One of the East Quabbin Land Trust twentieth anniversary events that I was most looking forward to was the BioBlitz scheduled for today at the newly-purchased Wendemuth Meadow property on Bates Street in North Brookfield. A bioblitz is “an intensive one-day survey of biodiversity in a specific area,” explained Nate Grady, Service Learning Coordinator for the EQLT. He added, “This is an especially neat activity, as it brings all levels of outdoor enthusiasts — from trained naturalists to people who just like to explore and get a little dirty — together for the common goal of finding and identifying as many creatures as possible.” Sunny but not at all humid, the day did not disappoint!
By 7 am, I arrived at the old barn, a fifteen minute walk from my house, where the birding team, headed by Jeff Smith, was already in place. Equipped with guidebooks and binoculars, we set out on a loop around the perimeter of the property. Over the course of a few hours, we recorded around two dozen different species. When we returned to the barn, a second group had started inventorying species near the brook which runs through the property. They are not as familiar to the average person as birds and mammals, but fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and arachnids are all around us, and we included as many of these orders as we could find in our inventory. Caren Caljouw, EQLT Stewardship Coordinator, is a trained botanist, and I was thrilled to follow her around as she discovered and identified for us a number of interesting or uncommon species of plants, in addition to a few invasives which we ought to remove.
By shortly after noon, most of the groups had wrapped up their work. At that point, we all gathered in the barn to share our findings and enjoy a potluck lunch. In addition to the bird species I mentioned earlier, the property certainly hosts deer and rabbits, which of course are not uncommon in this area. We didn’t see turtles or snakes, though I wouldn’t be surprised to find them living here. If I were to pick my personal “find of the day,” I would mention a few: the bobolinks, the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly, the dragonflies, the Canada burnet, and the orchids hidden near the cattails.
To put the Wendemuth Meadow property in a larger perspective, consider that Massachusetts is now heavily forested. A news article in the Boston Globe from about a year ago includes a statement from David Foster, director of the Harvard Forest, who says, “The forest recovery is especially breathtaking. New England is a supreme example of forest comeback.’’ This change has been beneficial for wildlife that thrive in forested regions, including many species of birds. However, the birds that require open grassland are not faring as well. According to the Mass Audubon 2013 State of the Birds report:
A coinciding decline in breeding grassland and shrubland birds has become particularly apparent, with species including the Eastern Meadowlark, American Kestrel and Savannah Sparrow essentially ‘blinking out’ across the state.
In addition, according to BioMap2, a joint effort of the Massachusetts NHESP and the Nature Conservancy, “wetlands are extremely important components of the Massachusetts landscape; however they are limited in extent, covering . . . less than 10% of the state.” While our 30-acre parcel is unlikely to harbor any endangered species, as a freshwater wetland, it still serves critical ecosystem functions.
I am proud to support this conservation effort, as we are protecting an agricultural meadowland and wetland complex, a type of ecosystem that is increasingly rare in Massachusetts.