Pollinator Power
BCT is proud to be a member of Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod and strategically aligned with the Brewster Pollinator group. Over the last five years, we have actively worked to nurture pollinator habitat by replacing lawns on our properties with native wildflower meadows and managing invasive plant species. At Hay Conservation Center, our Trustees have endorsed a land management plan that prohibits the use of pesticides, weed killers, and other herbicides. We continue to expand the native plantings surrounding Hay House and in the Alyce Favreau garden.
You can follow these same steps to increase pollinator activity in your own yard. If you’d like to go a little further by tracking pollinator activity, especially bumblebees, consider using the Beecology app from Worster Polytechnic Institute. The app will guide you through an easy sequence of steps, help you identify your bumblebee's species, and submit your picture to their database. In addition to learning about bumblebees, you will be contributing to science by helping WPI map bumblebee species in New England and what flowers they like.
More information, tips, and tutorials are on the website. Get started by clicking here.
If you’d like to expand your use of the app, stop by our Eddy Sisters property at 660 Lower Rd. where our heirloom apple orchard and wildflower meadow make great bee habitat. The Brewster Community Garden is also on that parcel, as well as the Lower Cape Children’s Garden, both of which pack a lot of pollen that draw in nectar-searching bees.
Turtles
The Eastern Box Turtle is currently on the Massachusetts list of species of special concern. Scientists are working to better understand the turtles’ habits and activities so they can improve their chances of survival. Especially during spring and summer when turtles are most active and sightings are fairly common, you have an opportunity to help. If you see a box turtle, you can become a citizen scientist by reporting your sighting.
First, a few simple steps:
- Don't bring the turtle home: Wildlife belongs in the wild. It’s stressful for the animal to be removed from its natural surroundings.
- Do lend a hand: If you see a turtle on or near a roadway, please escort it safely in the direction it is heading. If you need to pick the turtle up while doing so, hold it firmly on either side of the carapace, or shell, while supporting the bottom side of the body, called the plastron.
- Do report the sighting: Note the time, date, and location of your sighting and the direction in which it was traveling. If possible, take several clear photos of the turtle.
Submit your information HERE. We will forward it to the Massachusetts Fish & Wildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species program. To learn more about that program, click here.
Kids Conservation Kit
Walk BCT’s Vernal Pool Trail
Check out No Bottom Pond Trail
Learn about Ticks and Poison Ivy
