Stony Brook Journal

Summer Camp Continues...

Summer camp just keeps getting better.  Water games and freeze pops have been even more popular in the summer heat.  Kids have teamed up for more camouflage on the island -  they've searched for dragonflies both in the pond and in the field, stalked dinosaurs and listened to the tale of dinosaur rock, and even created a puppet show.   

We have three weeks left of summer camp to enjoy before our campers turn their minds to school supplies and fall activities.

Come out and visit soon - the boardwalk is teeming with activity.  Otters and muskrats are regular visitors and a number of deer have been spotted in the forest.  Great blue herons frequent the grassy areas around the perimeter of the marsh and the painted turtles are taking every opportunity to bask in the summer sun!

Here are a couple of shots from last week's puppet theater!

Stony Brook Day Camp - Week 3

Finally, some sun for our campers!  Stony Brook campers have been taking advantage of the drier weather this week to spend extra time in the field, in the forest, and at the water's edge - playing games such as camp wide predator-prey, finding little green monsters (sundews), making slime, searching for dragonflies in the field, singing camp songs and more. 

This week, we also held our first camp overnight.  Six campers in our Great Outdoors program spent the week hiking, fishing, tracking, and fishing some more.  They finished off their week with an overnight tenting in the field, enjoying the campfire, listening to and telling stories and maybe even finding a little time to sleep before waking up for an early morning hike and breakfast.

Here are a few photos from a great week!  Check back next Friday for week 4 updates!

Campers sing the ever popular Alligator song

Campers learn to identify dragonflies with returning Stony Brook counselor Buttercup

Campers learn how to catch and hold dragonflies to identify them

Campers in the field looking for the creatures that live and hunt there

Nature Names 2009!

Camp training is well underway with only one more day to go!  Songs have been learned, training completed, and nature names chosen.  See below to check out this year's nature names, the names by which your camper will know his or her counselor.

Check back soon for updates.

Introducing the Stony Brook Day Camp Staff for Summer 09 (in order of appearance):

Bumblebee, Mycorhizzae, Cedar, Firefly, Cicada, Princess Pine, and Monarch

Stony Brook Day Camp 2009!!!!

The 2009 Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Camp Staff have just returned from a week at Field School and are in the midst of an intense week of camp training where they learn everything from camp songs and games to first aid to  bird and dragonfly id.  Camp Director Marla Cohen has chosen a fantastic group of counselors again this year.  They can't wait to meet the campers!

Please check this blog weekly for updates, camp stories, photos and more! 

Bird-a-thon team having a great day!

We've found more than 100 species so far including... Bald eagle, fish crow, ruffled grouse, red breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, cerulean warbler, yellow throated vireo, and blue gray gnat catcher.
Having a great day. Enjoying the weather. Less than four more hours to go!

Bird A Thon 2009

We had a great night last night to start off bird a thon.  We saw some great birds (including the Lawrence's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Brown Thrasher and more than 60 others by 5:30am).  12 hours to go and six teams out in the field. 

Look for an update later this afternoon!  Thanks! 

There's still time to pledge, see the website below:

http://www.firstgiving.com/dkwilliams

and for a picture of this year's team in action:

http://www.firstgiving.com/willhenrichon

THANK YOU!

-Doug

Spring?

Boy was I wrong! Spring was not here. I was out yesterday at the Stony Brook pond where the breeze was gusting to 30 mph and the temps were below freezing! Water temperature in the ponds are hovering at the freezing point making the ponds surfaces very interesting to watch. Warm days bring open water along with lots of ducks but a cold night and the water freezes over before sunrise. Today was beautiful, water was open, ducks were numerous and in full breeding colors! I heard my first woodcock calling and say our first Tree Swallows at the Sanctuary last Wednesday as well! For now, I’ll not make another prediction about spring, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

 

I'll see you on the trails!

-Doug

The Other Side of Snow Patterns

What a difference a few days make.  Earlier this week, I blogged about a snow covered landscape and the interesting patterns formed by meltoff.  Today, things have changed significantly and the landscape is no longer mostly snow covered, but is one of open ground dotted with areas where the snow persists.  On the way into work, I pondered why the snow remained in those areas.  What is slowing the meltoff in those areas.  Some are obvious, like the big piles of snow in grocery store parking lots that are clearly from plowing build up.  Some snow remains in cracks and crevices hidden from the sun, sheltered by stones, and protected from the winds. 

Having spent my first seven years in Massachusetts working on the slopes of Mt. Wachusett, I see the snow accumulations along the side of roads and am reminded of the weathering patterns of mountains.  It is almost like a microcosm of those same processes that control mountain building (also known as orogeny -- there's your word of the day!) and mountain erosion. 

I'll see you on the trails!

Doug

More signs of spring!

Yesterday afternoon while busily working at my desk I was distracted by the sounds of finches at a feeder just outside the window. I took a look and was pleasantly surprised to find one lone Purple Finch with a dozen Pine Siskins mixed in with the Gold Finches. I walked back to my office to get my binocs for a closer look. When I returned, the finches had flown up into the top of a pear tree growing along the parking lot. They all seemed to be just sitting there as if flushed from the feeder, biding their time before heading back down for more seed. As I looked more carefully I noticed that they were not just perched in the tree but each one was perched near the end of a twig in the midst of devouring the buds at the ends of the branches. I had not noticed before this inspection that the buds were even swollen (a sure sign of warmer weather to come!) What signs of spring are you seeing in your area?

 

I'll see you on the trails!

-Doug

Snow melt patterns

Even since yesterday, the warm-ish temps have set in motion some snow melt!

 

As we start to get some snow melt I am noticing where the melt-off is occurring at different rates. Several factors that exert control over the rate of melt-off include: site exposure, slope and adjacent cover. South facing or south sloping areas with good sun exposure are melting away quickly. I also noticed that areas located on the north side of east/west running roads may be snow free already if they are protected by thick vegetation growing along their north sides. One other pattern of snow melt caught my eye as well. Many conifers without lower branches seem to have lost their underlying blanket of snow where the sun warms the ground under their own crowns. This shows up as an odd shaped oval located on the south side of the tree between the trunk and the edge of its crown. Have you noticed other interesting snow melt patterns that provide some indication of the factors influencing their manner of snow melt?

 

I'll see you on the trails!

-Doug