Bird notes: Hawk takes roost as Meadow Blooms

A hawk stretched its wings and swooped overhead, making circles as I snapped this photo during a Construction site visit early this morning.  Granby’s East Meadow School is going through the final phase of construction.  Designed by JWA architects and Berkshire Design Group, the school  is an amazing addition / renovation for students Pre-K thru 8th grade.  We are thankful to have a great construction team to work with a partnership of Fontaine, Marion, and Mt View.   Out front, we’ve designed a wildflower meadow between parking areas and Route 202.  The meadow is designed to reduce maintenance effort and costs as well as lowering the carbon footprint of the school.

Getting the meadow to establish has proven to more of an art than a science.  Early summer temps were brutal for workers and plants alike.  We had challenges getting the fescue to germinate, but it looks like the project is making headway, with a second seeding of no mow fescues planned.  Areas around back of the building are using more traditional mixes of lawn where children will be playing and exploring outside.

A few clicks later, with the clouds rushing past, I observed the hawk making its way to roost in a nearby pine tree.  Along the way it chased out several small swallows and birds darting in and out of the newly installed meadow.   Last evening’s rainstorm, and past week of deep summer temps, the flowers seemed to pop more than ever.  I can’t wait until next year’s meadow season.  Seeded meadows often take 2 years to reach their full bloom potential, our seed supplier added some annual seeds to help us wait for next years bloom.  We are hoping for a range of purples and whites to dapple the field.  And perhaps next year, we’ll run into a student who can tell us species by species which birds now call the Meadow home.