Anyone who’s spent any time beachcombing in Massachusetts has likely come across a shell riddled with holes, such as the quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria) shell I found recently pictured here. These holes are evidence of the Boring Sponge, Cliona celata. It’s worth pointing out that, although many people consider sponges a lump on a rock, or in this case a lump on a shell, the name “boring” refers to its ability to make a hole in something, not its lack of…
Two weeks ago I had a post about rose hips from Rosa rugosa (click here to read the original post), and discussed that they were a readily available wild edible, and a great source for vitamin C. I’d tasted the fruit in the past and really liked the taste, but I have been generally dissuaded from eating them more often due to the tediousness of picking out the seeds and scraping the small bit of flesh off the inside of…
Last night marked the first frost of the season in Bourne. Recording occurrences such as the first frost is important to the study of phenology. Phenology is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena. The word itself is derived from the Greek word phaino, which means “to show or to make appear”, and the Greek word logos, which means “study”. Therefore, phenology is concerned with the dates of the first occurrence of biological events and natural phenomena in their…
It was such a beautiful day today (70 degrees and sunny in the middle of October?!), I couldn’t help but take the opportunity to stop by Old Silver Beach in Falmouth after work. The most notable thing on the beach was the seaweed that had washed up. Piles of Sargassum had accumulated in the wrack line and at the waters edge. The algae could quickly be identified as belonging to the genus Sargassum based on a handful of unique characteristics:…