The Sweet Spot

On the weekend of April 30th-May 3rd 2021, if you are out and about - in your garden or yard, on a walk, or walking your pet, chatting with a neighbor or hanging outside in the playground in Acton or Boxborough - and you happen to see an interesting plant, or animal, a bug, bee or a bird - or any local biodiversity, you can earn the title of a Citizen Scientist ! This weekend is when Acton-Boxborough participates in a public collaboration effort in contributing to scientific research through crowdsourcing . And for crowdsourcing, more the merrier! “I followed the steps [ during the kickoff meeting for the project] and in just a couple of minutes I am all set to start observing biodiversity, and uploading the pictures to the site”, says Liliana Rao, a recent member of the AB BioBlitz initiative. The steps include downloading the iNaturalist app ( iPhone or Android ), creating an account and under “More” in the menu, click “Projects'' and search “Acton Boxborough” to find and j...

To newly migrated Indians in North America, huge hardware stores like HomeDepot, Lowes etc can feel daunting at first. But it doesn’t take too long for hobbyists, tinkerers and serious builders alike, who have some inclination to get their hands dirty and their feet wet, to figure their way around. And in no time at all, with a favorite DIY project tucked under their arm, these stores can make one feel like a kid in a candy store! To newly migrated Indians in North America, huge hardware stores like HomeDepot, Lowes etc can feel daunting at first. But it doesn’t take too long for hobbyists, tinkerers and serious builders alike, who have some inclination to get their hands dirty and their feet wet, to figure their way around these stores. And in no time at all, with a favorite DIY project plan tucked under their arm, these stores can make one feel like a kid in a candy store!  My cousin Rahul moved with his family to Canada recently. For most of his adult life I had seen him focusse...

Amanita Muscaria aka Fly agaric has been the most glamorized, romanticized mushroom, with its bright red cap embellished with white spots standing on an elegant white stem, featured in fairy tales that mesmerize young minds clueless of its psychedelic properties. So it was no surprise that while still in single digits, one of my dreams was to walk the woods looking for this enchanting organism which was responsible for Alice (in Wonderland) being able to alter her size with just a bite. These fantastical mushrooms, sprawled in a bright red, eye-catching colony while the formidable, powerful Baba Yaga in Russian folklore flies over! As a child my imagination and curiosity saw no bounds, wanting to enter that ecosystem, to emerge in that dream world.   Even though I had a distant dream and fascination, I can’t exactly call myself a mycophile. My connection to wild mushrooms resurfaced due to a quirky tradition that evolved organically within a hiking group that I am a part of....

This summer, “staycation” assumed a whole new meaning. Our backyard, with the newly installed Glenfeeder , opened our world to the exciting activity of a variety of New England birds. Within a couple of days of putting the bird feed out, there had been enough communication for the birds to start trickling in. We observed their patterns and slowly learned the best visitation times. We parked ourselves by the window when they visited and as time went by some birds were bold enough to visit even as we sat, not too far away, on the deck. I had never imagined birds would have so much personality, and even attitudes! We even ended up naming a few. Goldfinch            Black & White Chickadee House finch First we got the sparrows, and the warblers and the finches. Then one day we observed an unusual phenomenon. A big, fat, fluffy, grey bird sat plopped on the edge of our deck, away from the bird feeder; and a much smaller sparrow flew back and forth feeding th...

A few days before Mother’s Day, a friend shared an enthralling picture and some videos of New Life. First there was a fascinating picture, from a nest cam, of the deep blue eggs, in a perfectly constructed Robin’s nest in my friend’s rhododendron bush. Then the chicks hatched and came the videos from her nest cam. The cam captured all without disturbing the chicks’ feeding rituals. How the chicks opened their beaks wide and how the parents fed them perfectly! Everyday we were clamoring for more on this new life, excited that it was happening right where we lived. The best was the day before Mother’s Day, when there were some snow flurries at night and the mother Robin created a shield with her wings to protect her little ones! In these uncertain times, in the middle of the lockdown, with news about devastation and destruction coming in from everywhere, I really needed this breath of fresh air. It was a reminder of new life. Of Mother Nature continuing to do its th...

The crabapple trees in my yard are awake after being dormant all winter; now covered with bursting buds and fresh young green leaves, where only recently their bare branches were adorned by white powdery snow. I bought this pair of saplings in a sale, some ten years ago, after the associate at the store narrated how the berries on these kind of trees attract birds, among many more of its virtues. The trees haven’t disappointed, starting to flower in spring with pink buds, blossoming into fragrant white flowers. The flowers are a magnet for bees. The leaves fill up into a lush, darker green into summer, as the flowers peep through, slowly turning into clusters of pink mini apples. Towards the end of summer the berries turn red and become glossier and shinier through early fall. True to the associate’s story, it attracted all sorts of local birds. The first few years of having the fruit, I assumed the berries were ornamental, and at best food for the birds. With every passing year, t...