Make Your Yard an Avian Oasis

 Environment, May/June 2025  Comments Off on Make Your Yard an Avian Oasis
Apr 292025
 
Make Your Yard an Avian Oasis

You can bring joy to your backyard flocks without going to the trouble and expense—and to some, imagining the specter of surreptitious nocturnal rodents—of up-keeping bird feeders. Birds are opportunistic feeders—a bug in the beak is worth two in the bush—even if cannier species maintain acorn and seed caches. Nor are they circumspect about having a quick drink: a drop of dew, sip from a puddle, draft from a drainpipe—all afford vital hydration. In times of freeze or drought, refreshed watering oases are lifesavers and bird magnets. If you put out birdbaths, even makeshift ones, a sip of Adam’s ale [READ MORE]

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If You Just Sit Still

 May/June 2023  Comments Off on If You Just Sit Still
Apr 262023
 
If You Just Sit Still

By David Morris When I was young, I had an uncle who was attuned to nature. He was an artist, a hunter, a forager, and truly fascinating to an eight-year-old. Recently, after a frustrating morning trying to see some wildlife, I remembered his words. He’d said, “You need to remember that you are part of nature, too. You need to find a nice spot and just sit still. Don’t wait for when it’s time to move, but just enjoy the looking, the listening, and the sitting still. After a while, once you start to seem like one of them, the [READ MORE]

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Events September 2021

 BCF Events, September 2021  Comments Off on Events September 2021
Aug 232021
 
Events September 2021

By Meg Muckenhoupt The only constant in life is change, according to Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher who strolled through Ephesus in the late sixth century B.C.E. The Greek letter most commonly used to represent change is delta, which is also the title of the variant of the coronavirus that is more contagious than previous versions and has persuaded the town of Belmont to mandate indoor masking.  So, instead of posting a page of fall walks, fundraising galas, hands-on classes, film screenings, talks, and volunteer opportunities, the Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter’s event listings once again offer the thin milk of online [READ MORE]

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Belmont Roots November 2020

 Environment, Newsletter, November 2020  Comments Off on Belmont Roots November 2020
Nov 082020
 
Belmont Roots November 2020

Now is the winter of our discontent. We’ve watched all the videos of past events at the Belmont Historical Society and the Charles River Watershed Association. It’s getting cold, but it may be time to get outside. Nature is a balm when screens separate you from the world. If you’ve walked all of the Western Greenway and Lone Tree Hill, consider trying the ACROSS Lexington Challenge. Walk all 12 ACROSS Lexington trails—more than 35 miles!—record the dates, and submit your record to get a certificate and get added to the “baggers” list. Many spellcheck algorithms replace “COVID-19,” the virus, with [READ MORE]

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