Mass Audubon Blogs

The Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), one of the most commonly seen snakes in Massachusetts, is also the official state reptile. They sport long, yellow stripes down the length of their bodies, which are typically green, brown, or even black, and average about 20-22″ in length, but can grow up to 54″ long. You may be startled […]

Listen to music, look for dragonflies, kayak on a river, track shorebirds, run in a race, and more at a wildlife sanctuary this weekend. Cape Cod and Islands Go on a Turtle Prowl at Wellfleet Bay to look for nesting diamondback terrapins, a threatened species of salt marsh turtle. (adults and children ages 6+, registration required) […]

By Daniel Brown Four Republican Senators, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, James Lankford, and Jim Inhofe, each of whom have denied the reality of climate change in the past, signed a letter asking the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate funding they awarded to the non-profit organization Climate Central, suggesting Climate Central is propagandizing. That’s false. […]

Where did this Scarlet Tanager spend the winter? A birder might correctly say “South America,” but where specifically? How can we know the country, the province, the latitude and longitude? In fact, chemical signatures in feathers, blood, and muscle tissue tell the story of where a bird has been, and what it’s been eating. Over […]

O’Brien – Plainfield, MA – West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary On June 15th, Mass Audubon has protected a spectacular piece of land in Plainfield, MA. This ecologically rich 110-acre property is adjacent to our West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, and is part of a large network of significant wildlife corridors extending north all the way to maritime […]

The Museum of American Bird Art and Mass Audubon has partnered with UNC Chapel Hill to participate in a Citizen Science Project called the Caterpillars Count. Caterpillars Count! is a citizen science project the measures seasonal variation (phenology) and abundance of important food sources for birds, primarily arthropods like caterpillars, beetles, and spiders found on the […]

With our Spring CSA coming to an end, it’s time to prepare for the summer and all the things that accompany it – most notably our Summer CSA, Farmstand, and visits to the Union Square Farmer’s Market in Somerville. With yesterday’s forecast calling for a 30% chance of showers, we seeded 15 beds of greens, […]

We often say that April and May are the best part of the coastal waterbird field season because Piping Plovers are returning and in full courtship mode. At that early stage, we’re usually feeling pretty hopeful. The season is too fresh to be marred by predators or stormy weather. This spring we were especially delighted to welcome back an […]

David Larson and I led this week’s Wednesday Morning Birding program out of Joppa Flats on to Plum Island. It was a lovely day to be there — partly cloudy, temps in the mid to upper 70s, and winds SW/0-5 mph. Understandably, not much bird song remaining, but there were a few birds to be […]

Summer is here and our harvest is expanding!  Here is what you might see for this weeks harvest: Strawberries Peas (Pick-Your-Own) Garlic Scapes Green Onions Kale Lettuce Radishes Beets Squash If you still need to sign up for your work hours, follow this link to our sign up genius. Questions? Concerns? Suggestions? We’d love to […]

Two of these beautiful male indigo buntings greeted the Fair Weather Birders this morning at the Medfield Charles River State Reservation in a field overlooking the River. A female scarlet tanager carried a fat caterpillar to her nest, Eastern kingbirds called, a belted kingfisher flew off with a fish, and a muskrat gathered a mouthful […]

From June 11–13, summer camp staff from Mass Audubon Camps across the state gathered at Wildwood for Field School, a fun, hands-on, 3-day training program designed to kick off the summer and get staff ready for camp. Camps from every corner of Massachusetts were there, from Pleasant Valley in the Berkshires to Wellfleet Bay on […]