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 rub its forehead repeatedly on an overhead branch.
February sightings
4: A BOBCAT crossing Nashoba Brook pauses upright, its hind legs on ice and its forepaws on a log, its eyes glowing with night vision like headlights.
6: A FLYING SQUIRREL running on the forest floor spreads its limbs to glide briefly as it scurries to a tree.
9: A COYOTE lingers under the dense morning shade of a grove of HEMLOCK trees near Grassy Pond…a BEAVER emerges from an underwater entrance to its lodge and breaks through thin ice, enlarging the hole with its teeth and paws, then steps into the woods to fetch a green stick. It dives back into the water, taking the snack back down to the lodge at Spring Hill Conservation Area.
10: A BARRED OWL calls out to claim its territory near Spruce Street…GREAT HORNED OWL also hoots on Arlington Street.
11: A WHITE-TAILED DEER sniffs trail cam enthusiastically, displaying her enormous Bambi-cute eyelashes at Grassy Pond Conservation Area.
14: A RED FOX with bushy tail trots across the front meadow and the edge of the woods behind a house on Pope Road… Perfectly timed for Valentine’s Day, a female and male FISHER enter, leave, and re-enter a den at the base of a tree in North Acton. Male rolls and rubs its neck, shoulders, and back on the snow at the entrance [scent-marking?] in N. Acton.
15: NORTHERN CARDINALS begin singing their territorial chirps across the entire town. CHICKADEES also begin singing their “My tree” breeding song on this day.
19: A Herd of seven WHITE-TAILED DEER scampers past trail cam in Nagog Brook Conservation Area…A BLUEBIRD brightens S. Acton back yard.
20: A MOURNING DOVE’s sad territorial song resounds on Spruce Street.
23: A black FISHER dashes across a snowy Acton Center yard in the direction of the Arboretum.
24: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS make their first territorial calls at Boardwalk Campus marsh in W. Acton on February 24, the students’ first day back after February vacation. In previous years, red-wings have returned on these dates: 2-9-24; 2-11-23; 2-16-21; 2-22-22; and 2-25-14. In Thoreau’s day, these late-winter breeders didn’t arrive until March. A large flock of red-wings chatters vigorously in a Charter Road marsh the same afternoon.
25: A BALD EAGLE soars above the Silver Unicorn Bookstore in W. Acton, heading south.
Diners at West Acton bird feeders this month include black-capped chickadees, blue jays, blue birds, Carolina wrens, downy woodpeckers, house finches, gold finches, house sparrows, mourning doves, northern cardinals, a red-bellied woodpecker, dark-eyed juncos, tufted titmouses, and white-throated nuthatches.
THANKS to this month’s Nature Watchers John Goreham, Rebecca Harvey, Kim Kastens, Alissa Nicol, and Leah Whitehouse! If you have observations or photos of any wild animals, plants, or fungi that you would like to share, please email them to actonnaturewatch@gmail.com. Photos should be as high resolution as possible.
Hello Amphibian Allies, Frog Friends, and Salamander Supporters!
As spring weather arrives, please watch out for salamanders and frogs crossing roads on warm rainy nights. As reported in last year’s Acton Exchange, local volunteers form an Amphibian Crossing Brigade, who help amphibians make their way to breeding habitats located on the other side of busy roads. If you are interested in helping these neighbors cross your local streets, please contact Ian Bergemann (ibergemann@actonma.gov) Acton’s Community Conservation Specialist. For more information about the upcoming amphibian Big Nights, check out this website from the Massachusetts Natural Resources & Endangered Species Program.
Rob Gogan is a West Acton resident, and compiles the Acton Nature Watch feature.