If you’ve spent some time around Nantucket’s marshes and harbors, you’ve probably found a spider crab or two, but did you know that crab spiders—yes, crab spiders—can also be found on Nantucket? Not to be confused with the similarly named crustacean, crab spiders are usually found on or near flowers, waiting for their next meal. This can include bees, butterflies, ants, and more—crab spiders aren’t picky!
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If you take a walk at Windswept Bog while the roses and irises are blooming or venture out to Head of the Plains while the bearberry and blueberries are in flower, chances are you’ll be greeted with the delightful hum of bees! Native bees are the true unsung heroes! In addition to bumble bees and carpenter bees, the most well-known native bees, there are also thousands of species of other native bees, including squash bees, sweat bees, digger bees, mason bees, leafcutter bees, and carder bees.
Read MoreSince 2018, biologists from the Forest Health Program at the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation have been conducting surveillance trapping for southern pine beetles on Nantucket. You may have…
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In 2013, NCF’s Science and Stewardship Department started down the road of a wetland restoration project in Madequecham Valley that at the time seemed incredibly daunting. We idealistically set out…
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The hot and humid summer season is flying by. Sweltering days spent in social distance are blending together, leaving some of us to scramble for a moment of quiet and…
Read MoreIf the fog would ever lift this summer, the view of the eastern Middle Moors from Altar Rock might look a little strange at the moment. Large swaths of scrub…
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We are rounding out Pollinator Week, and what a week it has been! June is always an incredibly busy month here at NCF with field work keeping us moving in…
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by: Karen Beattie, NCF Science and Stewardship Department Director Nantucket has experienced an uncommonly wet growing season so far this year. The abundance of rain has produced lush and verdant…
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Stand outside on the warm nights of June, as spring folds into summer, and turn on a light. Soon enough you will hear the engine-like thrum and eventual collision of…
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Over the last few years, homeowners and land managers have been watching the increasing insect damage to the island’s black oak trees. Last year, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the…
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