About MREC

Cass Meadow Restoration   Photo Slide Show The transformation of Cass Meadow in Athol began on November 30th, 2005. Several acres of the overgrown meadow near Pequoig Avenue are being restored.

About Tom Whelan
I'm a passionate naturalist with a special interest in insects, plants, and birds. Photography goes hand in hand with my interest in nature. Many of my photographs are portraits of insects, flowers, and birds. I also have an interest in abstracts that show patterns and unusual shapes. My goal is to create simple, well-designed images that are graphically successful, not just documentary natural history photographs.

I spend more of my time chasing butterflies than other subjects. They are more than just beautiful insects, they are a fascinating biological subject, offering as much to the curious mind as they do to the eye. I've written articles on butterflies for Massachusetts Butterflies and contributed a site description to a guide to good butterfly sites in Massachusetts. I hope to write more about butterflies. My butterfly pictures have appeared in American Butterflies, on the cover pages of nature photography web sites, and in the Museum of Science (Boston) butterfly exhibit.

About the exhibition
The photographs in the exhibit are primarily closeups of nature subjects. There are pictures for each season, starting with a classic spring bird, a male Red-winged Blackbird, spring fern fiddleheads, butterflies of spring and summer, summer flowers, and plants in fall and winter. At the center of the series are three photographs showing the caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult form of the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly. The photographs were taken with a digital SLR and 200 to 300mm lenses with closeup equipment.