TEAMS/TRWA an alliance for the environment of the future!
TEAMS is focused on protecting the wetlands, vernal pools and small streams that make up the sub-watersheds of our region of southeastern Massachusetts.
TRWA has been a voice for the river, an advocate for environmental protection, sustainable development and responsible stewardship of our precious water resources. TRWA is an Alliance of concerned residents, businesses, and organizations united to restore and properly manage water and related natural resources within the Taunton River Watershed. To link to TRWA please use http://savethetaunton.org.
RWA/TEAMS is a tax exempt, non-profit organization.
JOIN US to help TEAMS protect your watershed and OUR regional natural resources!!
TEAMS is an active volunteer group: we need help to get the job done. Whether it is your personal involvement or financial support.
Please support our MISSION to educate the public and work for the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of water resources.
Please help us in our GOALS to: * Provide a resource for information on water-related issues; * Provide a forum for public discussion on water and environmental issues, including seminars and workshops; * Maintain a website newsletter; * Conduct outdoor activities; and * Promote and advocate for water protection.
ANNUAL Contributions:
$20 students or seniors; $25 individuals, $35 families; $50 supporter; $100 sponsor.
Please make checks payable to TRWA/TEAMS, and mail to P.O. Box 898, Lakeville, MA 02347. Please be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, email address and perhaps let us know your interests in the environment. Your membership fee is tax deductible as allowed by law.
Please contact us at TEAMS-INFO@hotmail.com with any questions you may have or environmental concerns you have, that should perhaps, also be our concerns.
TEAMS hopes you decide to use the information in the articles below to actively explore the watercourses, riparian corridors, and wetlands of southeastern Massachusetts. Each season always offers new wondrous things to see!! Become more aware of the natural world and feel the deep satisfaction of being in touch with nature's cycles.
In February and March
It still seems like winter. Yet there are signs that spring will arrive. Look for the wooly bear caterpillars curled up in torpor/deep sleep under tree bark, boards, etc. These furry red and black caterpillars will stir from the warmth of your hand. The warmth of spring will soon allow metamorphosis and they will change into a golden-winged moth with a furry yellow body! Many things will soon change and awaken from the winter slumber! The great horned owls are incubating eggs in their nests. They are one of our earliest nesting birds. The bald eagles are looking for long and strong branches to reinforce their nests.
There should be more and more nesting pairs in southeastern Massachusetts each year. If you look skyward, you can see the dazzling mating flights of eagles, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks and others. The mating pair will plunge toward the earth from high up and lock talons and whirl around. They then pull out of the plunge and mate either on the ground or in a tree. The spring songs of cardinals, tufted titmice, purple finches, brown creepers, black-capped chickadees and blue jays announce spring is coming to all who listen!
At night, skunks, raccoons, red and gray foxes and coyotes are prowling and seeking mates. The barred owls are calling in the wooded swamps, "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all", to announce their territories for nesting. Migrating flocks of northern native Canada geese, red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, and common grackles can be heard and seen. The woodcocks or "timber doodles" as they are often nicknamed are finding open areas near watercourses and wetlands to do their spectacular mating rituals. The males loudly call "peent" and then fly upwards very high in the sky in a dizzy spiral. This causes a whistling noise from the wind in their feathers. They then dive back to where they started to do their "dance" because the female they are trying to impress is there waiting!
Skunk cabbage spears, furry pussy willows and the buds of silver maples seem bursting with anticipation. Soon the red/swamp maples will flower in a reddish haze in the wooded swamps and along the watercourses. Beautiful big mourning cloak butterflies emerge from winter torpor to sip sap from the trees. The sugar maples and sweet birch have begun such sap flow. During the first warm night in March the spotted salamanders are walking to the vernal pools to mate. Sometimes there is still ice and snow! If you see any blue-spotted salamanders, please email TEAMS at TEAMS-INFo@hotmail.com. The quacking of the wood frogs also can be heard near and in these vernal pools. Spring peepers are active too!
If you have comments or would like to share a magical element, please contact us at TEAMS-INFO@hotmail.com. Be sure to give us your name, address and tell us how you located us.
