Author Archives: Hillary T.

About Hillary T.

Where: Mass Audubon Headquarters, Lincoln Who: Massachusetts transplant by way of Florida and New York. Raising two young girls, who she hopes will be budding naturalists Favorite part of the job: Learning something new every day from some of the smartest and most enthusiastic groups of people

Banding Peregrine Falcon Chicks in Boston

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Hillary T.

IMG_1456_640Norman Smith, Director of Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, and Tom French, Director of Mass Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program, completed another successful banding of Peregrine Falcon chicks in the clock tower of the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse at Custom House in Boston. The duo has been banding falcon chicks in this location since 1987.

The bands provide researchers like Smith and French valuable information about the behavior of these endangered birds. For example, we know that the female “mom” was banded in Providence in 2009 and has been at the Custom House since 2011.

Check out photos from the banding >

About Peregrine Falcons

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Peregrine Falcons are the fastest birds on earth, capable of flying up to 242 miles per hour. Their speed and wicked sharp talons make them incredible hunters. They have the unique ability to capture and kill other birds in flight, everything from blue jays to American woodcocks, before returning to the nest.

Upon examining the nesting platform at the Custom House, French found feathers and bones from blue jays, a parrot, a brown creeper among others. Learn more about Peregrine Falcons in Mass Audubon’s Breeding Bird Atlas and MassWildlife’s fact sheet.

A Success Story

Once an abundant breeder in the eastern United States, with a recorded 375 nesting pairs in the 1930s and 1940s, these falcons fell prey to the effects of DDT. The last historical active nest in Massachusetts was in 1955 on Monument Mountain in Great Barrington. According to MassWildlife, the pesticide caused the falcon’s eggs to be too thin and unable to withstand the weight of incubation.

By 1966, not a single nesting pair could be found in the eastern US. After the banning of DDT, an effort to restore the Peregrine population ensued. Dubbed “hacking,” young falcons were raised in captivity in a special way to avoid imprinting (this is when they become used to humans).

After a few attempts of releasing these captive-breed young falcons (including a release at Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln), the first modern falcon nest in Massachusetts was deemed successful in 1987.

Today, there are approximately 30 nesting pairs of Peregrines in Massachusetts. They are found on top of buildings and bridges—the closest thing to the rocky cliffs they once preferred. This year’s Custom House brood will head out on their own, bands intact, in approximately three-to-six weeks. In another two years, they will hopefully breed and thereby ensure the Peregrine population continues to grow.

Watch the Chicks Grow

IMG_0163_640There are live cams set up in several nesting locations, including the Custom House, so that you can follow along with the progress. Watch the live streams:

How Arcadia Nature Preschool Impacted Two Sisters

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Hillary T.

As Laura and Mary Fisher walked around the Arcadia Nature Preschool this past December, the memories came flooding back. The sisters attended the preschool in the 1990s and vividly recall free play around the sand table, pretending to be pollinators, and going outside rain or shine every day.

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Not only do they both consider Arcadia Nature Preschool, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, as the best educational experience of their lives but agree their experience at Arcadia set them on the path toward their current professions and passions.

“There was never the notion that you couldn’t—or worse, shouldn’t—do something because you were a girl,” says Laura. “Everyone got their hands dirty, especially me. The preschool taught me always to say ‘I can do that.’ And that still applies now in all areas of my life.”

Fisher sisters by school house

As a lawyer, Laura has written and published scholarly articles about the intersection of policy, nature, and agriculture. As a volunteer, she runs the Easthampton Community Garden.

Mary studied biology in college and is now a chemistry teacher at a high school in Springfield. “I told my mom that sending me to Arcadia Nature Preschool was the greatest thing she could have done for me,” Mary adds. “Preschool set the stage for my going into science. The hands-on activities of the Preschool are the same as the experimental approaches of the research lab.”

Celebrating 40 Years

This year Arcadia Nature Preschool celebrates its 40th anniversary of the first nature preschool in Massachusetts and one of the first in the nation. You can be part of the celebration by:

  • Attending 40 Years of Wonder special event on Saturday, May 22, complete with birds of prey, seed starting activities, nature games, and a gathering of past teachers and graduates.
  • Ensuring that Arcadia reaches and inspires more young people like Laura and Mary for the next 40 years by supporting Environmental Education at Arcadia.

Written by Carolyn Cushing, Special Projects and Events Coordinator at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary