US-MA-Heald+Street+Orchard+Pepperell


 * =Birding in Massachusetts=

Middlesex County
=Heald Street Orchard= Pepperell, Massachusetts 01463 Heald Street Orchard webpage

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Heald Street Orchard, Pepperell
Coordinates: 42.671052, -71.622269 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Heald Street Orchard
This 80-acre town-owned property was once a working apple orchard and still grows apples, although it is no longer maintained as such. Feel free to try some apple, but please be careful of the trees. Walk along grass lanes through the orchard, find the frog pond and look for turtles, and then follow the path down the hill and through the woods to a small, sandy opening on the back side of Heald Pond.

The orchard is past its prime for commercial fruit production; however, it still provides many benefits to the community, including water quality protection, wildlife habitat, and recreation. The orchard landscape has been slowly reverting to early successional habitat. In the ever-changing landscape of succession, grasslands are overtaken by woody species developing into shrublands; tree species then spread seed and succeed into a forest. Early successional habitat is declining in our region due to urbanization. Managing early successional habitat and diversity of landscape is becoming increasingly important for wildlife. The property is now being maintained as a mosaic of orchard, grassland, and early forest habitats through active and passive management techniques with approximately 18 acres of apple trees being cut to create grassland habitat for the benefit of wildlife. From Heald Street Orchard webpage



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media type="custom" key="28849208" || L3643079 US US-MA US-MA-017 42.671052 -71.622269 Heald Street Orchard, Pepperell