From the Field - Crow's Nest Preserve

Camp Reunion!

We had a wonderful afternoon Saturday at the reunion of summer 2006 Crow's Nest campers. We played games, went on a hike, made crafts, and got muddy. We crossed the creek on the wire bridge and compared our summer and winter experiences there. These kids are looking forward to summer camp 2007. The theme is water: meet creek critters, water cycle obstacle course, French Creek Regatta, drippy olympics, build a beaver habitat, waterwheels & pumps, and lots more.

General registration opens at the end of March. Please call 610-286-7955 if you'd like more information or a brochure.

Spring WebWalkers & Spiderlings

At the end of our winter WebWalkers and Spiderlings programs we tapped some maple trees—red maple, not sugar, because we have more of them—and are now collecting the sap. Red maple (Acer rubrum) sap is not quite as concentrated in sugar as the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) but can still be made into syrup.

The kids in the photo are doing something else, too. They're are listening through a stethescope that Sean is holding against the tree, listening for the sound of the sap rising. It isn't loud but there is some swooshing noise. Remember, the theme for the winter programs was "Things we cannot see."

We'll begin spring sessions of WebWalkers on April 12 and 13. The programs cost $25 per child for the six-week program. Please call for more information.

Another ending, also a beginning

Quick, what was the date of the final leaf drop of deciduous trees last fall? Even if you keep a garden journal that day might not have the same weight as that of the first tomato you picked or the first trout lily bloom you spotted in the woods.

I've mentioned before that we seem to be better at commemorating beginnings in nature than endings.

Researchers studying deer would like to know what that date was last fall, presumably to know how long deer have been without that source of forage (the succulent buds of this coming years' growth are their current food).

Fortunately we have dated photos that show fall color still on a few trees before November 5 but not after November 10. And we have notes on my timesheet from when I was pulling out weedy Norway maple seedlings, among the last of the leaves to drop (and therefore a good time to spot them).

Three Colors

It has been a beautiful winter, a landscape in only three colors: the white of the ground and of the sky, the gray of the trees, and the tan of grasses and dead oak and beech leaves clinging to the trees.

We had a taste of mud season last week, and when it returns it is going to be fierce. People were getting stuck in their own driveways.

Good skiing

The cold temperatures and wind overnight have compacted the snow into a nice powder. And now the local roads are open. See you out there!

Change of plans

One of the many things I love about this job is that on some days I end up doing something entirely different than I had planned...

I didn't think we were going to get enough snow to plow (on gravel surfaces like our driveways and parking lot you need several inches before it is worthwhile to plow) so I thought I would be spending the day developing the 2007-08 budget, working on an invasive plant management plan for our Hildacy Preserve, and finishing a talk on managing invasive plants that I will be giving tomorrow for the Natural Lands Trust board.

But it soon became apparent that plowing would be needed and the sooner, the better ("plow with the storm" says the owner's manual.) I ended up spending the entire day plowing and shovelling.

I'm not sure how good the snow will be for cross-country skiing, but the preserve is open for business.

WebWalkers in Winter

The WebWalkers winter session is well underway, and what winter weather it has been! Here the afternoon group frolics on the ice on a backwater of French Creek. Later we checked out a little bit of beaver activity and an abandoned lodge. The kids have been out in almost every weather and we have been talking about "things we cannot see" in winter: animals that have hibernated or migrated, plants that have gone dormant, and the sap that will soon be rising inside the trees.

Barn progress

Luke and Scott have emerged from a couple weeks in the blacksmith shop having made these beautiful hand-forged hinges for the large doors for the upstairs of the barn.

And today they milled for each of these doors a header they salvaged from a hazard tree—a standing dead tree too close to Hopewell Road that we took down in November.

Internships at Crow's Nest

This summer we will again offer two internship opportunities at Crow's Nest Preserve. One is our traditional ten-week program in land management which also includes some responsibilities with our summer day camp. Our environmental education position will also include land management duties when camp is not in session.

Interns will gain experience in the workings of a land trust, become familiar with local flora, and gain experience in land management techniques. These positions will have, among others, the following duties:

Invasive plant control, lawn and trail mowing, maintaining native plant demonstration gardens, restoration of natural areas and hedgerows, and assisting with all aspects of summer camp: planning, training and setup and leading activities with kids.

Applicants for the environmental education internship should excel at and enjoy working with kids; training in first aid, CPR, and lifeguarding is a plus.

Both internships run 37.5 hours per week for up to ten weeks. A valid driver's license and background check is required; no housing is available. Start and end dates are flexible but interns must be available during camp setup and programming: June 25 to August 10. The expected rate of pay is $10/hour.

To receive a copy of the job description or for more information please call us at 610-286-7955.

Natural Lands Trust, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All decisions with respect to hiring are made without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, ancestry or disability. Decisions are made solely on the basis of qualifications related to the requirements of the job.

Summer Camp planning

As we're working on planning summer camp, I have been thinking about why we have a summer camp. This is what we state on the front of our brochure:

The mission of Crow's Nest Camp is to bring together a small group of children of diverse backgrounds:

* To enjoy the outdoor world so that they will want to protect it;

* To increase their respect for the natural world and to know their relationship with it;

* To heighten appreciation of the beauty, intricacy, power, and fragility of nature;

* To value diversity in nature and in people;

* To promote understanding of the need to work together to keep out earth green, living, and life-sustaining.