Trail Clearing at
Arlington's Great Meadows - Friday Nov 11
It turned out
to be a beautiful day Friday, November 11, 2011 and nine of us met at
Arlington Great Meadows from 10am to noon. We cut, sawed and hauled brush to
clear and widen paths. A huge thank you to everyone who helped out. Look at
all the smiles! We hope to see you again at other FoAGM events.
Nature Walk
Saturday October 15
On Saturday, October 15th, there was a nature
walk at Arlington's Great Meadows led by Don Miller of the Friends of AGM.
Many trees and other plants were be in their beautiful fall colors. The view of
the wetland from Lily Pond Boardwalk will be worth the whole walk. And we'll
see the newly-restored upland meadow known as "Entry Meadow", a major project of
the past year.
We’ll see how plants are getting ready for winter, and
how woody plants have gotten a head start on what they need to do next spring.
And we'll talk about tree bark -- what it does for trees and how it can help us
to identify tree species when there are no leaves to guide us.
A few “late bloomers” will be still in flower, but most
plants have gone to seed by now. We’ll learn how plants have evolved at least
four strategies to spread their seeds far and wide.
As always, we will keep our eyes and ears open for
birds, insects, animals and any other aspects of nature we encounter. If
you have binoculars or a hand lens, do bring them.
There is no charge for this event, which is sponsored
by the Friends of Arlington’s Great Meadows. We suggest long pants, a
hat for the sun, and a bottle of water. We’ll have insect repellant with deet
if you’d like some.
Trail
Clearing September 19
The Waldorf School seventh graders
assisted by our steering committee members Sandra Ruggiero and Don Miller
cleared the trail along the Lily Pond boardwalk on Monday 9/19. Thanks to
all who helped out.
Meadow Volunteers Wanted
Do you love Arlington’s Great Meadows and
do you have at least a few hours to help it thrive? FoAGM is looking for 6
people who could volunteer 2 hours a month on the upland meadow restoration
project from now until November. You can work on your own after a brief training
or we could make some dates to work together. The task will include pulling
staghorn sumac, cutting grey birch sprouts, and pulling or cutting honeysuckle.
This should keep some of the most prolific shrubs and invasive plants at bay and
give the native seeds that we have planted a chance to grow.
Training dates are: Tuesday, July 12 at 6:30 pm
and Saturday, July 16 at 9 am
Contact Sandra Ruggiero 617 365-2034
Firewood Benefit for Arlington's
Great Meadows
Have you benefited from Arlington’s Great Meadows?
Walked the paths and boardwalks? Enjoyed the fresh air, woodlands and open
meadows? Now enjoy an additional benefit that will also help benefit this great
space. Since our meadow restoration work in October 2009, we have been diligently
cleaning up the cleared trees and brush. In January of 2010 the slash was
burned.
As part of the cleanup, we have salvaged and cut a
considerable amount of good, useable firewood. We are now offering this firewood
to users and other friends of the Meadows to help benefit the Meadows and our
continuing work. For a tax-deductible contribution to FoAGM of just $25, we
invite you to take home a trunk load of firewood. The wood is primarily cherry,
aspen, white birch and grey birch and medium in size. For further
details and to arrange pickup, contact John Bartenstein by email at jcblex@verizon.net .
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
Walk at Arlington's
Great Meadow -
Saturday, June 11
Discover the wonderful tract of land, owned by
Arlington but located in Lexington. Trails may be wet in places but waterproof
boots are not required. Co-sponsored with Citizens for Lexington Conservation.
Meet at the parking lot of the Waldorf
School. 8:00-10:30AM. Chris Floyd.
Meadow Area Reseeding - May 4
As part of the upland meadow restoration efforts,
a portion of the area that was a honeysuckle thicket was raked out and reseeded.
The working group lead by John Bartenstein and Sarah Carrier met at 9:00 this
morning with Sandra Ruggiero and twelve or so of her Waldorf High School
students. After a short orientation, they spent about an hour and a half raking
up sticks and leaves and digging out as much of the honeysuckle stumps, roots
and other woody vegetation as feasible. They then raked up the soil with garden
rakes to loosen it and a crew of students simultaneously spread the charcoal
from the burned area. The students then sowed the seed mixes (mixed with light
sand) as directed by Sarah, and finally we raked in the seed lightly.
The restoration area has been staked and circled with twine.
A sign has been installed explaining what was done and asking people (and their
dogs) to keep off.
Brush Burn at Arlington's
Great Meadows - Saturday April 2
On
Saturday, April 2, ten to fifteen sturdy volunteers turned out to burn the piles
of slash that remained from our meadow-clearing workday in October. We had
hoped to do this burn earlier in the year but were unable to do so because of
the deep snow. The day was organized into two shifts, one from 10 a.m. to 1
p.m. and the second from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
We began the day with an inch or two of fresh snow on
the ground, but with a warm breeze most of the snow had melted by day’s end.
Thanks to the hard work of the morning crew, as well as that of three or four
“walk-ons” who also pitched in, we had most of the dozen or so piles of slash
burned by the time the afternoon crew arrived. The afternoon crew made short
work of the remaining piles, and we then tended down the fire for several hours
until it finally had to be doused.
Thanks to all the volunteers, particularly the two or
three who stayed until well past 5 p.m. carrying many buckets of water to make
sure the fire was thoroughly extinguished.
Woodcocks at Arlington's
Great Meadow - Wednesday, April 6
The Menotomy Bird Club (http://www.mrines.com/menotomy/Trips.htm)
is sponsoring a woodcock walk (or sit and listen) at Arlington's Great Meadow.
Hard to find or see most of the year, this strange-looking bird and its
courtship dance is one of the joys of spring. Moist forests and meadows are the
usual habitat of the woodcock. Spring peepers, wood frogs, and even winnowing
snipe may also be heard. The ground can be damp and cold, so dress warmly with
appropriate footwear. Bring a flashlight, something to sit on, and your
binoculars. Meet at the
Sheila
Road entrance to the Great Meadow. 7:00pm
Cedar Stanistreet.
Events of Previous Years
Upland Meadow Restoration
A proposal to restore upland meadow areas in
Arlington’s Great Meadows was presented at a public meeting on the evening
of July 14th of 2009.
The Mass Audubon report is entitled “Recommendations
for Restoration of Meadows Habitat at Arlington’s Great Meadows, Final Report, May 14, 2009”. Copies
can be found
here on the website.
Fire at AGM on Friday April
17, 2009
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.
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
.
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 Reports (since 2003)
FoAGM
By-Laws (6/1/11)
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)
Site Search
Resource Links
Arlington Town Website
Arlington Reservoir
Committee
Citizens for Lexington
Conservation
Environmental
League of Massachusetts
Lexington Town Website
Menotomy Bird Club
Mystic River Watershed
Association
Puddle
Stompers (for the kids)
(Page updated on:
11/15/2011
)