The Attleboro Council on Aging Hiking Group visited the Deborah and Roger Richardson Nature Preserve on June 22. The popular weekly event is coordinated by Juliet Teixeira, vice president of the Attleboro Land Trust (in the green Hike Attleboro T-shirt).
Hikers on the Wyman Loop Trail as it crosses the Lower Hayfield at the Richardson Preserve.
For more information, contact the Larson Senior Center at 774-203-1906.
ExtremeTerrain.com recently awarded a grant to the Attleboro Land Trust in the amount of $250. We thank ExtremeTerrain for its support of our trail work.
This Clean Trail Grant will help to fund expenses for an upcoming trail project. Stay tuned for more details as this project moves forward.
For almost three decades, the trail at the Colman Reservation was an “out and back” trail. Visitors entering the property from the parking lot on Steere Street could walk to the Giant Hemlock, or further, but to get back to parking lot they had to turn around and go back they way they came. All that has changed with the completion of a new section of trail that makes it possible to hike a loop that begins and ends at Steere Street.
The design and clearing of the trail was spearheaded by Dave Rolince, who volunteers as a site steward for the Colman Reservation. Because the new trail crosses wetlands, several boardwalks were necessary. Starting in the fall of 2021, Scout Zachary Dorrance of Troop 25 carried out an Eagle project that involved constructing the boardwalks.
Zachary assembled a crew of volunteers that did the bulk of the construction work last November. He returned with his crew in April to finish the boardwalks and make other trail improvements. Zachary also organized a fundraiser to cover the costs of materials for the project.
The Attleboro Land Trust is grateful to Zachary and his volunteers for the hard work they put into this much-appreciated improvement to the Colman Reservation.
Larson Woodland - Kiosk
Eagle candidate Felicity Norlin of Troop 1846 recently completed an Eagle project that involved construction of bulletin boards at the trail entrances for three Attleboro Land Trust nature preserves. Felicity is shown in the center of the above photograph surrounded by her volunteer crew of Scouts, adult leaders, family, and friends, at the entrance to the Joseph and Margaret O’Donnell Nature Preserve.
A second bulletin board, shown above, was installed at Vaughan Memorial Forest. The third bulletin board was installed at the Colman Reservation.
Bulletin boards have been on the land trust wishlist for a while and we thank Felicity and her crew for fulfilling this need.
Even in the middle of winter, an observant hiker can be rewarded with a spot of color while walking on one of the Attleboro Land Trust’s nature preserves. This is British Soldier lichen, Cladonia cristatella, photographed in February, 2007, at the Nickerson Walking Woods Preserve. The species gets its name because of the red caps that are a reminder of the red coats worn by British soldiers at the time of the American Revolution.
Like many lichen, this lichen is actually a combination of fungus and algae living in a symbiotic relationship. The fungus provides structure for the algae, while the algae turns sunlight into food which is shared with the fungus. The red caps contain reproductive spores.
After a night of rain, sleet, and snow, the Richardson Nature Preserve glistened on a December morning in 2019. An American holly tree is in the foreground. The red berries, found only on female trees, provide food for many birds.
On November 14, a group of more than 20 hikers met at the Chorney Property on Ellis Road to enjoy a rural landscape that has so far avoided development, despite being close to population centers. The hike was organized by the North Attleboro Land Trust Steering Committee (NALTSC), a group of citizens who want to help ensure the preservation of such landscapes.
Hikers crossed a bridge over the Seven Mile River.
Guide Gary Krofta led hikers to a spot populated by beech trees, which retain their leaves all winter.
Hikers headed north on Ellis Road, past working farms like this one.
Guide Jill Miller explained various state programs that provide economic help to farmers who want to preserve their land.
Approaching the historic Angle Tree Stone.
Getting closer.
The Angle Tree Stone is protected by bullet-proof glass. (This photo by Scspaeth https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angle_Tree_Stone_2016.jpg. All other photos by C. Adler.)
Guide Ann Chapdelaine describes some of the history surrounding the Angle Tree Stone.
Climate science tells us that spring is arriving earlier than it used to. Wild plants and animals follow nature’s clock as they move through annual cycles of migration and reproduction. Climate change is changing the timing of some of these cycles, and disrupting the interdependent web of nature.
Tara K. Miller
Our guest speaker at this year’s annual meeting, climate scientist Tara K. Miller, will share some of the latest research on this topic, describing how some of the plants and animals that populate our bioregion are no longer in sync with each other, and what that means for our future.
The 2021 Annual Meeting of the Attleboro Land Trust will be on Tuesday, November 16th, at 7:00 pm via Zoom and is open to the public. The Zoom link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85322417648?pwd=c1JwSHFSa0tHY2hsZUd4clJOYlpYdz09
Meeting ID: 853 2241 7648 Passcode: 572462
Audio Only +16465588656,,85322417648#,,,,*572462#
