Explore Outdoors ~ another day, another salt marsh...

 A couple weeks ago we walked along the trail of a salt marsh at Caddy Memorial Park in Quincy, MA. It sits where Blacks Creek empties into Quincy Bay (part of the larger Massachusetts Bay).

Join us for a nature walk...

The salt marsh is flooded each day by salt water. Not only do the plants have to be adapted to that, but they need to be sturdy enough to endure the push and pull of the tides. Salt-resistant marsh grasses (Spartina) grow here and, in the fall, were cut and dried by colonists, and used for bedding and fodder for their horses and cattle.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the salt marsh is edged with oak, cedar, elm, sumac, and pitch pine trees. We saw many red-winged blackbirds and bluejays, an osprey nest, and a horseshoe crab. Apparently the crabs use salt marshes for spawning and will show up even in daylight.

Turn off the Night Lights!

Who Hid the Stars? How Light Pollution Changes Our World  

by Danio Miserocchi & Maciej Michno; illus. by Valentina Gottardi, and translated by Sylvia Notini 

44 pages; ages 8-14

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2026

Back in mid-March, in the middle of the night, we’d stopped to fill up our tank and get some snacks for the drive home. The gas station was brightly lit, at the edge of a small city where lights were few and far between. And there, atop the roof, was a lone robin singing his heart out. Didn’t he know it was time to sleep?

Apparently not. Artificial light does more than illuminate our world. For the plants and animals living in and around our cities, these night lights create problems. Constant light changes behavior as well as their chances to reproduce.

In this well-documented book, the authors examine how light pollution affects birds and bats, reptiles and insects, and even trees and flowers. City birds stay awake longer, sometimes searching for food all night – not healthy for either the birds or the bugs they’re noshing on. Unfortunately, those lights that allow the birds more foraging time can confuse migratory species that depend on the dark skies to navigate.

Night lights confuse nocturnal insects. Those moths you see fluttering around streetlights aren’t flapping round and round because they like the light. They’ve lost their bearings and can’t figure out where they want to go. Bad news for the moths, but not for the bats who’ve discovered the all-night streetlight buffet.

As fireflies, who depend on reading the flashes of bioluminescent light to guide them to potential mates – artificial lights make it nearly impossible to see them, unless they’re lucky enough to have found a dark corner of a park.

But there’s hope – and this is what I like about this book: there are Things We Can Do to minimize light pollution. Some state and national parks have established themselves as Dark Sky Parks. When you visit, you have to turn off your cell phones and put red cellophane over your flashlight to preserve the nocturnal habitat. Some cities are replacing old streetlights with newer ones that shield light from above, focusing it downward. Many places encourage residents and businesses to turn off lights during peak migration. As for us – if we all turned off even just one light or two at night, it would make a difference.

Back matter includes ideas for bringing back the stars (dark skies) and resources. 

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Explore Outdoors ~ flower watching

 Spring comes in its own time, sometimes in a flurry of flowering and sometimes a slow opening of a bud. While visiting Boston, I walked around the neighborhood every day just to watch this magnolia wake up from winter. 

This Earth Day, what's blooming in your neighborhood?

April 1

April 6

April 11

April 14