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​CHIROPTERA IN THE COMMONWEALTH:
BATS OF MASSACHUSETTS
with Halie Larkin, Wildlife Biologist
MA Department of Conservation and Resource Stewardship
Wednesday March 19th 7 p.m.
Rutland Public Library, 280 Main Street, Rutland

Photo courtesy of MassWildlife

​     Halie brought us an information-packed presentation about bats!  In her outstanding talk we learned about their life history and ecology, common myths surrounding bats, and threats to their populations. Halie spoke at length about DCR monitoring and management of these creatures, how the public can support bats, and why we should care about them. She provided extensive details about the bat shed at Moore State Park in Paxton and the bat colony that uses it, and we learned about the recent "hot-off-the-press" installation of special modules to enhance the habitat for the maternal bat colony at Lake Wyola in Shutesbury. Many thanks to Halie for a terrific program!  

     Halie Larkin has worked at DCR’s Division of Conservation and Resource Stewardship (DCRS) – Office of Natural Resources (ONR) as a wildlife biologist for the past two years. Her present position involves monitoring, managing, and conserving rare, threatened and endangered species and their habitat throughout DCR’s State Forests and State Parks. She spends much of her time focused on birds, bats, turtles, and snakes.​

Northern long-eared bat Photo courtesy of MassWildlife

   Halie’s past experience includes jobs as Natural Resource Technician for DCR’s Division of Water Supply Protection and Environmental Reviewer with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, as well as graduate research assessing the impacts of deer browsing on vegetation and avian communities in northcentral Pennsylvania. Past projects include monitoring of Appalachian Cottontail, American Woodcock, Allegheny Woodrats, and various forest birds such as the Golden-winged Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, and Wood Thrush. ​

​ANNUAL DINNER MEETING
& SILENT AUCTION
Sunday, February 23, 2025 12 - 5 p.m.
Harvard Forest ~ Fisher Museum
324 North Main Street, Petersham

Guest Speakers:
Florencia Sangermano, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Geography ~ Clark University
&
Jon Skinner, IT Project Manager & Massachusetts birder

DECODING NATURE'S SIGNALS:
​SOUNDSCAPES REVEAL HUMAN IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEM HEALTH
​by Florencia Sangermano

     Habitat loss due to land-cover change is the main threat to biodiversity globally, causing cascading effects on fauna and flora abundance, composition, and ecology. Also affected are ecosystem services such as the  production of food, water, and other vital resources.

​    Satellite remote sensing allows for low cost for monitoring land change over extensive areas. Because of this, satellite-derived measurements of, for example, forest cover have been deemed a key source of information to map biodiversity. However, the presence of an ecosystem, such as a forest, does not guarantee that the resident assemblage of animal life is intact. In some cases an ecosystem's fauna may be depleted due to direct (e.g., hunting) or indirect (e.g., modification of surrounding habitat) human activities, leading to “empty ecosystems”. Linking top-down satellite data with on-site diversity measurements is essential in order to gain a more holistic assessment of ecosystem health.

     Ecoacoustics is a low-cost approach to monitoring acoustic community diversity over extended periods. Sounds from animal life, humans, and non-living entities (such has air and water) are present in a landscape at sound frequencies with particular characteristics. This means that acoustic indicators may be used to distinguish across sound sources and assess ecosystem health.
     In this presentation, Dr. Sangermano will show how acoustic measurements act as landscape indicators of habitat health in central Massachusetts. She will show how this information can be used to map potential action areas to support biodiversity conservation. In Massachusetts, urbanization is the leading cause of current deforestation. The relationship between urbanization and biodiversity is complex and can lead to habitat conditions that negatively affect biodiversity.
    The talk will conclude with descriptions of the emerging technologies used to monitor habitat and biodiversity remotely, with examples developed by team ETH BiodivX, deployed and tested during the XPRIZE Rainforest competition.

     Florencia (Flor) Sangermano is a geographer interested in conservation technologies. Her research focuses on climate and land cover change impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity through the lens of geospatial analysis to support conservation planning and ecosystem management. She merges geographic information science (GIS) and remote sensing technologies with acoustics and landscape ecology to uncover how ecosystems change due to human actions,  and the potential cascading impacts on wildlife and humans. 
Flor is proud to be part of the team ETH BiodivX, which won the bonus prize in the XPRIZE Rainforest competition. 
She earned a Licenciatura (BSc/MSc) in Biology from Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina, and an MA and PhD in Geography from Clark University
     In her free time she likes baking, cooking, and having fun with her family.

FLYING INTO THE FUTURE:
HOW TECHNOLOGY IS ADVANCING BIRDING AND BIRDING RESEARCH
by Jon Skinner

In this presentation, Jon will explore how innovative technologies are transforming birding and bird research via tools like Merlin Sound ID for instant species identification,
nocturnal flight call recordings for tracking migratory patterns,
​and the MOTUS network for real-time tracking of bird movements.
​ We'll learn how these advances are reshaping our understanding of avian behavior and conservation efforts.

     Jon Skinner is an avid birder local to Massachusetts. He has extensive experience with many citizen science bird projects as well as Cornell's Lab's eBird and Merlin Sound ID technology. 
​     Jon's favorite species of birds are shrikes, gulls and finches. Jon leads bird walks for several local clubs, and he enjoys exploring the intersection of technology and birds. When not birding, he works as a project manager for a web agency.

​WILDLIFE TRACKING FOR BEGINNERS
Quabbin Gate 43 Hardwick
with Mike Carrier and friends
Saturday February 15, 2025 9 a.m. – noon

​     Five members took part in this program to learn some of the basics of detecting and interpreting animal tracks and sign on the winter landscape. We explored an area around Quabbin Gate 43 that yielded interesting signs of various animals that make this their home. A snowfall several days earlier, followed by freezing temperatures, created ideal conditions for seeing prints and discussing their patterns. We also found other kinds of clues left behind by some animals, such as claw marks of a fisher that had been excavating a rotten stump, and branches of a small oak that had been ripped down by a bear that had climbed up for the acorns.
     Animal tracks encountered included porcupine, red and gray squirrel, red and/or gray fox, fisher, and coyote. 
    Co-leader Mike has been wildlife tracking for about 8-9 years and has taken part in many cyber tracker evaluations. In his own words: I like wildlife tracking because it brings me closer to the natural world.  It makes me slow down and be more in the moment when I am outside, to notice what is around me.  It fascinates me how animals in the wild go about their day and survive in the winter.     

​MASSACHUSETTS BEARS
with Jim Morelly
Saturday January 25th  11 a.m.-noon
Rutland Public Library, 280 Main Street, Rutland

​The black bear population in Massachusetts is robust, and nature-lovers, biologists, and Mass Wildlife biologists are keeping an eye on them. Jim is a person who perhaps has put in more time than anyone else observing and learning about bears in the south Quabbin region. His encounters - via remote trailcams
and in-person while hiking with his camera gear –
have yielded a wealth of information about black bear behavior.
Jim has also compiled numerous observations and notes into an anecdotal study.
During this excellent program we learned where bears make their dens, when they’re most active, and that they don't truly hibernate in winter but enter a state of torpor. We found out some ways to recognize bear sign when exploring outdoors. The program featured Jim's remarkable photographs and video footage from the many trailcams he has placed in surrounding forests and woodlands.