Feathers Over Freeport

Checked out Feathers over Freeport today with the kids. There were great programs about birds of prey and bird migration, as well as walks led by birding experts. 

 

http://freeportwildbirdsupply.com/feathersoverfreeport/index.php

 

American Kestrel

 Data on bird migration at the top of Bradbury Mountain

Eva says, "Learning about birds is fun!"

Green frog

A naturalist friend asked if I could help her find frog eggs for a CELT program with 4th graders at Pond Cove Elementary School. On the way into the woods I almost stepped on a garter snake! It was a good sized snake, and we paused to watch it slither into the brush. We had no luck finding any eggs--even the salamander eggs I have been watching were gone (washed away in the last rainstorm?). We did see some green frogs though! The two I saw were basking in the sun on the edge of the pond. I tried to catch one with a net, but no luck! They were too fast for me.

Info about green frogs:

• Bright yellow throat on male. Green-bronze/brown. External eardrums large. Dorsolateral ridges. White belly, darker pattern of stripes/spots
• Voice described as sounding like the twang of a banjo
• Breeding takes place March-August. 3-4 clutches of up to 7000 eggs laid under water.
• Nocturnal. Rest along shore, dive into water if approached/threatened.
• Eats any animal it can fit in its mouth, mostly insects.

Ribbit!

Listening for frogs, looking for signs of more than peppers out and about. Have yet to hear any other species in the woods or across the street at Marilee's pond.

The following is a list of frogs and toads that may be found in Maine:
American bullfrog
American toad
Fowler's toad
Gray treefrog
Green frog
Mink frog
Northern leopard frog
Pickerel frog
Spring peeper
Wood frog

We did see an American toad at Viles Aboretum in Augusta on Friday!

Spotted salamander egg mass

The past two days, as we've walked in the woods, Owen & I have been looking in the wetland areas for indicator species. Yesterday, we found a very small worm and a caddisfly larvae. Today, we saw some tadpoles that quickly scooted away from us, and we found an egg mass. It looks like they are spotted salamander eggs. We returned them to the pool in case any hatch. So far we only hear peepers, but we wait to hear other amphibian species to join the chorus. Some warblers have joined the bird chorus; we definitely have heard a pine warbler.

Great page for info on caddis flies: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/compendium/caddis~1.html

The caddisfly larvae we found was in a case like the one pictured below, furthest to the right.

Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary

A red squirrel's huge "kitchen midden"
Returning vernal pool critters

Checking out our findings from our net

Dragonfly larva

Today, a few students in the MMNP met with instructor Susan Hayward at Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary. We learned about vernal pools identifying wood frog eggs, isopods, pond scuds, and dragonfly larvae. Walking through the sanctuary we also interpreted the landscape learning about Thorncrag's history along the way.

Check out Thorncrag: http://stantonbirdclub.org/thorncrg.htm

Earth Hour

Once again, our family took part in celebrating 'Earth Hour.' For the past few years we have made the commitment to "turn off our lights" for an hour joining hundreds of millions of people around the globe. Usually we go as far as just flipping the breaker in the basement. The kids are in bed well before 8:30 pm, and we sit by the fire in the wood stove, and read by candlelight. We already try to make a difference for the planet in our daily lives, and Earth Hour is so simple.

So I was actually curious...how much CO2 was prevented from entering the atmosphere? Ontario, Canada actually calculated it after Earth Hour 2011. Turning off the lights for an hour made the electric use fall by 2.1% or 360 megawatt hours. This saved the city of Ontario almost $25,000, not to mention 248 metric tons of CO2 being emitted!

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Signs of Spring

Took a beautiful walk in Winnick Woods today. It's a parcel of land set aside by the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust--how lucky we are to have it right down the street! On our walk we saw some of the first signs of spring-crocuses blooming on the side of the path, plus a winter wren singing!

CELT Mission Statement: The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust permanently conserves and provides stewardship for lands cherished by our community - from shore lands to marshes, from farmlands to woodlands - for the education, use and enjoyment of this and future generations. Check out more about CELT: http://capelandtrust.org/

We have supported this organization with a family membership.