Text from BirdNote
"Screech-owls are cute — with stubby little bodies, poky little ear tufts, huge round eyes, and what looks like an expression of perpetual surprise on their face. Come nightfall, though, and they’re every bit as ferocious as they are cute, hunting down crickets, beetles and small rodents. But that’s not all…
Usually, the owls kill their prey before bringing it home. But if they’re lucky enough to capture the little, worm-like reptiles known as blind snakes, they deliver them to the chicks alive and wriggling.Some are gulped down immediately, but others have time to escape by burrowing beneath the wood chips, pellets, and other litter strewn across the floor of the nest. These survivors feed on the insect larvae they find there – larvae that would otherwise parasitize the owl nestlings.
A study conducted by Baylor University scientists found that screech-owl chicks grew faster and healthier in nests kept vermin-free by these … domesticated … blind snakes. Now that’s what I call service."
To listen to the whole podcast, and for links to additional resources, head on over to BirdNote!
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- An Urban Gem - Alewife Reservation Nature Preserve
- Envisioning The Silver Maple Forest
- History and Policies of Cambridge, Belmont, and DEP
- Storm Water Wetlands
- Friends of Alewife Reservation brochure
(front, back) - Technical Analysis of Upper Alewife Basin
- Watershed: An Excursion in Four Parts
- The River Is A Restless Spirit: Life in the floodplain forest
-
Assessment of Silver Maple forest for DEP Adjudicatory hearings and
Patrick Fairbairn, author of the Assessment - Community Native Garden Flora
The
Alewife Reservation
is a unique natural resource for the communities of Belmont, Arlington and Cambridge
and home to hundreds of species, including hawks, coyotes beavers, snapping turtles, wild turkeys and muskrats,
the reservation is a unique natural resource for the community.
Historical information (Powerpoint)
Friends of Alewife Reservation works to protect and restore this wild area and the surrounding area for the water quality, native plants, animals and over 90 bird species with paths for walking, running and biking, recreation, and for classroom education and research. We regularly steward and preserve the Reservation area for wildlife and for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
(video)
By-Laws
About Friends of Alewife Reservation
Statement of Purpose
Citizen Forester newsletter archive
The Birds of the Cambridge Region of Massachusetts
by William Brewster 1906
Nuttal Ornithological Society
Biodiversity Study of Alewife Reservation Area: Species, Habitat, Ecosystems
Inventories by David Brown, wildlife assessor (2003, 2004.) Published by and available from FAR for $10. Write or call for your copy. (sample)
Updated Dave Brown Inventories (2008, 2010)
Inventories of Alewife Reservation Wetland Plants by Walter Kittredge, Botanist (2013)
Email: alewife@greencambridge.org
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