Outdoor Almanac

There's no slow season in July; the ponds, meadows, and beaches are all buzzing with activity. Tadpoles are clustering in the shallows, native wildflowers are pulling in butterflies and twilight moths, and Piping Plovers are raising chicks along our coast. Look up for cigar-shaped Chimney Swifts swooping after insects, and listen for the Indigo Bunting still singing while other songbirds go quiet. 

What will you discover this July? Visit a nearby wildlife sanctuary or join a program to make the most of your month.

JULY

1

American Toad tadpoles have hatched and are clustering together in the shallow edge of ponds for the next few weeks. Once they transform into toadlets, they’ll head to land and linger in the surrounding vegetation by the hundreds.  

5

When not eating their summer diet (mostly aquatic plants, grasses, and ferns), beavers spend a lot of time building and maintaining their dams and lodges and raising young. 

6

Look for native summer-flowering plants, including milkweeds (common, swamp, and butterfly weed), nodding onion, bee balm, black-eyed Susan, native honeysuckle, and more. When you find a wildflower, stop and notice the insects that are collecting nectar or pollen, laying eggs, eating the leaves, or hunting for prey. Wildflowers and their insects are an essential part of our ecosystems.  

8

Along with the beautiful butterflies that float from flower to flower during the day, stunning moths like the Primrose Moth visit twilight-blooming plants, such as Evening Primrose. Primrose moths are easily distinguishable with their soft pink and white wings.  

11

Look and listen for Chimney Swifts as they hunt for aerial insects. These distinctive dark, cigar-shaped birds with curved wings nest in chimneys and natural cavities and produce high-pitched chattering calls as they swoop above the treetops. 

13

The largest breeding population of Atlantic coast Piping Plovers, 1,247 pairs in 2025 up from 140 in 1986, nest on Massachusetts beaches. Look for early hatching chicks starting to fly but also for late nesting hatchlings feeding with their parents along the water’s edge. Enjoy watching these threatened birds but please observe all beach closure areas to ensure their continued recovery. 

All month long, we're going wild for Piping Plovers. Find out more about these charasmatic coastal birds to join the celebration

21

The Virginia Opossum’s breeding season is ending. At birth, newborn opossums are not fully developed and are no larger than a honeybee. They spend two months growing in their mother’s pouch, emerging fully developed and about the size of a house mouse. 

16

Around field edges and orchards, watch for Eastern Bluebirds feeding their newly fledged spotted young. Young Eastern Bluebirds look a lot like young American Robins; except they are smaller and have blue on their wings. 

24

Moose are feeding on aquatic vegetation, tree leaves, and twigs near wetlands. Wetlands are not just great places for a moose to find a meal, but these large mammals need the cool water to beat the heat and escape pestering mosquitoes and deer flies.  

26

Once they are on territory and have nested, songbirds are much quieter for the rest of the summer. One voice you can still hear is the sharp song of the Indigo Bunting. 

29

Full Moon 

30

In sunny, moist meadows, look for the white blooms of common dogbane and the hummingbird moths that use them as larval host plants. Get close to the plants, and you may be rewarded with the sight of a small, iridescent green and copper dogbane leaf beetle—one of our most beautiful beetles. 

31

Bats consume half to three quarters of their body weight in insects every night. While bats locate insects via echolocation, some have excellent eyesight as well, contrary to popular belief.