by Danielle O’Dell, Ecologist/Field Supervisor The Science and Stewardship staff have continued to delve deeper and deeper in to the Northern long-eared Bat world! This season, we added a new member to our bat crew! Neil Foley, our long-time Coatue Ranger and Shorebird Monitor, got his rabies vaccination, and with all of his experience removing…
Read More
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 a June Beetle (sub family Melolonthinae) clumsily seeking the source of illumination. Keep the light on and hang a sheet to attract the multitudes of…
Read More
Nantucket’s sandplain grasslands are upland plant communities unique to this region of North America. Once common along the northeastern seaboard, residential, and commercial development and succession to shrublands has all but eliminated these habitats from other coastal areas from Long Island, New York to coastal Maine. It is currently estimated that between 85-98% of the…
Read More
Nantucket’s fauna is very unique – maybe more so for what is not here than for what we have. Numerous species that are common elsewhere in New England are missing from our assemblage of terrestrial wildlife, including chipmunks, possums, raccoons, skunks, fox, woodchucks, and coyotes. What we do have on Nantucket are several species of…
Read More
*Please note, this blog post was originally published in The Inquirer and Mirror on July 21th 2016 pg 6B in the article series Island Ecology. The Foundation’s Science staff will be regularly contributing to our local newspaper and reprinting articles here the following week.* As we all know, Nantucket is unique in so many ways…
Read More
New England Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. novae angliae) Flowering August-September Native to the northeastern United States, New England blazing star is a showy wildflower with star-like clusters of brilliant purple florets arranged on an upright stalk. Found only in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island this globally rare plant is…
Read More
Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum) Flowering July-August Turk’s cap lily is a rare but spectacular sight in the Polpis area of Nantucket, where it grows in shrubby edge habitat. The ornate flowers are bright orange or red, tinged with yellow and spotted with dark speckles near the center, rising above the surrounding vegetation, which affords…
Read More