This morning River and I set out to find a swimming hole along the River Trent between Swarkestone and Barrow-on-Trent. One of Molly’s co-workers had described how to find the footpath. We managed to make our way through the massive field of six foot tall nettles of which we’d been warned. Along the way, we found these Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) plants, which are in the same genus as Jewelweed. Jewelweed is quite common in Massachusetts and is especially popular with the kids because its seed pods explode when you touch them. Himalayan Balsam behaves in a similar fashion, though unfortunately as you might guess from the name, it is an invasive species in Britain.

We popped quite a few nonetheless.

We did eventually find the swimming hole. There is a channel between the bank and an island where the water is about five feet deep. Just downstream, there is a shallow pebble beach suitable for splashing. A rope swing is attached from an overhanging willow branch and I thoroughly enjoyed splashing into the chilly water.

It was great to find a nearby place to swim, though the weather isn’t often hot enough to require immersing oneself. I’m sure that we’ll visit there again sometime soon.

In an interview on WFCR’s field notes, Primack states they have discovered that the dates of wildflower blooms are a week earlier than they were during Thoreau’s time. He claims that the Boston area is 2 degrees celius warmer than 150 years ago, half of which is due to global warming, the other portion due to urbanization. He states that there is a risk that summer temperatures will continue to rise to the point where many spring wildflowers will be unable to survive either due to the temperature increase or the drier soils.

What can you do?

We are collecting observations of many spring events, such as bird migrations, flowering, and insect appearance. You can help us by making these simple observations around your home–e.g., in your garden, at your birdfeeder, in your town forest–or anywhere in New England. Just download our recording form and follow the instructions. The information you collect will help us to document how climate change is affecting plants and animals in New England.

Here are some links to other similar projects:

• Project Budburst, a national citizen-scientist phenology project.
• Journey North, the nation’s premiere “citizen science” project for children.
• Cornell Bird Projects, seasonal and year-round bird monitoring projects.

Apparently it is also the 400th anniversary of arrival of the earthworm and the honey bee. I recently heard this piece on NPR. In the interview, Charles Mann, discusses some of the effects of the English settlement in Jamestown. Apparently, the glaciers during the last ice age had eliminated all the local earthworms. I can imagine it would be pretty hard to be a worm under a mile of ice. Anyway, a forest without worms has a much thicker layer of leaf litter, which ends up affecting the understory composition of the forest. The introduction of earthworms from the European ships had a major impact on the forest ecosystem. I’m curious how the native American regime of controlled burns affected the leaf litter decomposition?

Also, the introduction of the European honey bee, brought for honey production, enabled the establishment of many crops that rely on pollination, especially fruit trees. On a related note, I’ve also been following the recent development of Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon where bee colonies have be mysteriously disappearing since the fall of 2006.

Charles Mann also has a related article appearing in the National Geographic Magazine. He goes into a little more detail in this article. I’m looking forward to checking out the print magazine sometime. I imagine I can find someone with a copy.

I’ve also been reading Karen Ordahl Kupperman’s The Jamestown Project. She provides a well-written account of the settling of Jamestown. I’m about half-way through right now. She has been emphasizing the previous experience many of the folks involved in the Jamestown colonies experience in the rest of the world, particularly with the Ottoman empire, Africa, the West Indies, and even South America. The Native Americans it turns out had considerable experience with Europeans before Jamestown as well. She also spends considerable time on the cultural milieu that prevaded England and Europe during this time. I think she’ll go on to detail the actual details of the colony and what worked and what didn’t work. Apparently, the English were able to develop a successful model of colonization in Jamestown that they were then able to apply in other places (i.e. Plymouth). So far, it is a very interesting read.

For a contemporary native perspective on the 400th anniversary of “Old Dominion”, check out this article from Indian Country.