Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows

Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows - FoAGM

Don Miller leads a nature walk in an area that was burned last year - 5/16/09

Coming Events

Saturday June 20 @ 9:30 am - A Third Saturday Nature Walk
      Join us to see nature in Arlington’s Great Meadows. We will emphasize botany
(because plants don’t fly away), but we’ll also look for birds and other wonders of nature, too.
We’ll see how nature is changing as the seasons pass. We’ll walk to dry upland areas and along the boardwalk in the lower wetland areas.
     Arlington's Great Meadows is lush and green and beautiful now. Do join us to see nature going full tilt, intent upon reproducing and setting up energy stores. Some plants are just coming into flower, while others have fruits already, though usually not mature fruits just yet. Lots of creatures are active, too, though perhaps a bit harder to see.
     Among the species of plants we are likely to see in flower are blue toadflax, gray-stemmed dogwood (aka "pagoda dogwood", poison ivy (yes, it has flowers, and they may still be there Saturday), whorled loosestrife (one of my favorites), and baby cones on pitch pine -- i.e. the female flowers. A sure sign that summer is around the corner will be "hawkweed" aka "king devil". And, I'm pretty sure, we'll see "small sundrops", Oenothera perennis -- come and see if my ID is correct. They were closed up in the rain today.
I hope a friend will join us to point out birds and help us hear and remember their songs. We are likely to hear song sparrows, eastern towhees, flycatchers, common yellowthroats, yellow warblers, and more.
     Adults and teens are welcome, as are older children accompanied by at least one of their
parents. Please Bring: hat; insect repellent; binoculars and a hand lens (if you have them); long
pants and appropriate footwear. We may encounter just a bit of mud along some trails, so bring appropriate shoes. No dogs, please. (Note: These events are sponsored by FoAGM and are free.)
      As always, we'll meet at the far end of the parking lot on the right side of Golden Living Center - Lexington. Here is the PDF version of the flyer for these walks. If you need more information, contact Don Miller at donaldbmiller@comcast.net, preferably, or 781-646-4965.

Tuesday July 14 @ 7:30 pm - Public Meeting on Upland Meadow Restoration
     A proposal to restore upland meadow areas in Arlington’s Great Meadows will be presented at a public meeting on the evening of July 14th. The main speaker will be Jeffrey Collins of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Ecological Extension Service. Collins is an expert in the ecological management of natural lands. The meeting will be held on the ground floor of Follen Community Church, 755 Massachusetts Avenue, East Lexington, from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. The purpose of this meeting is to solicit public input for the development of a final plan this Fall.
     Arlington’s Great Meadows (AGM) is a 183-acre area of natural landscape owned by the Town of Arlington, but located in nearby East Lexington. The land was used by the Town of Arlington for its water supply over a century ago. About three-quarters of the area is wetland, but the rest is uplands which surround the wetland.
     In the past, much of the upland area was dry, open grasslands. Over the past 20 years or so, trees and shrubs have begun to grow aggressively in the grasslands. These upland areas will change into woodlands without human intervention. This means that many current inhabitants such as the American Woodcock will no longer have a home there. The proposed upland restoration areas at AGM are less than six acres total.
     The Mass Audubon report is entitled “Recommendations for Restoration of Meadows Habitat at Arlington’s Great Meadows, Final Draft Report, May 14, 2009”. Copies will be available at this meeting and here on the website.
     Comments or questions can be submitted in person at the public meeting or sent to Mike Tabaczynski at mjt1@rcn.com or by sending them to 12 Essex Street, Lexington, MA 02421.

Wednesday July 8 @ 7:30 pm - Steering Committee Meeting
Planning for our upcoming activities. Anyone interested in helping is welcome. Contact us at info@FoAGM.org or 781-641-2879 for location and more information.

Garlic Mustard Season
Now is garlic mustard season - one of our least favorite invasive plants. More information here. But remembering the old saw that if you have too many lemons, make lemonade - here are recipes for making use of garlic mustard:
http://www.patapscoheritagegreenway.org/garlic07/index.html (Links to cooking tips and recipes on left side navigation.)
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Garlic%20Mustard.html (Note the link to the recipes at the bottom of the page.)

Fire at AGM on Friday April 17
There was an extensive fire in AGM on the afternoon of April 17. Although the fire was mostly confined to the lower wetland areas, some upland areas especially in the northeast near Shelia Road were also damaged. Approximately 100 acres of a total of 183 acres were affected. Regrowth in the wetland areas is likely to be very rapid. Here is a map (2MB PDF) showing the general extent of the fire, although the burned areas were somewhat patchy even the the central meadow area, perhaps related to water levels. The fire was almost certainly of human origin, but there is no information about whether it was accidental or intentional. We also have a photo page of some after fire pictures. We welcome any photos of the fire that you might have to share. The wetland area is recovering quite rapidly after the fire although the situation is more mixed in the upland areas. More photos to come soon.

Spring, Summer & Fall - Japanese Knotweed Control Project
Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows are continuing efforts to control the invasive Japanese Knotweed along the bikeway to provide a more diverse habitat and re-open the view of the meadows. For information on how to help out contact Don Miller at donaldbmiller@comcast.net See the Knotweed Project page for more news and info.

Also visit the Citizens for Lexington Conservation website for other walks in the Lexington/Arlington/Winchester area.

Join our email list to receive up to the minute announcements.

Recent Activities

Sunday April 26 @ 2:00-4:00 pm - Spring Life at Infinity Pond
Join local entomologist Maria Aliberti Lubertazzi for a survey of the area's aquatic life. Dragonflies and many other insects can be found as larvae in the ponds at Arlington's Great Meadows. Meet in the parking lot behind the Golden Living Center, off of Bryant Street. Magnifiers, kitchen strainers and a camera would all come in handy. Co-sponsored by Cambridge Entomological Club and Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows.
Leaders: Maria Aliberti Lubertazzi, Andrea Golden (781-646-3941). Cancelled in case of rain.

Saturday March 21 @ 9:30 am - A Third Saturday Nature Walk
The theme was "Setting the Stage for the Arrival of Spring".
- We will see some very early signs of spring in plant life and hopefully insect life.
- We'll talk about the buds which formed on woody plants last summer and learn why they did not freeze over the winter, and we'll learn how tiny markings on their twigs can tell us a lot about trees and shrubs.
- We'll look for animal tracks and sign, and look-and-listen for birds.
- We'll see a vernal pool and learn about the amazing things about to happen there -- and the crucial role that vernal pools play in the eco-system.

Sunday February 1 @ 1:00 pm to about 3:30 pm - Animal Tracking Class

Noted animal tracker Lydia Rogers held an outdoor class for adults and older teens interested in learning to track animals. Although tracking conditions were not great, the weather was and over two dozen people showed up. Joe Snodgrass posted a report on this walk at his Arlington Natural Connections Project website: http://arlingtonnaturalconnections.blogspot.com/
Lydia Rogers has also provided a list of tracking resources.

Events of Previous Years

Fire at AGM on April 23 in 2008
Nine acres of upland forest near the nursing home were scorched by a fire on April 23. Read the Lexington Minuteman article: http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/x1041578027

FoAGM Contact Information:

To join the FoAGM email list, all you need to do is click on this link to send an email to FoAGM-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. You will then receive news and updates about our events, including weather-related cancellations and reschedulings. This is a very low volume moderated list, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
You can also visit our internet discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FoAGM/

Email Contacts:
Mike Tabaczynski at mjt1@rcn.com (Lexington).
Donald Miller at donaldbmiller@comcast.net or 781-646-4965 (Arlington).
Webmanager at info@FoAGM.org

General Resource Information

A Natural Resource Inventory and Stewardship Plan commissioned by Arlington's Conservation Commission, was completed in 2001 by Frances Clark of Carex Associates. Copies are available at the Arlington and Lexington Public libraries. It is available here on this web site.

About Arlington's Great Meadows (AGM)

About the Friends of AGM

Annual Report 2008 (a PDF file, January 2009)

FoAGM By-Laws (6/16/09)

Boardwalk Project Background & Info (7/8/05)

Information about Invasive Plants (added 3/24/02)

All about Woodcocks (3/28/02)

More about Woodcocks by Marj Rines (9/17/03)

Photo Album (7/1/02)

Bugs Photo Album (7/3/03)