Fells Flora and Fauna

The Fells is home to wide variety of plants and animals. You will find some general information on Fells flora and fauna below. During Massachusetts Biodiversity Days volunteers from the Friends, surrounding towns, and other local conservation organizations, spread out across the Fells, identified and catalogued as many species as they could find over the course of 3 days. Their hard work enhanced previous studies on the wildlife and plant life in the Fells.

Fells Plants

Within the Fells are a variety of plant communities and areas where specific species of plants tend to grow. In a 1993 study, Drayton identified five distinct types:

• stream bank: wetland areas with the highest diversity of species;
• upland woods: drier soils subject to more human impact and less diversity of plants;
• the Fells: ledges with thin poor, well drained soils, receiving the most impact, and least diversity of species;
• fields and old fields: areas currently maintained as fields or fields that are returning to forest;
• carriage roads: roads in the Fells used for maintenance, emergency access and foot traffic, with a characteristic vegetation.

The Fells vegetation is categorized generally as an oak-hickory forest. These trees require similar environmental conditions and are often associated with each other. Other less common tree associations in the area are ash-red maple, and maple-beech-birch. The Fells has these forest types, as well as white pine and hemlock. Because of the impacts on the Fells by people, including the planting of over 500,000 trees in the early 1900s, it is difficult to say whether the forest is a truly "natural" area or a modified woodland.

Most hikers who enter the Virginia Wood or other parts of the Fells where hemlock trees abound may not be aware that potentially in years to come virtually all of the groves of these stately trees will have been wiped out by the woolly adelgid parasite which is now attacking them.

The MDC, aided in small part by the MDC/Friend's 'Adopt a Hemlock' program, has started a  limited program to protect a small number of these trees.  But much more must be done if an effective defense is to be carried out.  The Friends has discovered that the Trustees of Reservations and the Town of Stoneham (at Whip Hill) have had success with a more aggressive program,  using a permethrin based insecticide spray which halts adelgid destruction for at least a year or two, on acres of trees at time. We are researching the effects of these sprays. Volunteers are urgently needed to help in our efforts to develop a campaign to save these beautiful trees in the Fells.  Please contact us at 781-662-2340 if you wish to help!

                                 Photo:  Mike Ryan

Eastern Coyote       Photo: Michael Arnott

Animals in the Fells

Some of the animal species identified at the Fells are pictured below.  Not pictured but very much present in the Reservation are fisher-cat, coyote, fox and deer.   For the most current list of wildlife sighted, click here.

For the most current Fells bird inventory list (as of Dec. 2008) click here.

Bird Count on 12/14/2008:

1 Common Loon                                                                                    
48 Canada Geese
4 Hooded Merganser
11 Common Merganser
26 Ruddy Duck
3 Red Tailed Hawk
6 Ringbilled Gull
52 Herring Gull
1 Great Blacked Back Gull
3 Mourning Dove
1 Red Screech Owl
4 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
3 Northern Flicker
7 Blue Jay
4 American Crow
10 Black Capped Chickadee
7 Tufted Titmice
5 White Breasted Nuthatch
2 Carolina Wren
1 Golden Crown Kinglet
28 American Robin
3 Mockingbird
76 Starling
1 Yellowrump Warbler
1 Tree Sparrow
2 Whitethroat Sparrow
32 Darkeyed Junco
3 Cardinal
3 House Finch
1 Gold Finch
9 House Sparrow

On December 14th we did the Audubon Christmas count for birds once again.  The Middlesex Fells is part of what is known as the Boston Circle.  The Circle is divided as you would cut a pie.  The Fells Reservation is in two pieces sliced by Rte. 93.  Our section is east of Rte. 93.  It would be impossible to cover the area completely and thoroughly in one day.  Birds are constantly moving around the Fells so it is not possible to find every bird.  We scout out ‘good areas’ for several days before and decide which ones we will cover on count day.  A good example of an area we would want to check is from the Botume House to the Tudor Barn and down to Quarter Mile Pond.  Sparrow species were notably scarce this year!

Download the Hawk Watch PDF here.

Tufted Titmouse

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

Eastern Garter Snake

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

Common Snapping Turtle

Red backed Salamander

     

Plants in the Fells

Some species of plants found at the Fells are shown below:

Eastern White Pine

Sassafras

Canada Mayflower

Maple Leaf Viburnum

Pink Ladyslipper

Red Oak

For more details and many more photos about the approximately 600 species of vascular plants in the Fells see www.FoundintheFells.com