Cape Cod Roses

Posted on June 16, 2016 by admin

Ah, June! Roses are everywhere here on Cape Cod right now but some of our most beloved roses are washashores…Rosa rugosa, our favorite beach rose is so iconic that it is regularly featured on all sorts of promotional materials for the Cape and Islands. It is not native, however, having been brought over from Asia in the 1800s.

Then there’s the heavily scented Rosa multiflora, another Asian import, that grows like a weed wherever planted and birds plant them everywhere after eating the hips or fruits. It’s the one with the little white blossoms that is everywhere right now.

That’s it in the foreground…

We do have a local wild rose though. This sweet pink rose is not as showy or robust as the Rosa rugosa but it is lovely and smells wonderful. Known as the Virginia rose to many it also goes by other common names as well, such as the prairie rose.

All these roses are in bloom right now in places like Fort Hill in Eastham. We have a fabulous weather forecast for the weekend so get outside and enjoy!

Help our early pollinators!

Posted on April 23, 2016 by admin

As tempting as it may be for some folks to mow down or kill any sign of what we think of as weeds, try and enjoy our earliest spring blooms. They are the first flowers our early bees and butterflies use for nectar. Yes, many of these plants get dismissed as weeds but why not embrace them as food for helpful and necessary insects instead?

This is what happens when we let a place get a little wild. It is quickly populated with plants that flower and provide food for not only beneficial insects like honey bees but seeds for birds as well.

Dandelions are some of our first nectar plants and if left alone you will find they are happily visited by bees all day long. I have tons of violets as well and the bees and small butterflies love them as well.

You may also find other ground covers such as these. When I photographed these yesterday they were being visited by spring azures, sweet tiny blue butterflies. Well worth waiting to mow in my estimation.More ground covers that can be let go and grow right now. Weeds? Maybe. Food for tiny beings? Definitely. Also, in my world, food for the soul and the eyes. I love these small flowers that brave the cold and the crazy spring weather and bloom anyway.Somehow having a monochrome green lawn has become desirable in today’s world. This means using chemicals to keep out weeds and bugs. Many people are using Round Up, one of the worst chemicals to be unleashed on the world market since DDT and we all know how that went. Go chemical free. Embrace the weeds. Enjoy the flowers, bees and butterflies you will get as a result. Yards full of these plants will also invite children to play, to look for fairies, toads and beetles.

When we are welcoming to birds and wildlife we are richly rewarded. We don’t need to worry about our children or pets absorbing poisons into their skins or into their water sources. Even walking through treated grass can bring unwanted chemicals into our homes on the soles of our shoes or even our feet.

If I have to choose between poison and dandelions, I pick dandelions every time. And heck, they’re cheerfully yellow. What’s to hate?

Stories trees tell in the Cape Cod woods

Posted on April 20, 2016 by admin

Way back in the day before the Europeans came to Cape Cod, the entire peninsula was covered with hard wood forests. Sassafras, hickory, beech, oak, maple and more were everywhere. So were the tall and stately white pines. The dirt was dark and loamy, rich with nutrients.

And then, the wood hungry people chopped down all the trees. All the trees. By the time Thoreau walked our shores in the mid 1800s there wasn’t a tree in the landscape, noted in his book, Cape Cod.

With the trees went the soil, leaving sand and in some areas, clay, behind.

Today our woodlands are full of oak and pitch pine. Pitch pine was planted in the 1800s to try and stop the eroding of the soil. Pitch pine is fast growing and tough. If you’ve been to Cape Cod you have seen pitch pine. It is now ubiquitous here.

Almost all our woodlands are pretty monotonous. Pitch pine and oak….and in many areas the taller, wilier oak is winning. Pitch pines top out at about 50 feet. Oaks grow much taller. Every year the pines drop cones full of seeds and from those sprout little trees like this one. Some will prosper and grow. Many will not. Much of what is now woodland on the Cape was once used as farmland. Many trees were cut again to clear land and it is not unusual to find trees with two trunk in these areas. Both trunks grew from sprouts from the stump, left to rot.American holly trees can be found in many of our woodlands. Some areas were actually cultivated for holly and are known as holly reservations, showcasing many varieties, such as Ashumet in Hatchville and Ryder Conservation area in Sandwich. Other woodlands have many accidentals, planted by birds which ate the seeds and then pooped them out.Some areas, especially in Mashpee, still have some very old, very tall white pines. In recent years I’ve been noticing white pines sneaking back into other areas as well, such as this area in Hyannis around Hathaway’s Pond. White pines grow fast and get very tall, out pacing the pitch pines so it will be interesting to see how this develops, if I live that long.I ‘ll be posting more about local trees and flowers as spring unfolds so stay tuned!

Spring light on Cape Cod

Posted on April 13, 2016 by admin

What a crazy spring so far! Warm days, cold days, rain, snow, hail, rainbows, sun, clouds….all in the same day some days. It has made for some spectacular views, though.

I have always loved walking around and exploring ponds. It’s one of those things that harks back to childhood for me. I love the ocean and the beach but a pond is a smaller, friendlier body of water. It’s quite accessible to a child and full of wonderful things. Sometimes there are even shadows of tree ghosts on the path. One of my favorite ponds is Hathaway’s Pond in Hyannis. I grew up going to this pond and I still love to go there. The light through the trees and on the water is beautiful this time of year. I’ll be leading a walk there this Saturday at 8 a.m. It’s free and open to the public so come join me!
You can see a glaze of snow on these branches. Even with the gray of the day the light is sneaking through…. The Cape is famous for its light and each morning when I walk on the beach down the street the light there nearly takes my breath away every time. I never know what I will find but it is always satisfying.
On this day a front was coming in. The divide between dark and light on both the water and in the sky was dramatic. Some mornings the water is all sparkly and on others it is almost luminescent.
Sun, no sun, clouds, rain….spring has it all. But mostly it has a light that makes me glad to be alive. I want to breathe it in with the air and be filled with it. Those little halos of light on the horizon and the water’s edge make me swoon a little.
And then sometimes I look out my window and see the eastern sky on fire with a bit of a rainbow after a windy, rainy day. I could see the sunset out the back door through the trees but the pink on the opposite side was even more spectacular, I think. As for the wires? It’s the world we live in and sometimes I think it gives the whole picture a human scale and that’s okay with me. What kind of light will I find out there today?

Happy Spring?

Posted on April 7, 2016 by admin

I’m trying to get back into posting regularly here so thanks for stopping by and reading. This past winter wasn’t so terrible, especially compared to last winter but it did throw us an icy little curve ball this week here on the Cape.

Yep, it snowed. And hailed. And rained. And snowed some more, leaving a nice, crusty, icy covering on everything. All my poor daffodils suffered, lying their little yellow heads right down on the ground.

Outside my kitchen window the grackles ruled. At least 50 flew in to take advantage of free seed and what a noisy, bickering bunch they were. Grackles are sort of like that large group of teenagers that rumbles through the neighborhood. They’re rude, they’re loud and yet, they have a certain shine to them that makes me smile in spite of myself.

The morning between storms was cold but still. The beach was a hundred shades of gray and the gulls were, too.

Soon, the wind would pick up and more snow would blow in but in the meantime the mergansers were flirting it up.

And then, it all melted and the sun returned. I saw my first mayflower in bloom.

And a swan upon her nest.

And like this lady mallard I knew that spring was really there in the wings, just waiting to return to the main stage.

Happy spring, everyone.

A Talk and a Walk

Posted on March 20, 2016 by admin

Hi all! And Happy Spring! I know the forecast is calling for some, well, you know….un-springlike stuff, but I’m just going to float right over that for now and enjoy this sunny day.

I’ve been busy teaching a drawing and painting class at Green Briar Nature Center this March and I’ve also been busy creating my new Beach Bunnies on Vacation coloring book. I’m also revising a middle grade novel that I’ll be sending out to agents and publishers soon. It was a productive winter around here.

This Wednesday I’ll be giving a talk about Creating a Nature Journal at the Dennis Public Library at 4 p.m. It’s free but you have to let them know you’re coming!

On April 16 I will be leading a walk at the Hathaway’s Pond Conservation Area on the Hyannis/Barnstable Village line at 8 a.m. That is also free.

For those who would like to do some outdoor drawing and painting I’ll be leading a class once a week that will meet in different locations all over the Cape. I’m working on the schedule now but it will be under the Classes button on the navigation bar very soon.

Come see me and celebrate spring!

Welcome, summer!

Posted on June 19, 2015 by admin

Oops, I’ve been busy and I have not been updating here. I’ve been working with kids in the woods, at the pond and at the salt marsh. I’ve been drawing and painting, catching frogs and writing.

One of the coolest things I did over the last few weeks was attend a bird banding demonstration at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

The table was all set up with the necessary tools for weighing, measuring and recording.

The next step was to check the mist nets which had been set up in areas migratory birds fly through but which also had some protection.

The little bag holds other bags which can gently hold the birds found and carefully removed from the nets.

Look what we found! A great crested flycatcher! These guys are feisty and vocal in the wild and they are when captured as well.

Feathers are examined to determine condition and age of the bird.By blowing on the belly of the bird the bander can tell if the bird has a bare brood patch, meaning it is sitting on eggs. In this species both male and female can have brood patches so sex was not determined.

The bird is then weighed. It looks sort of tough but really, the bird is quieted by the darkness and the fact that it can’t move. It is only in the tube for a matter of seconds.

After all that the band is affixed to the leg and all info is recorded.

A moment is taken to admire and thank the bird for its cooperation

and then it is released. When releasing the birds, they are held close to the ground which helps them orient themselves.

Let’s just say the birds do not hang around after being released. This one actually called and chatted back and forth with what we assumed was a mate almost immediately. All of this takes place in a matter of minutes, by the way. The bird banders are very kind, calm and aware of the bird’s dignity and stress level. I have seen birds banded before but it was a pretty cool way to spend a morning.

First Cape Cod mayflowers now blooming

Posted on April 20, 2015 by admin

It didn’t take spring long to wake up the trailing arbutus, also known as the mayflower, our state flower.

Look for them along sunny banks in pine and oak woodlands. They sprawl across the ground with tough woot leaves and are sporting buds in most areas.

Just this morning I found my first blooms and in an old abandoned wood lot in Hyannis so you never know where they may show up.

Some areas should be just gorgeous with these sweet smelling flowers very soon.

Cape Cod Walking Groups

Posted on April 10, 2015 by admin

It’s spring, finally! That means it is time to get outside, explore old favorite paths but find new paths and new places to explore as well. I grew up here on the Cape and am familiar with many, many places and yet every year I find new places that become new favorites. There are probably enough places to explore, even in a small place like Cape Cod, that I will never find them all.

So how do you find new places? Go off the beaten path and take a road you’ve never taken before. The Cape is only so wide and only so long. You can only get so lost!

Joining a group or signing up for a nature walk with any of the many wonderful nature minded organizations is also fun and you’ll make some new friends as well.

I learn new things every time I take a walk with another naturalist, birder or botanist so I try to mix it up and go on all sorts of walks throughout the year. Check out Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay and Mass Audubon at Long Pasture for seasonal walks. The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History has weekly walks with Connie Boyce that are very popular and the Green Briar Nature Center has bi-monthly Wild Women Walking walks with Mary Beers. There are many others as well. Mashpee runs public walks as does the Harwich Conservation Trust, the town of Barnstable and the Barnstable Land Trust (an independent group, not town run.)

The other day I went on one of Mary Beers’s walks at the East Sandwich Game Farm. Mary is so knowledgeable you’ll gather all sorts of interesting information.

This walk is not for exercise as much as it is for natural history so don’t plan on any serious hiking. You can go back by yourself for that. I know the game farm pretty well, having worked with Mary there many times over the years but we found a few things I never knew before…

Like there is a special patch of reindeer lichen there…

Not only is reindeer lichen a favorite food of reindeer in areas where they live–which is not on Cape Cod–but a close up will show you that the little branches look like reindeer antlers. I have seen this in a lot of places but not in a big patch like this one! Mary told us the patches are few and far between on the Cape…We also found little holes like these on a sunny hillside path….the sun had gone in but it was still warm when we found them….

Mary thought they might be the little nesting spots of solitary bees and as we looked carefully on the ground we started to see the bees coming out of the dirt. Most were just waking up from the winter! They lay their eggs in these tunnels and bring pollen in that will feed the larvae when they hatch. How cool is that?

We heard and saw the usual birds but a belted kingfisher gave us a nice close look and we watched both osprey and a Cooper’s hawk fly overhead.

Check the links that are highlighted to find more information about each group’s walks. If you’d rather just go walking by yourself, there are also lots of good books out there as well, with maps and info.

Just get outside. And take a kid or two or three!

I went looking for spring in the Cape Cod woods…

Posted on April 3, 2015 by admin

But what I found was more winter…

I started my day at the Lowell Holly Conservation Area in Mashpee. This is usually a delightful place to walk but it had many icy and snowy areas along the trails that were tricky to navigate.

There were many lovely vistas however

You find lots of white pine, beech and of course, American holly here. I also found a nice little stand of Princess pine and tea berry .

Carpet moss is nice and green but the lake is still mostly frozen.

Later, at the Jehu Pond Conservation Area I saw lots of trailing arbutus leaves so mayflowers will be blooming soon!

I saw my first pine warbler of the season and courting hairy woodpeckers but the woods were pretty quiet.

One thing that becomes obvious as the snow melts is how tough winter was for birds and other wildlife. I found signs and remains of multiple birds and even those of a hawk .