A hardy mixture of Mary Cummings Park and Landlocked Forest people marched together for the 2nd time in the Burlington July 4th parade. The weather was nearly perfect (teeny bit hot, which is what it is supposed to be on the 4th.) Cath Moore dressed up as Mary Cummings and invited parade watchers to “Come visit my park.” The parade can be seen on Burlington Cable TV, BCAT.
Archives: Blog
Fireflies at Mary Cummings Park
Starting now, beginning of July, and lasting perhaps a few weeks, there are FIREFLIES at Mary Cummings Park! If you have never seen them, or not since you were a kid, or have kids who have never seen them, this is your chance.
Fireflies are becoming more and more rare in suburban areas due to widespread use of insecticides and way too much night lighting. But Flyer’s Field in Mary Cummings Park, has a nice population of them in this summer of 2017.
Park along Blanchard Road, not at the Burlington Soccer field. (The soccer field is just a big lawn and lawns don’t support fireflies.) There is an entrance to Flyer’s Field on Blanchard Road with a kiosk, across from the big Oracle parking garage. Park on the Mary Cummings side of the street (DON’T cross the road at night!) Walk about 100 paces into the park and look around. If conditions are right, not windy, and about an hour after sunset, you should see the twinkling greenish lights all over the field.
See the map below the video on this page.
DO NOT try to catch fireflies! They are rare!
Expect mosquitos and use repellent. There are ticks, but if you stay on the short mown path you should avoid ticks.
Taking photos is pretty difficult, not likely to work with a smartphone. There are numbers of online references about how to photograph fireflies.
Macro Photo Workshop July 1, 2017
We explored many of the essential techniques of macro photography in nature, primarily looking at aperture. Each photo has a caption that tells more about what we were working towards.
Sunset, of Sorts, June 2017
Here is another Mary Cummings Park sunset, although the sun was behind a vast wall of clouds when I arrived and never really came out. Nevertheless, the clouds and sun put on a pretty good show. I did help bring out the sun rays a bit in processing so they would be as distinct as I remembered them. It is just under a minute long:
A question I often hear asked is, “What is the value of open space in a suburban community?” This is my partial answer.
Photo Fund Raiser Reminder
Here are more examples of prints that you can take home as a reward for a $25 donation on Monday, June 12.
We are very pleased to announce that on Monday, June 12th, from 9am to 10pm, Talbots at Wayside Commons in Burlington will be holding a special fund raising day for The Friends of Mary Cummings Park.
There will be TWO ways to support The Friends of Mary Cummings Park:
- Buy any item at Talbots that day and 10% of all pre-tax sales will be donated to The Friends.
- While you are at Talbots on June 12th, donate $25 online to The Friends of Mary Cummings Park and select your choice from over 250 gallery-quality prints, right in the store.
These prints are photographs by Jonathan Sachs and were made for gallery use. All are printed on archival paper and are ready for framing. The gallery below shows samples of the collection, which includes:
- Over 30 images of Mary Cummings Park, including aerials
- Over 30 images of Italy, including aerials
- Over 30 aerials and landscapes of the Palouse farm country
- Over 40 images of details of nature, some from Mary Cummings Park
- Over 20 assorted landscapes from New England and elsewhere
- A group of 10 colorful studies of acorns
- A group of 10 studies of found objects
- Over 30 images of colorful historic farm trucks
- Over 15 aerial images from many locations
- A group of images of animals and people
- 10 glowing images of mushrooms
- 10 studies of beach textures
Below are samples from each of the 12 categories for sale. Click each thumbnail to see the image enlarged.
Jon Sachs, the photographer, will be at the store throughout the day and evening to help you select your print, sign it if desired, and to answer any questions.
We wish to thank our good friends at Talbots, Burlington for this generous opportunity. We encourage you to come to the fund raiser on June 12, and shop at Talbots at other times to show your appreciation for their support.
Nature Walk with Boot Boutwell, June3, 2017
Another terrific walk with Boot on a lovely spring day; more great stories and poems.
Here are more opportunities to walk with Boot this spring:
- June 7th, 2-4pm, Wright-Locke Farm, Winchester
- June 11th, 3-5pm, Tattersal Farm, Haverhill
- June 15, 9:15 – 11, Bellevue Pond, Medford, Summer Solstice;
- June 18th, 1-3pm, Wright-Locke Farm, Winchester.
Call Boot at 781-729-4712 for more information.
Photography Sale & Fund Raiser at Talbots – June 12
We are very pleased to say that we raised over $500 for The Friends of Mary Cummings Park at our Talbots Photo Fund Raiser.
There were TWO ways to support The Friends of Mary Cummings Park:
- For any item bought at Talbots that day, 10% of all pre-tax sales will be donated to The Friends.
- For each $25 online to The Friends of Mary Cummings Park donors could choose from over 250 gallery-quality prints, right in the store.
These prints are photographs by Jonathan Sachs and were made for gallery use. All are printed on archival paper and are ready for framing. The gallery below shows samples of the collection, which includes:
- Over 30 images of Mary Cummings Park, including aerials
- Over 30 images of Italy, including aerials
- Over 30 aerials and landscapes of the Palouse farm country
- Over 40 images of details of nature, some from Mary Cummings Park
- Over 20 assorted landscapes from New England and elsewhere
- A group of 10 colorful studies of acorns
- A group of 10 studies of found objects
- Over 30 images of colorful historic farm trucks
- Over 15 aerial images from many locations
- A group of images of animals and people
- 10 glowing images of mushrooms
- 10 studies of beach textures
Below are samples from each of the 12 categories for sale. Click each thumbnail to see the image enlarged.
Jon Sachs, the photographer, was at the store throughout the day and evening to greet donors and answer questions.
Samsung Volunteers Clear Invasive Vines from Trees
Watch the volunteers from Samsung in Burlington clear a mass of invasive vines from a group of hardwoods trees. Below the video find a gallery of images. Huge thanks to the gallant Samsung crew.
See still images with captions:
Vernal Pool Walk – May 6, 2017
Matt Burne, co-author of A Field Guide to the Animals of Vernal Pools, led us on a lovely, rewarding walk, in spite of rain showers. The group was made up of hardy souls who voted to continue the walk to the 3rd pool, in spite of yet more showers on the way. Matt showed us eggs of salamanders and frogs, fairy shrimp, and diving beetle larva. And, as we watched, our sample beetle larva proceeded to attack and eat the fairy shrimp. We all thought the fairy shrimp much cuter, but that nature takes her way. (All of the walkers, we think, survived the walk, with only some muddy feet and wet clothing.)
Matt is a founder of the Vernal Pool Association, and is an excellent guide.
Each photo below has a caption that explains what’s going on. When you click a thumbnail, the photo shows quite large, with the caption at top left.
VMWare Stone Wall Rescue – 4-27-17
A dedicated crew from VMware cleared a long section of badly overgrown stone wall on Thursday, April 27, 2017. We had to work our way past huge puddles from recent rain, avoid endless thorns, and then chop, cut, hack and clip away years of invasive vines and shrubs from a lovely stone wall. This was hard work, great fun, and very satisfying to look upon when we were done.
Some still images from the adventure:
