Earthwise Aware

08/28/2026

Lovely nature documentation walks these past two days at Shank Painter, Beech Forest, and Hatches Harbor. Here are a few highlights from this morning. 🌿

Anyone want to guess the species in the collage? I’ll reveal the answers later today or tomorrow! 😉

Our next nature documentation walk is this Tuesday morning at Shank Painter. No expertise is required. I’ll train you on the spot! Together, we’ll identify and document the developmental stages of plants and insects among a few target species, and record the birds we encounter along the way.

Details at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/natures-timekeepers-reading-the-land-tickets-1999129071869

This kind of intentional observation generates data that support climate science and conservation efforts. And we need volunteers to make it happen. The more, the merrier!

Come join us. It’s a wonderful way to slow down, look more closely, connect more deeply with the species around us, and turn that connection into something that helps protect them. 🌿🐛🐦

08/23/2026

Exploring Nature’s Hidden Life in August with EwA Naturalists

🧡 What a wonderfully moody late-summer exploration, and what a pleasure to see both new faces and old friends! The clouds hung low with rain one breath away, and that soft grey light turned out to be perfect for slowing down.

Fungi offered a treasure in the old man of the wood, that shaggy dark-scaled bolete that looks more like a pine cone with ideas than a mushroom. A brown-hooded owlet caterpillar fed in the open, boldly striped in orange, white, and black. And we were lucky with the Pileated Woodpeckers: not just heard but seen, two of them calling back and forth as they moved through the canopy while we watched. The white wood aster is just beginning to bloom, and we followed how its tiny central florets shift from pale yellow to deep pink once pollinated, a quiet signal to pollinators about which flowers still hold a reward. Bumble bees, spiders in rain-beaded webs, and so many other small lives turned up wherever we looked.

Every participant notices something different, and together we build a richer understanding of the landscape than any of us could alone.

Our next forest exploration is only a couple of weeks away. The fungi will have changed, summer will continue giving way to early autumn, and the forest will once again offer an entirely new story to discover.

A great rest of the weekend to all!

– The Fells Exploration EwA Team

Join our urban and walks » www.earthwiseaware.org/events | ⓘ More about EwA Participatory Science Program » www.earthwiseaware.org/citizen-science |

08/16/2026

A goldenrod flower cluster moved, but not with the wind 🐛

I had been inspecting sweet goldenrod at Hatches Harbor for galls when I noticed one small, uneven twitch among the florets. Looking closer, I realized that part of the flower cluster was an animal: likely a camouflaged looper, a caterpillar wearing clipped pieces of goldenrod as its disguise.

It was not simply yellow against yellow. It had remade its own exterior from the very plant on which it fed, becoming, for a while, a moving piece of flower.

🗞️ Meet this remarkable little caterpillar, the goldenrod flower galls I was searching for, and a small cluster of sleeping bees I found nearby ☞ original post at https://www.ecosophical.org/2026/08/when-goldenrod-flower-moves-with.html. I hope you'll enjoy exploring the larger world hidden within this small natural history moment.

08/09/2026

💚 What a rich late-summer forest exploration, and what a pleasure it was to see both new faces and old friends! Fungi were a highlight, from smooth chanterelles, brittlegills, and earthballs to turkey-tail, gunpowder amanita, ceramic parchment, and the always-striking ghost pipe. We also uncovered the smaller stories written on leaves, including oak and hickory galls, elm finger gall mites, pecan leafminers, and jewelweed leaf-miner flies. Bright dogbane leaf beetles, treehoppers, bumble bees, dragonflies, spiders, an American toad, and even signs of White-tailed Deer reminded us how much activity surrounds us when we slow down. Each observation revealed another connection in this wonderfully intricate forest community.

One of the greatest pleasures of these walks is sharing observations, questions, and discoveries together. Every participant notices something different, and together we build a richer understanding of the landscape than any of us could alone.

Our next forest exploration is only a couple of weeks away. The fungi will have changed, summer will continue giving way to early autumn, and the forest will once again offer an entirely new story to discover.

Check the EwA event schedule → https://www.eventbrite.com/o/earthwise-aware-15798903560

07/31/2026

Why are so many dead bumblebees appearing on sidewalks?

Bumblebees naturally have short lives, but extreme heat and human activity are making survival harder. Pesticides can poison bees or destroy the flowers they depend on, while habitat loss leaves them with fewer safe places to live and feed. Protecting native plants and using fewer chemicals could he...

07/29/2026

💚 It was wonderful exploring nature's rhythms and following the timing of plant and insect development together! We saw so much and had even more to discuss. Thank you for joining us at Shank Painter this afternoon for Earthwise Aware's event "Nature's Timekeeper - Reading the Land"

We experienced phenology firsthand while helping document the seasonal development of a remarkable diversity of species along the refuge's main trail. From native to invasive plants, we recorded the stages of leaves, flowers, and fruits. We also took a close look at the many fascinating interactions between plants and insects, including galls and leaf miners on sumac, cherry, and oak. Of course, we documented all of those observations too!

For those who are curious, the phenology records we collected together are available on EwA Pheno Lite. Such a productive afternoon indeed!

Our next nature documentation session is tomorrow at Hatches Harbor, followed by another at Beech Forest the day after. After that, I'll schedule the next outings for about a week and a half later. Keep an eye on the schedule at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/ewa-at-the-cape-4847627.

I look forward to seeing everyone interested in learning to read the landscape, documenting how climate and land use influence plants and animals, and contributing observations that support science and conservation.

07/26/2026

Exploring Nature’s Hidden Life Late July with EwA Naturalists

💚 What a beautiful morning in the forest, and what a pleasure it was to welcome both new faces and old friends returning after years of life's adventures! Thanks to all who shared their morning with us, and thanks to our wonderful naturalists!

The recent rains transformed the forest, rewarding us with fungi that have been largely absent these past months because of repeated droughts. We encountered large milkcaps and colorful russulas, fresh honey mushrooms, elegant amanitas, and many more species just beginning their brief appearances. Nearby, ghost pipes were emerging from the forest floor, one of the unmistakable signs that late summer is approaching.
We slowed down to admire details that are easy to overlook. Beaked hazelnuts were showing off their fresh, unripe fruits, while enchanter's nightshade flowered quietly beneath the canopy. We examined both its delicate blossoms and its tiny hooked fruits, designed to hitchhike on passing animals, as a couple of us discovered after brushing past the plants. Those tiny flowers were anything but unnoticed by their visitors, as a Lasioglossum bee busily foraged among them. We also found a young leaf-footed bug nymph patrolling a signpost in the middle of the forest.

The many insects, spiders, plants, lichens, fungi, the birds we heard, including Downy Woodpecker, Common Grackle, Eastern Wood-Pewee, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, and Tufted Titmouse, along with the countless signs left on leaves and twigs, were just the surface of the intricate interactions that make the forest such a dynamic living system.

One of the greatest pleasures of these walks is sharing observations, questions, and discoveries together. Every participant notices something different, and together we build a richer understanding of the landscape than any of us could alone.

Our next forest exploration is only a couple of weeks away. The fungi will have changed, summer will continue giving way to early autumn, and the forest will once again offer an entirely new story to discover.

A great rest of the weekend to all!
– The Fells Exploration EwA Team

07/11/2026

Such a wonderful forest natural history walk, and a pleasure to meet new friends!

Together we explored the forest with curiosity, sharing observations, asking questions, and discovering how much there is to notice when we take the time to look closely. Every organism has a story, and every interaction reveals something about the living system as a whole.

We admired slime molds in their astonishing forms, traced the intimate relationships between insects and their host plants, watched juvenile and adult amphibians moving through the forest, and listened to the birds that provided a constant soundtrack to our exploration. Every log, leaf, and patch of soil offered another opportunity to observe, wonder, and learn.

There are entire worlds around us, waiting for those willing to be present, attentive, and curious.

We look forward to returning in a couple of weeks. There will surely be many new discoveries waiting for us. 🌱🔎✨

🪲 Join our urban and walks » www.earthwiseaware.org/events | ⓘ More about EwA Participatory Science Program » www.earthwiseaware.org/citizen-science |

07/05/2026

🧡 Thank you to our wonderful guests who joined this morning's Nature's Rhythms walk at Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary! It was a pleasure exploring nature's rhythms and following the timing of plant and insect development together.

Along the way, we looked closely at the species we encountered, listened to and identified birds by their songs, admired the remarkable structure of flowers and fruits, and even discussed the sexual fluidity of red maples. We covered a lot, from how climate and land use shape biodiversity to how paying closer attention helps us build a deeper connection with the places we care about.

For those who are curious about what we documented, I'll post a link in the comments to the species we recorded so you can explore the phenology records we collected together. Toward the end of our walk, I also documented interactions between butterfly milkweed and a brown belted bumble bee, a leafcutter bee, and an ant that was a bit too quick for me to identify. A productive morning indeed!

I can't wait for our next nature documentation walks. I'll be leading them, and I'd love for you to join me. See the schedule: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/ewa-at-the-cape-4847627