangered Species in Massachusetts and has experienced the greatest modern decline of any native reptile.  It is a high conservation priority species for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildLife), the agency with the legal responsibility and mandate to conserve endangered and common wildlife species.  Currently, there are only five populations of Timber Rattlesnakes in the Commonwealth.  As part of an overall conservation strategy, MassWildLife is proposing to establish a small number of rattlesnakes on Mount Zion, a large island closed to the public at the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts.

    Native to Massachusetts, the Timber Rattlesnake has lived here continuously long before European settlement.  Humans are the greatest threat to the Timber Rattlesnake.  While killing or disturbing this snake is a serious criminal offense, these acts, combined with road mortality, continue to be major factors that contribute to the rattlesnake’s imperiled status.  The proposal to establish a small discrete population at the Quabbin Reservoir has evolved out of the need to have at least one location where this native species will avoid people.

    Snakes will be offspring of Massachusetts snakes.  Juvenile snakes will be headstarted in captivity by the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence for two winters, allowing them to grow large enough so they will have the best chance of surviving to adulthood. According the the government, while rattlesnakes are perfectly good swimmers, this island is large enough that they would have little motivation to swim away.  Even if the snakes did swim, they would pose no measurable risk to the public, considering rattlesnakes have long lived in popular state parks and wildlife lands heavily used by people elsewhere in Massachusetts.

    Throughout human history, snakes of all types have been feared, maligned, and persecuted.  Because the snake is venomous, people express understandable concerns for their safety and the safety of family members and pets.  As a venomous snake, the Timber Rattlesnake certainly has the potential to be dangerous.  They are generally mild in disposition and often rattle their tails to alert animals and people.  Wild bites to people are extremely rare.  The latest antivenom treatments have greatly reduced the danger even if a person is bitten.  You may learn more at www.mass.gov/dfw/timber-rattlesnake-conservation.

    If you wish to express an opinion, pro or con, on this issue, you may contact the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Field Headquarters, One Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581, or call 508-389-6300.   Also you may contact Matthew A. Beaton, Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114.  His telephone number is 617-626-1015, and his email is matthew.beaton@state.ma.us.  Image by Tom Palmer from www.masnakes.org.

     

  • Thursday, April 10, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm – Harvard Forest: Reflecting on the Past, Researching for the Future

    Located in picturesque Petersham, Massachusetts, the Harvard Forest has served as Harvard University’s rural laboratory and classroom for ecology and conservation since 1907. The Forest is comprised of 3,750 acres of forests, ponds, streams, wetlands, and agricultural fields providing diverse natural ecosystems and cultural landscapes for study and enjoyment, and is one of the country’s oldest intensively researched landscapes.

    The Forest is protected from development and operates under a long-term management plan designating specific areas for active forest management, long-term scientific experiments, and reserves.  Since the Forest’s founding, its researchers have been pioneers in applying the lessons from human and natural history to the interpretation, conservation, and stewardship of landscapes.  Harvard Forest scholars collaborate with conservation organizations and state and federal agencies to protect land locally, regionally, and globally.  The Forest is home to the fisher Museum, which contains the world-renowned dioramas depicting the history of landscape changes in New England since colonial settlement.

    On Thursday, April 10, from 11 – 2, the Ecological Landscape Alliance will conduct a tour of the Harvard Forest.  After exploring the dioramas in the Fisher Museum, you will go on a 1.5 mile hike to explore mixed deciduous forests, a pre-colonial hemlock stand and black gum swamp, with nearly 300 years of well-documented human land-use.  You will see a long-term deer and moose browsing experiment in a recently harvested red pine plantation, hydrology weirs that monitor headwater streams leading to the Quabbin Reservoir, a 90′ research tower that continuously measures carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the Forest, a 20 year old soil warming experiment that shows how warming the soil by just 5 degrees greatly impacts the Forest ecosystem, and the “mega-plot,” an 85 acre plot within a global array of tropical and temperate forests in the Smithsonian Global Earth Observatory, in which every tree over 1cm in diameter is mapped, tagged, and measured at 5-year intervals.

    The tour will be led by Audrey Barker-Plotkin, licensed forester, and by Clarisse Hart, education manager.  Both guides are also ecologists by training.  $20 ELA members, $25 nonmembers.  Register online at https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1010955 or call 617-436-5838.

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  • Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 pm – Eagle One: Raising Bald Eagles

    The Athol Bird & Nature Club will present Dianne Benson Davis, author of Eagle One:Raising Bald Eagles,  A Wildlife Memoir, on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 pm at the Miller’s River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol.   Dianne spent four months living alone as the caretaker for eight baby bald eagles in the remote Quabbin Reservoir area of Massachusetts as part of an ambitious and successful effort to reintroduce the endangered bald eagle to the skies of New England. Eagle One is the record of her time with the eagles, based on the letters and journals she kept there. It is the story of a woman’s life devoted to the care of wildlife: her nearly twenty year relationship with a red-tailed hawk, her experiences caring for a baby polar bear, tagging loggerhead sea turtles, and working with countless animals at the Tufts University Wildlife Clinic and the EcoTarium. It is also a personal memoir; the story of perseverance and struggle as a single mother, the joys of learning and teaching about wildlife, and of finding happiness and fulfillment in work and family. Free and open to all.

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  • Sunday, February 23, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Bald Eagles and Quabbin Reservoir

    Quabbin Reservoir played a vital role in the reintroduction of the Bald Eagle to Massachusetts. Join Andrew Vitz, State Ornithologist with Mass Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, for a presentation on the extirpation of Bald Eagles and their steady increase since their reintroduction up through the 2013 breeding season. This event is located at the Quabbin Visitor’s Center in Belchertown, which is handicapped accessible. The talk is from 2:00 – 3:00 P.M. and is open to the public.  Below is a picture of Governor Duval Patrick banding an eagle at the Reservoir.

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  • Saturday, January 18, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Eagles in Winter

    On Saturday, January 18, from 10 – 1, the Northfield Mountain Center will sponsor a free program at the Quabbin Reservoir Visitor Center in Belchertown. Join them for an adventure focusing on eagles in winter. Where do they go and why? What challenges do they face prior to returning to their nests in late winter? This program will take place at Quabbin Reservoir, one of the most popular wintering areas in the state for bald eagles. Visit the Enfield Lookout to search for eagles as well as other wildlife with Jim Lafley and Northfield’s Kim Noyes. A short walk in search of animal tracks and sign will warm us up before heading indoors. Dale Monette, Program Coordinator for the Massachusetts’ Department of Conservation and Recreation at Quabbin, has been involved with the restoration program since its beginning thirty years ago. Join Dale for a presentation on Massachusetts’ successful eagle restoration program and the fascinating life history of the bald eagle.  Bring lunch, binoculars (a spotting scope if you have one) and dress warmly. Call 1-800-859-2960 to register, or for more information. Photo of Enfield Lookout from www.masslive.com.

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  • Saturday, May 25, 7:00 am – Exploring Quabbin: Prescott Peninsula

    The Athol Bird & Nature Club is sponsoring a unique field trip for those of you energetic enough to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, May 25.  Meet Larry Therrien at the DCR headquarters parking lot, off Route 202 in New Salem, Massachusetts at 7 am for this natural history exploration of Interior Quabbin.  The trip is limited to ten participants, with preference given to ABNC members (it’s worth joining!) and a reservation is required.  Email Larry at larrytherrien@hotmail.com to sign up and for more information.  Image from quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com.

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