The ostensible purpose of my walk at Autumn Hill Reservation yesterday was utilitarian, to clear a couple fallen trees from the trail, but the leaves had prepared a surprise party.
They didn't need to do much to make me happy. Ever since I was a kid, leaves have brought me joy. Though most leaves have fallen, the occasional highbush blueberry is still radiant with color.Even the winged euonymus, which we spend time removing due to its overabundance, gave a fine demonstration of how it can turn sometimes white rather than red, if the shade is deep enough.Tuesday, October 31, 2023
The Joy of Autumn Leaves in Autumn Hill Reservation
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
A Kiosk Rises at Herrontown Woods' "Back Door"
Herrontown Woods has a front door and many back doors. Most people know about the "front door" off Snowden Lane, leading to the main parking lot, trailheads, and the Botanical Art Garden. Fewer people are aware that Herrontown Woods borders Princeton Community Village (PCV), off Bunn Drive. The building of more affordable housing there, perched right next to Herrontown Woods, has drawn our attention to how we might make this "back door" more of a front door, and connect with PCV residents in some way. Perhaps we could build and maintain a raingarden together, and make an appealing loop trail on that side of the preserve. In addition, PCV is served by local and regional buses, with a bus stop just 100 feet from our trail system. This may make Herrontown Woods the only nature preserve in Princeton that can easily be reached by bus.
An important first step would be to build a kiosk at the PCV trailhead, and as serendipity would have it, a member of the venerable Boyscout Troop 43 was looking for an Eagle Scout project to do in Herrontown Woods."I have been volunteering with the organization since the fifth grade. Whether it was planting trees to prevent erosion or nature walks on cold winter mornings, Friends of Herrontown Woods is the reason I am passionate about the outdoors and am committed to my community. I’ve had so many beautiful experiences with the organization and wanted to
share them with others through my kiosk and an educational nature
walk. I hope my kiosk encourages others to explore the outdoors and
the many physical and mental benefits it provides."
Monday, October 9, 2023
A Tree Inventory Underway in Herrontown Woods
Monday, July 24, 2023
A Dragonfly Walk with Mark Manning
This summer, we pitched the idea of a dragonfly walk to Mark Manning, a Hopewell science teacher with broad and deep knowledge of nature, with a particular passion for amphibians and dragonflies. Mark's first choice for a location was Rogers Refuge, the wonderful wetland just down from the Institute Woods. In 2021, he and his sons had compiled an impressive list of 36 Odonata species (dragonflies and damselflies) there. But logistical difficulties shifted the walk to Herrontown Woods.
Having not yet seen any dragonflies this year, I was wondering whether the walk would acquire the same existential feel we had some years back when a mushroom walk we hosted coincided with a prolonged drought. I cut a path down to a pond on preserved pasture land near Veblen House, but the pond was dry.Our Pair of Black Vultures Lost Their Progeny
For as long as I can remember, a pair of black vultures has arrived at Herrontown Woods each spring to raise their young in the corncrib next to this little red barn. We'd see them perched on the chimney of the derelict Veblen Cottage, and think them a bad omen. But in 2017, one of their two chicks was slow to develop, and we watched as the parents patiently tended to it until it could join them up on the Veblen Cottage roof. The word online is that black vultures mate for life and are devoted parents. As we watched the immature vulture gain strength and ultimately join its parents on top of the chimney, our uneasiness about vultures turned to affection. They do, after all, perform considerable custodial work in nature, cleaning up messes that the rest of us steer clear of.
If one thinks about it, our initiative at Herrontown Woods involves a great deal of scavenging, that is, finding promise in what the rest of the world has forsaken. The boarded up house and cottage, overgrown trails and a derelict pine grove filled with invasive species--these scenes of long time abandonment have been for us prize finds.
The past couple years, I've only seen one black vulture hanging out near the barn. Though I generally stay away from the corncrib, not wanting to disturb them, I have checked a couple times and found it empty. The story I told myself was that the male had lost its mate, and now returns as a bereft spouse each spring to linger and grieve.Saturday, July 15, 2023
The Joys of Midsummer Music in the Woods
This is the third year that the Friends of Herrontown Woods has collaborated with actor Vivia Font and the Princeton Public Library to stage a mix of music and poetry on the tranquil grounds next to Veblen House.
July 15 arrived, however, with ever-shifting predictions of rain that in turn finally prompted a shift of venue to the library's Community Room.Wednesday, July 12, 2023
What's Bloomin' in the Barden in Early July
Here's the classic purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) blooming in the circle of labeled wildflowers around the gazebo.
Competing in the white spire category are bottlebrush buckeye,
Culver's Root,
Black Cohosh,
and Spanish Bayonet (Yucca filamentosa). Of these four spire-shaped flowers, only the black cohosh can be encountered along the trails. The others are native but not commonly seen growing in the wilds of Princeton.
and some beebalm poking through here and there.
This pokeweed was lucky to sprout in a spot large enough to accommodate its gracefully gangly growth.
And I was surprised to find Enchanter's Nightshade looking so enchanting, on an embankment overlooking a stream next to the parking lot.
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Nature Walk Led by Sarah Roberts
Friday, June 16, 2023
New at the Barden: Installations and June Blooms
We recently completed some new installations at our award-winning Botanical Art Garden (BArden for short). One involved great effort; both involved considerable doses of serendipity.
Our new gathering platform is now complete, made largely of scavenged materials. It is a layer cake of reuse, with repurposed boards and flooring supported by long, sturdy pallets stretched across two fallen pine trees. The rustic railings are crafted from well-preserved eastern red cedars that died long ago in the nearby woods after being shaded out by taller trees.Among the flowers blooming at the Barden:
Common milkweed. We also have purple milkweed at the Barden, which has a deeper color to the flower.
Fringed loosestrife, whose shy flowers point down.