Library Blog
Posted on Thu, March 17, 2022 - 08:00pm
March 18, 2022.
Announcement!
I will be offering “Trees in Early Spring” on Monday, March 21 at 2:30. This 1-hour nature walk around the library’s property will provide guidance and practice in tree identification. Learn some interesting facts about our local trees and develop skills to wow your…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, March 10, 2022 - 07:00pm
March 11, 2022
The first week of our “Nature’s Rhythms” activity will end at midnight. Thanks to everyone who has participated. Keep up the good work!
Between March 5th and 11th, several phenomena drew reader’s attention including the activity of raptors and the emergence of garden bulbs. …
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, March 03, 2022 - 07:00pm
I look forward to long weekend walks when there is adequate daylight and no need to rush. Last Saturday’s excursion at an abandoned cranberry bog didn’t disappoint. The sun was shining, and crusty snow still covered the ground. Animal tracks were everywhere, tracks that had repeatedly melted and…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, February 24, 2022 - 07:00pm
Winter in New England means short days, cold weather, dormant plants, changes in animal behavior, and snow – yes, more snow! This season also offers a distinctive and very beautiful night sky. I know winter has arrived when Orion reappears in the heavens.
Orion Over Oakes Ames Hall, February 23…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, February 17, 2022 - 07:00pm
This week started out cold, with single digit mornings in my neighborhood. These low temperatures, in conjunction with some other favorable conditions, created one of my favorite winter phenomena. My first view of the world on Tuesday morning was this:
Window Frost on February 15, 2022
Elegant…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, February 10, 2022 - 07:00pm
Today is a mild, sunny day, one of those days when the library patrons are smiling and the birds are singing. It’s quite a contrast to last Friday’s ice storm which challenged anyone who ventured (or lived) outdoors. The day after the storm, I was stepping gingerly through the library’s ice-…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, February 03, 2022 - 07:00pm
“Trees in Winter” was a “before” quiz, an assessment of what you already know or can aim to learn. It limited the selection of trees to those living at the Ames Free Library, a manageable group growing on a small, easily-traversed property. I hope that their names and images will stay in your mind…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, January 27, 2022 - 07:00pm
When the leaves fell off this young tree, they left large heart-shaped leaf scars with buds nestled above them. These scars and buds offer clues to a leafless tree’s identity, as do those little speckles called lenticels. To familiarize yourself with some of these features, try our “Trees in…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, January 20, 2022 - 07:00pm
Winter is a great time to learn how to recognize trees, now that all those leaves are out of the way! Bark, buds, and the tree's shape offer helpful clues. Why not try your hand at tree identification by playing our "Trees in Winter" game? This illustrated multiple choice quiz is centered on…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, January 06, 2022 - 07:00pm
If you close your eyes and picture evergreens, I suspect that your mind’s eye will recall something like this...
...pyramidal trees with needles. The dwarf Alberta spruce that was highlighted in a recent post exemplifies this form, one that is typical of coniferous trees. Not all evergreens…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Wed, December 22, 2021 - 07:00pm
“Christmas Means Cranberries” . . . at least that’s what an Ocean Spray advertisement in Ladies Home Journal proclaimed in 1947.
“Christmas Means Cranberries,” SAILS Digital History Collections
Like many Americans, I enjoy eating cranberries year round, but, I’ll admit, that the fruit and…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, December 16, 2021 - 07:00pm
Next Tuesday is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the day when the sun makes its lowest arc in the skies of the northern hemisphere. This astronomical event has been celebrated from time immemorial, as people eagerly anticipated the return of longer days and a greener landscape. …
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Fri, December 10, 2021 - 07:00pm
The last time we looked at an herbaceous plant was at the end of August when the library’s jewelweed reached its floriferous peak. It’s high time to consider another wildflower! Yes, blossoms are in short supply right now, but the plants that create them can be very conspicuous, especially when…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, December 02, 2021 - 07:00pm
On Tuesday afternoon, a large flock of American robins visited the Ames Free Library to feed in the Siberian crabapple near Queset House.
Yes, robins can be seen in Massachusetts during the fall and winter months, though they are probably not the same birds that nest in your yard. According to…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Fri, November 26, 2021 - 07:00pm
This week’s goal was to photograph buds and bark. While doing so, an unanticipated subject caught my attention. Whether it was the chirp or the rapid movement, I can’t recall. By the time I redirected the camera, the creature had travelled through three trees and, fortunately, settled on a limb…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, November 18, 2021 - 07:00pm
The foundation of nature study is the habit of watching and wondering, of making observations and asking questions, a habit that I try to practice daily and to encourage through this blog. These simple, and sometimes brief, observations quickly point to the complexity of our world.
In writing A…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, November 11, 2021 - 07:00pm
For the past several weeks, the glory of the southeastern Massachusetts landscape has been its oaks.
I admit that my love of oaks came later in life. Don’t get me wrong, I always liked the trees and their acorns; indeed, a large red oak arched over my childhood home. Yet their strength and…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, November 04, 2021 - 08:00pm
See what’s happening on the grounds of the Ames Free Library or nearby areas with “A Glimpse of Nature.” Offered by Lorraine Rubinacci, the library's resident naturalist, this weekly photo blog is a gentle reminder to enjoy the wonders that surround us.
A Glimpse of Nature - "Great Blue…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, October 28, 2021 - 08:00pm
See what’s happening on the grounds of the Ames Free Library or nearby areas with “A Glimpse of Nature.” Offered by Lorraine Rubinacci, the library's resident naturalist, this weekly photo blog is a gentle reminder to enjoy the wonders that surround us.
A Glimpse of Nature - "Autumn Bounty"
I…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, October 21, 2021 - 08:00pm
See what’s happening on the grounds of the Ames Free Library or nearby areas with “A Glimpse of Nature.” Offered by Lorraine Rubinacci, the library's resident naturalist, this weekly photo blog is a gentle reminder to enjoy the wonders that surround us.
A Glimpse of Nature - "A Tale of Two…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, October 14, 2021 - 08:00pm
A Glimpse of Nature -- Gills & Pores
October 15, 2021
This week, let’s look at a few of the fungi that have been growing around the Ames Free Library. Rather, I should specify that we’ll be examining their fruiting bodies. After all, the inconspicuous mycelia of these fungi have been…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, October 07, 2021 - 08:00pm
A Glimpse of Nature - Fabulous Fungi Challenge
October 8, 2021
It’s been raining, and the fungi keep on coming. Now’s the time to join the AFL’s “Fabulous Fungi Challenge.”
Photograph three unusual fungi
Send your images to info@amesfreelibrary.org
Get rich, become famous . . . maybe win a…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, September 30, 2021 - 08:00pm
See what’s happening on the grounds of the Ames Free Library or nearby areas with “A Glimpse of Nature.” Offered by Lorraine Rubinacci, the library's resident naturalist, this weekly photo blog is a gentle reminder to enjoy the wonders that surround us.
A Glimpse of Nature - "A Woodland…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, September 23, 2021 - 08:00pm
A Glimpse of Nature -- Mantids
September 24, 2021
Two observers have shared photos of mantises living in Queset Garden. One was taken in late July; the other in late August. The most striking aspect of both images is the animals’ highly-effective camouflage.
Courtesy: Brian Woodward
I cropped…
Category: Staff Picks
Posted on Thu, September 16, 2021 - 08:00pm
A Glimpse of Nature -- A New Twist
September 17, 2021
Last week I lamented the difficulty of photographing night-singing insects. Whenever I approached, they became silent and “disappeared” into the dark foliage. . . until I walked away. Well, not long after I completed the post on “Night Music…
Category: Staff Picks