Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain, the bird walk had to be cancelled and we are not able to reschedule for this spring. Hopefully next year will produce a more opportune day.

On Saturday, May 17, 2014, the Southborough Open Land Foundation will take part in Mass Audubon’s annual “Bird-a-thon” with a bird walk led by Jeff Collins. The walk will be at Beals Preserve, meeting at 7:00 AM sharp at the triangle area of Main St. (Route 30) and Northborough Rd. for a brief introduction. The walk should finish at approximately 9:00 AM. No previous bird watching experience is necessary. Last year walkers at this popular event saw a variety of birds including a Chimney Swift, American Goldfinch, American Robin, Baltimore Oriole, Barn Swallow, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Bobolink, Common Grackle, Common Yellowthroat, Comorant, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron, Great Crested Flycatcher, Green Heron, House sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, Red-tailed hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Tree Swallow, and a Yellow Warbler.

Jeff Collins, Director of Mass Audubon’s Ecological Management Department has led many birding tours in North and South America. He shares a wide range of information on plants, animals, birds and habitats as well has his enthusiasm for the natural beauty of each destination .If you would like more information about the Bird-a-thon, or to contribute to its support, visit Jeff’s Bird-a-thon page.

Bring your binoculars and, of course, dress appropriately for ticks! This event is free and open to all.

SOLF trustees emptied and bagged the bottle recycling bin at the Southborough Transfer Station on December 11, 2013. Money raised from the recycled bottles aids SOLF in its stewardship and educational activities. Thank you Acacia Warren, Carol Gay, Bill Sines, Hal Kiess, Bill Hohenberger, Amy Kassatly, Sally Watters, and Dick Dinjian for braving the cold and helping empty the bottle bin.

Photo by Sally Watters

SOLF  sponsored a butterfly walk on July 13 at 10:00 AM at Beals Preserve  led by Stephen Moore and Barbara Vokle from the Massachusetts Butterfly Club. Unfortunately, it began to rain shortly before the walk was to begin, and butterflies are sun loving. But the group of 15 attendees walked the trails of Beals Preserve in the rain anyhow. No butterflies were seen, but  several  moths, some spiders,  a hummingbird in the trees near the butterfly planting,  and a common yellow-throat warbler were spotted. There was also  a self-sown Cone Flower along the main lane. All-in-all, no butterflies, but an interesting and fun walk.

At the SOLF Board of Trustees meeting of June 18, 2013,  Sally Watters finished her term as Southborough Open Land Foundation (“SOLF”) president, which she held since 2007.

The highlight of Sally’s term was that of SOLF receiving a 56-acre parcel of land in 2008 from Elaine and the late Phil Beals, longtime Southborough residents and area civic leaders. Then with help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and many volunteers, Sally and other SOLF trustees turned a section of Beals Preserve into an “early succession habitat to promote biodiversity for at-risk species. Since 2009, SOLF has also hosted many passive recreation and nature seminars at this beautiful property for the community’s benefit.

Sally received her AB in History from St. Lawrence University and MA in History from Clark University. She worked for several years as head counselor at the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Stony Brook Reservation Day Camp. A history and geography teacher for 34 years in the Walpole Public Schools, Sally won an award from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library for outstanding curriculum development. As befits an educator, Sally was especially interested in sharing SOLF properties with area youth for education and leadership development opportunities, including local Boy Scout troops, Girl Scout troops, Southborough’s Extended Day Program, and Algonquin Regional High School community service projects.

A SOLF trustee since 1990, Sally also supports Pilgrim Congregational Church, is an Election Day poll volunteer, and helps organize the Boston Marathon at the Hopkinton, MA starting line.

Sally and husband Jed moved to Southborough in 1976. They are parents of two daughters, both graduates of Algonquin and St. Lawrence. Rebecca also received a degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science and has done environmental work in Mongolia and Cambodia. She presently works for a conservation organization in Jackson, WY. Amanda works as an editor for science textbooks, enjoys nature photography, and is an elite runner.

To recognize Sally’s many civic contributions, Southborough’s Board of Selectmen designated  June 18, 2013,  as Sally B. Watters “Day of Honor.” Congratulations Sally.

The photos below show Sally with the proclamation from the Southborough Board of Selectmen, and the proclamation given her.

On  June 4, 2013,  SOLF sponsored Kim Smith, author, illustrator, and designer of Kim Smith Designs, who  presented a stunning slide show and informative lecture, The Pollinator Garden. We  also saw a video called BomBom Butterfly which demonstrates the life cycle of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.  You can read more about Kim Smith and this program at  Kim Smith Designs.

A group of early risers joined Massachusetts Audubon’s Jeff Collins at Beals Preserve on May 18, 2013, to learn about birds in the Southborough area. In comparison to previous walks, we saw fewer species because a spring weather pattern shifted migration to this Midwest this  year. Nevertheless, a variety of species were observed including a Chimney Swift, American Goldfinch, American Robin, Baltimore Oriole, Barn Swallow, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Bobolink, Common Grackle, Common Yellowthroat, Comorant, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron, Great Crested Flycatcher, Green Heron, House sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, Red-tailed hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Tree Swallow, and a Yellow Warbler. A  Black-capped Chickadee, Blue-winged Warbler, Northern Parula Warbler, Overnbird, and Yellow Warbler were heard, but not seen.

The 2013 annual meeting SOLF on May 7 featured a presentation on co-existing with coyotes by John Maguranis, the Animal Control Officer for the Town of Belmont, and the Massachusetts representative to Project Coyote.

The meeting also featured the presentation of the annual Elaine Beals Conservation Award to Southborough resident Rhonda Russian for her 22 years of service on the Southborough Conservation Commission and her work as an attorney for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Rhonda  also received a proclamation of appreciation  from the Massachusetts House of Representatives presented by State Representative Carolyn Dykema. The Elaine Beals  Award is presented annually by SOLF  to a person who has worked to help protect the environment in Southborough. Rhonda is shown receiving the award from Elaine Beals, and with State Representative Carolyn Dykema and SOLF President Sally Watters.

Two members of the Board of Trustees were also recognized for their service to SOLF. Outgoing president Sally Watters was presented a drawing from Beals Preserve, and three books were presented to the Southborough Library in honor of long-time trustee Betty Meyer, who is retiring from the board this year.  Congratulations to all.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Earth Day Clean Up and the Beals Preserve Invasive Plant attack today. Thanks to your efforts the area along Rte 85 from Templman Woods down to Richards Rd. looks much nicer. Let’s hope our attack on invasive plants at Beals Preserve will help stop their spread.

Animal tracking expert David Brown led a group at Beals Preserve to identify animal tracks in the snow. Evidence was found of coyotes, cottontail rabbits, gray squirrels, raccoon, mink,fishers, and other animals. The pictures below show David Brown and the group participants.

David Brown has shared with us his  The Companion Guide to Trackards for North American Mammals has just been released for sale by the publisher. The 245-page guide interprets illustrations on the Trackards while providing additional illustrations and detailed information on track and scat morphology, trails, behavior and habitat. Each species-chapter also provides comparisons with the similar sign of other species and shows how to tell them apart. The two publications were designed as a single integrated system for successful identification of wildlife evidence found in the field.

Visit David Brown’s website: http://www.dbwildlife.com

Thank you to all who stopped by to visit our booth and buy note cards on Heritage Day, October 8. If you joined our email list, watch for an announcement of a walk at Beals Preserve in the next few weeks. If you are not on our email list and would like to receive emails of upcoming event and activities, go to our Contact page and send us an email requesting that you name be put on our list.

On July 15, 2012,  Steve Moore, president of the Mass Buttefly Club and Barbara Volkle led a walk to observe the myriad butterflies at Beals Preserve.

June 12, 2012

Edible plant expert Russ Cohen led a tour of the edible plants found on Beals Preserve

Whitney Beals led a walking history tour of Beals Preserve on June 10, 2012. Whit talked about the history of the Beals Preserve property from the time that his family moved to Southboro in 1950, the dairy herd that used to graze there, the ice pond, the MDC police, and other memories about how the land was used as well as how much the property has changed.