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Dear
Friends of Allens Pond,
The New Year is off to a busy start with
plenty of winter programs and volunteer
opportunities at Allens Pond,
from attending a bird walk to participating
in a citizen science project to joining the
Duck Derby committee -- or all three! Coming up
February 6-7, 2010 is an exciting .tmp) opportunity to participate
in Mass Audubon's annual citizen
science project, Focus
on Feeders. Participating is easy: Just
count the highest number of each bird species
seen together in your backyard and feeders at
any one time during the weekend of February 6
& 7 and report
your observations online. Your
observations, as well as those of friends
and family, will contribute to a growing
database that can provide early warning signs on
changes in abundance of bird species that visit
feeders. Read on for more ways to get involved
and for updates on some of your favorite
projects. Can't get enough? Join us on Facebook for more
frequent photos and updates!
We hope you enjoy this issue and hope to see
you at the Sanctuary soon --
~The Allens
Pond Team~
Restoring the Stone Barn
Farm Buildings
We are moving ahead with plans to restore and
preserve the house and.tmp) two barns at the Stone
Barn Farm that Mass Audubon purchased 3 years
ago from Gil Fernandez. The Town of Dartmouth,
at its town meeting in October, voted
unanimously to grant Mass Audubon $31,000 from
its Community Preservation Funds to engage an
historic preservation architect and a
preservation-minded engineer to work with us on
developing plans and proposals for restoring the
house and two barns so that they can be most
useful to the Sanctuary and to the
community.
The “Stone Barn” is the unique gem of the
property and there are few (if .tmp) any) others like it in this
part of the country. Considering that it was
probably built during the mid to late 1800s it
is in relatively good shape, however its current
configuration lacks the structural integrity
required to survive this century. The house
needs mostly fixing-up rather than
re-structuring and the second, younger barn
could serve purposes currently provided by the
Stone Barn.
The Architect/Engineer Team has been busy
measuring, investigating and evaluating the
buildings and consulting with Mass Audubon and
Sanctuary staff about future uses of these
properties and how the buildings can be best
adapted to meeting those needs.
We expect to be reviewing the consultants’
design alternatives by the end of January and
will then begin drafting detailed plans and cost
estimates to bring back to Dartmouth’s Community
Preservation Committee in March.
Bi-weekly Allens Pond
Bird Walk
By Doug Hlousek,
volunteer
Eleven birders joined Paul Champlin on his
first biweekly 9am Saturday bird walk of 2010,
at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, in Westport,
on a .tmp) cold, breezy January 9.
With the temperature hovering around 25°F, and a
stiff wind blowing, we agreed to head out the
more sheltered Quansett trail, to see if we
could find the Savannah Sparrow that had been
lingering there.
No Savannah, but we were rewarded with a
number of birds, taking advantage of the
sheltered woods and shrubbery of the trail as
well as the profusion of nonnative Bittersweet.
True to its name, the birds seem to love it,
especially when the ground is snow covered, a
sweet result of this berry-producing vine.
However, the expelling of seeds by the birds
after eating only extends the invasive vine to
other areas, a bitter result.
We were rewarded by seeing a total of 23
different species along the Quansett trail, with
the highlights being the number of Catbirds, and
the antics of one male Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
which entertained us by flitting among the
berries and displaying his flaming ruby
crown.
After an hour of this pleasant walking with
good results, it was decided to brave the Beach
Loop. It wasn't long before our group was
reduced by six, and the rest of us continued our
walk, out to the small cut that goes back to the
pond. At this point, we learned that you don't
necessarily follow your guide too closely! Paul
was leading the way along the edge of the bank
over the cut when the edge gave way and he was
through the ice and up above his knees in frigid
water. He had on rubber boots, so, after
brief excruciating cold ankles, the water in the
boots heated up, and he had what was equivalent
to “wet suit” boots, not that uncomfortable.
We did do some birding too, seeing large
numbers of American Black Ducks,
brightly-colored Yellow-rumped Warblers and
raptors. We were actually trying to get closer
to a female Northern Harrier, soaring low .tmp) among the bushes, when Paul
showed us where to not walk. It was a beautiful
bird. We also encountered a number of Red-tailed
Hawks, with one extremely light-colored bird
circling directly over our heads perfectly
illuminated in the blue sky. Those with cameras
were well rewarded. Across the pond,
highstepping through the marsh, we watched a
White-tailed deer make its way, and one
Cottontail rabbit scurry out of the shrubbery
right next to the trail.
All-in-all, it turned out to be a perfect
mid-winter birding day. Paul will continue this
series of bird walks, bi-weekly at 9am on
Saturdays through March. Binoculars are
available to borrow if you don't have any, and
the area is worth spending time walking, even if
you are not a birder. The group doesn't move
rapidly and with Paul's scope many birds,
especially the sea ducks and waterfowl, can be
viewed up close and personal. To register for a
walk please email Allens
Pond or call (508) 636-2437. Fee for
members $4; nonmembers $6.
The "Shrink Your
Footprint" Event is back -- we need your
feedback!
The "Shrink Your Footprint" series is
returning this winter in a new form: A half-day
event of workshops and activities for adults,
teens and families interested in learning about
ways to reduce their impact on the
environment. We are in the midst of
planning the 3rd annual Shrink Your
Footprint event, a collaboration among
several local organizations as part of the Southeastern
Environmental Education Alliance (SEEAL),
and we
need your help!
Check out this quick
and easy online survey to weigh in on
potential topics, vendors, and times for the
event. Thanks in advance for your time and
for helping to make this a great
event! |