Word From Wildwood

Return to the woods

Howdy Folks!

 

I just returned for a trip to a few spots in Texas for the holidays, and boy am I exhausted! I'm quite excited to be back after a nice holiday season and hope that everyone had a wonderful month of December.

While in Texas, I had the opportunity to explore unique landscapes and habitats as I searched for a variety of birds. Because of its location, Texas plays host to many species of birds (over 600 in the spring and summer months!). The size of the state alone allows for such geographic differentiation that dozens of different habitats are represented, making it an ideal place to go bird watching. My sightings were nothing short of amazing and I’m thrilled to share that I saw several new birds that I added to my life-list.

I began my birding adventure several hours inland on Cedar Creek Lake, a bit over an hour south of Dallas. The drought had wreaked absolute havoc on the water-level, but the birding was still pretty good. Birds like cattle egret, tri-colored heron, roseate spoonbill, and least sandpiper showed up early on with the anhinga, ferruginous hawk, American coot and mallard duck finally making an appearance as the day progressed.

I also had a wonderful opportunity to travel to the coast to bird with a group in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. I would highly recommend a coastal trip for any bird lover wishing to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of birds. Our sightings included the bearded tyrannulet, green parakeet, muskovy duck, paraque, white pelican, Leconte's sparrow, American kestrel, zone-tailed hawk, groove-billed ani, Forster's tern, and, my personal favorite, the whooping crane. There were also some more familiar faces (or beaks!!) such as the great-blue heron, American robin, northern cardinal, and blue jay.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and I urge you all to consider visiting Texas.

As for Wildwood, all is peaceful as we move towards the middle of January. Still no snow on the ground, but that should change soon as the middle of winter creeps up on us. I've seen signs of deer everywhere, and just this morning I saw a fox run across the road (no doubt, taking advantage of the unusual weather to forage for some food). Texas may seem like a veritable menagerie, but fear not! Wildwood is still being represented by our year-round residents like the black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, and downy woodpecker. Just last night, I even heard a barred owl call!

Before long, it will be time for the sowing of seeds in the garden as we start to welcome back our amazing array of migratory birds and early spring wildflowers. I look forward to them, and I am sure that all of our campers do as well.

I'll post an update in a few weeks to let everyone know a bit more about what's going on up at Wildwood. Get out there and enjoy nature, everyone!

-Johnathon

Mild days at Wildwood

Hi there folks!

Boy, it's great to look back at this past summer and think about all the amazing things that we were able to accomplish. I want to take this time to thank every one of our campers for their help in making 2011 our most productive gardening season ever! Without your help, who knows what would have happened to all of our delicious veggies? Thank you as well to all the parents for continuing to support our program as well as our great counselors for yet another year of fun and outdoor exploration!

Camp has been rather quiet as of late, with the exception of my homeschool class. We've been having a lot of fun learning about wetland and forest ecology, as well as climate change and conservation. We've heard a variety of birds, particularly dark-eyed juncos, and come across quite a few tracks, many of which were left behind by deer and porcupine. We had a lot of snow a few weeks ago, but other than that the weather has been unseasonably, but not uncommonly, mild.

 

The owls have still been quite vociferous at night. This coming weekend, Astro (our property manager) will be helping the local boy scout group put up some owl boxes that they built for the sanctuary. You may think that this is a bit early, but our owls tend to start scouting out areas for nesting around this time so that they can begin to lay eggs in January-March. Later on, the scouts will be back to put up wood duck boxes out on the pond. Because these ducks are cavity nesters, this will be a great way to protect and maintain a healthy population  of these beautiful birds.

The holiday season is upon us. I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Whatever your plans this season, remember that you will always have a family here at Wildwood. Stay safe, and enjoy the outdoors.

 

Happy holidays everyone!

-Johnathon

 

Family Camp 3 Delayed Due to Weather

As the weekend’s weather forecast has become more certain over the last 24 hours, Mass Audubon has asked its sanctuaries to remain closed on Sunday. Please do not travel to Wildwood on Sunday, August 28! Because of this recommendation, we are delaying the start of Family Camp until Monday, August 29, and we invite registered families to arrive from 11:00 a.m. – noon. Lunch will be served at noon.

Please call the camp at 603-899-5589 to let us know if you anticipate arriving later than lunch time on Monday, and feel free to call anytime if you want to check on conditions at camp before leaving home. Bob Speare, Wildwood director, is available at camp at x3701 and is the best person to contact if you need information during the weekend.

Because we’ll be starting later than anticipated, we’ll extend camp through mid-afternoon on Wednesday. After breakfast, we’ll provide activities on Wednesday morning, lunch at mid-day, and then family packing and departure following lunch. We hope you’ll be able to stay on a bit longer and enjoy some more activity time at camp.

We encourage you to stay cozy and dry at home as Hurricane Irene passes through, and to travel to family camp only when it’s safe to do so. We’ve already heard from several families to let us know that they’re planning to arrive at camp on Monday. We want to make sure that everyone receives this message, so if you haven’t already e-mailed (bspeare@massaudubon.org or azoellner@massaudubon.org) to let us know your plans, please do so – we’ll contact by phone anyone who hasn’t e-mailed.

Session 5 Medieval Day - Fun!

Hello Everyone,

Today was that special event day I spoke about in our last post. It was Medieval Day, where staff were dressed in a variety of costumes from that era and campers engaged in activities such as;

Castle Building - on the beach

Coat of Arms - creating a coat of arms for their Order

Rat Pucking - flipping a rat on a stick at a target - oh yeah!

And lots more!

Right now they're watching the movie How to Train Your Dragon as the final touch for the day. We are playing it on the side of the showerhouse. All the campers are with blankets and sleeping bags in the field watching it - it's great!

Both of the last two days have been really great weather-wise. In fact it was so clear and beautiful last night, that I snuck out to take a couple pictures of the stars. Of course the pictures don't to justice to the actual scene. The Milky Way was clearly visible above the dining hall and across the pond.

Tomorrow and Friday we'll finish up our IGs and DGs and begin planning for our closing campfire on Friday night. The session 5 closing campfire has usually been the best one of the summer, but I've got to say, some of our other closing campfires this year have been pretty amazing. We'll see if this group can live up to the challenge!

For both overnight camp groups and Junior Counselors, we'll be having our closing ceremony on Saturday morning at 10:00 am followed by dismissal - although the Jr Counselors may want to have their own brief closing together after this. If you have any questions about Saturday, feel free to give us a call. I know we'll be anxious to see you and share some of our stories with youl. Enjoy these last couple days and let's hope Irene changes her mind and her course for the weekend! Enjoy some more pictures from our last couple of days.

All the best,

Bob

Session 5 Camping Trips Return and Final Week of Overnight Camp!

Hey Everyone!

All our groups had a really great time on their overnight camping trips. There was some thunder, musical trees (ask the Thoreau boys), smores, ice cream, native American tales, the Jaffrey fireworks and more - wow!

On Saturday morning, we said goodbye to the second year LITs who had been with us for three weeks. A great big thanks goes out to each and every one of them for all the great times we shared with them - THANKS! I hope to see you back again next year.

The JCs are gearing up for a week of teaching IGs with our counselors. This weekend, they also found time to complete a new DG board that we were able to use today - see the photo below. Thanks for the terrific work on this!

After all of the overnight campers got back today, rested up a bit and showered, we got together at the amphitheater to select our IGs for this coming week. We just completed this when our first storm rolled through with a little thunder and some rain. This lasted about an hour before the sun came back out and it got pretty warm.We enjoyed this weather through OATs and dinner and almost all the way through our EP - Clue. Then another band of rain came through again, basically as everyone was headed back to their units for the evening. So, overall, it was a good day weather-wise.

Hey, we have a really cool special day planned for Wednesday, and we'll have some great pictures of the festivities, so be sure to tune back in on Wednesday night. Until then, enjoy some pictures from Mt Monadnock, where the 13 and 14 year old boys and girls spent the weekend, and also some shots from around camp today.

Only one more week of your vacation - so spend it wisely. ;-)

Good Night, Bob

 

 

Session 5 Rolls Along

Good Evening Camper Friends and Families,

Wow have the last couple of days been beautiful or what?!!! Just spectacular days here at Wildwood! Lots of fun activities happening under blue skies - just what we like! We hope you're enjoying the great weather too.

So here's the update since we last checked in; The LITs have completed their paddle along the Battenkill River and have returned safely to camp with some great stories of adventure along the river. Amber the counselor shared her story of the skunk that visited her tent on night #1 - all good though. There were a number of bird sightings including lots of kingfisher and waterfowl and some sandpipers too. Everything went as planned with the trip and with a higher water level from recent rains they found themselves getting to their end points earlier. This left some great time to relax and enjoy some quiet time too.

Campers here are really getting into their IGs and DGs. Last night they enjoyed a new Evening Program - Nature's Wrath (See some strange photos below). This game features some weird characters that campers interact with to gain points. It was a lot of fun. Tonight we were just getting Capture the Flag underway, when distant thunder drove us back into the dining hall where we jumped into action with a game of Stock Market instead. There's no way we'll get way with canceling Capture the Flag, and I'm sure that will be the big question at breakfast tomorrow - "Are we going to reschedule Capture the Flag - and when?"

Tomorrow is the beginning of the campout weekend. Our Abbey and Dillard units will head up to Mt Monadnock for a couple nights, while the 9-12 year-old campers will each enjoy one night of camping at First and Second points. We will also have to endure "Boys Night in" and "Girls Night in" on the opposite evenings. These are so much fun! I know we'll have some stories and perhaps some pictures from those events on our next episode!

So, all is well here and we are really enjoying the cards, letters, and packages that you've been sending - but we need more! :-) Keep them coming! Have a great weekend and we'll check back in early next week!

Best, Bob

Rainy Days = Fun Days at Wildwood!

So we did start off this session with some dreary skies and wet weather, but that hasn't slowed down the fun machine one bit. We had our opening campfire in the Dining Hall on Sunday evening and it was a blast. Great camp songs, funny skits and jokes, and some terrific guitar playing rounded out a really fun time. Monday is always our camp tours, health checks and swim checks day and we saw rain through most of that, but we got it all done.

This morning our IGs (interest groups) got underway and although we still had some showers, everything went as planned. As of this writing (early afternoon) the rain has ended and the skies are brighter - I just had a butterfly flit past me on the way back up from the dining hall! The next couple of days look to be fantastic weather-wise and we are ready!

The second-year LITs left this morning for a three-day canoe trip down the Battenkill in Vermont and New York. That is always a wonderful trip with lots of cool sightings. I'll keep you posted as we hear more details from them.

Its getting hard to tell the Junior Counselors from the regualr staff now. They are very much involved with assisting with groups and activities all across camp. It's so helpful to have a group like this to provide new ideas and energy! Keep it up JC's!

Below are some pictures from this morning's activities. Stay tuned for another update on Thursday. Remember tonight is "Bring a Letter to Dinner" night, so if you haven't received any mail yet, you should be seeing something in your mailbox soon! Help us keep our mailbox full by sending more letters our way too! We love 'em!

Enjoy the brighter skies and we'll be back in touch soon!

Thank you Charlie for helping with today's images.

Bob

Get Ready for Family Camp 3!

If you're registered for Family Camp 3: August 28-31, you should have received a reminder postcard directing you here! (Thanks for checking out the blog, and supporting our efforts to send you less paper!)

We're excited that we'll see you at Family Camp soon, and we hope that you're looking forward to your time with us. If you've not yet returned all your completed camp forms, please mail them to the Wildwood office in Lincoln, MA, immediately, or let us know that you’ll bring the completed forms with you to camp on August 28. (Don’t forget copies of your health insurance cards!) If you need a new copy of camp forms or the camp handbook, visit our website to download them. The handbook also contains a suggested packing list (p. 12) to assist you as you prepare for camp.

If you need driving directions to Wildwood, look in your camp handbook (p. 18), or get printable directions from our website. (Once you get to Rindge, NH, using a GPS or online directions is inadvisable.)

A few reminders and suggestions:

• Wildwood is a large camp, and you'll be happiest if you wear sturdy, comfortable shoes. We ask all our staff and campers to wear shoes or sandals with a heel strap (not flip flops), except at the waterfront or in the shower.
• Wildwood is a Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary. For the health and safety of campers, staff, and wildlife, family pets may not be brought to Wildwood.
• For everyone’s safety, please plan not to use personal transportation like your own bikes and boats while you’re on site at Wildwood. (Strollers for small children are just fine!)
• Wildwood is a drug- and alcohol-free environment. Please do not bring alcohol or illegal drugs with you to camp or use them while at camp. Adult program participants may use tobacco products only in designated areas away from children.
• For high ropes activities, participating campers must be large enough for safety equipment to fit properly (usually age 6+).
• Camp is a great time to "unplug." If you can, please leave electric and electronic devices at home. (Platform tents and yurts do not have electricity.) Adults who need to have cell phones should plan to turn them off or to silent/vibrate mode while participating in activities. Cell phone reception at camp is unreliable.

A sample schedule for family camp follows. You'll receive a detailed schedule with activity choices when you arrive. Activities and times are subject to change based on weather and other factors. All activities are optional, but please let us know if your family plans to leave camp or miss a meal. If you are unable to arrive at camp as scheduled, please call the camp at 603-899-5589 to schedule an alternate arrival. If you haven’t made alternate arrival plans and don’t arrive at camp on check-in day, we’ll contact you by phone to determine when to expect your arrival.

Arrival Day

2:00-3:00 pm Campers arrive at camp for check-in. Please let us know if you'll need to arrive outside of this window. A staff member will meet you at the parking lot entrance with name tags and unit assignments. Next, take your luggage to the appropriate marked area in the parking lot, and we'll transport your luggage to your unit. Walk to your unit and spend some time settling in to your living space. Introduce yourself to the other families near you. Throughout the afternoon, join us at the waterfront to meet other families and enjoy activities! We'll have swimming (weather permitting) and several ongoing activities available.

3:30 pm Welcome and All-Camp Orientation in the Amphitheater

6:00 pm Dinner

7:30 pm Opening Campfire

9:00 pm Return to units to prepare for bed - Sweet dreams! 

Each activity period will include several options: swimming, boating, walks & hikes, nature activities, crafts, and field games. (High ropes course, sailing, and some other activities will be scheduled so that everyone who wants to can try these activities.) Family activities for adults and children together, kids-only activities for campers ages 5 and older, and adults-only activities will be offered during each activity period. We may offer an adults-only digital photography workshop, so bring a digital camera if you'd like!

Second Day and Third Day

7:00 am PBJ (Pre-Breakfast Jaunt)

8:00 am Breakfast and activity sign-ups

9:30 am Morning A Activities

10:00 am Morning B Activities

12:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm Siesta (quiet time in the units)

2:00 pm Afternoon A Activities

3:30 pm Afternoon B Activities

5:00 pm Family Time/Free Swim

6:00 pm Dinner

7:00 pm Evening Activities (may include: campfires, skits and songs, all-camp games, natural history activities, waterfront activities, or even a movie on a rainy evening)

9:00 pm Return to units to prepare for bed 

Departure Day

7:00 am PBJ

8:00 am Breakfast

9:15 am Closing activities

10:00 am Return to units for packing. Wildwood staff will pick up your luggage and take it to the parking lot. Please sweep your cabin or tent and place any trash into the large central trashcan in your unit before you leave!

11:00 am All families depart

We look forward to seeing you and your family at Family Camp soon. Please feel free to call us at our toll-free number, 866-627-2267, or e-mail wildwood@massaudubon.org if you have any questions!

Happy Camping!

 

Session 4 Rocks On with JC's and LITs Too!

Good Evening Everyone,

Glad to see you're checking the blog again. What a gorgeous day we had today - a bit cooler but sunny and bright. We'll take another one tomorrow please!

Lot's of great stuff continues all over camp. Tonight the pesky Heffalumps visited again and our campers were hot on their trail, collecting signatures and watching out for Mama-lump. Ask your camper more about this wacky activity. Tomorrow, we'll complete our IGs and DGs and we'll have a barbecue for lunch - whoo hoo! Then, tomorrow night is our closing campfire, which always proves to be one of the highlights of the session.

I was off site for a bit yesterday and when I returned, my bike had been redecorated - see below. I love it!

The LITs and JCs have been very busy with all sorts of great stuff. For example, they helped us with our roadside clean-up of a stretch of Route 119. Thanks! They are a real joy to have with us. The LITs were a major part of our evening program tonight, and they always set the bar high with their creativitiy and enthusiasm!

We're down to the final couple days of this session, so I hope you're enjoying yourselves out there. We'll see you on Saturday morning! Until then, enjoy some of these images taken over the last two days at camp.

Thanks Peter, Kelsey, Rachel and Mia for helping with the pictures!

Check Out Bob's New Ride!

 

Session 4 Underway!

Hello Camper Families and Friends,

Well, Session 4 is off to a great start. We've had sunny mornings and a couple showers late in the afternoons so far, but nothing enough to change any of our activities, except it was a bit cool to go swimming during OATs today. We've got IGs and DGs in full gear and there's activities in all corners of camp. Last night we began our evening programs for this session with a lively game of Predator Prey - a huge camp favorite. Tonight is Unit Night, so each unit will be doing some special activites with their campers. 

The Second-year LITs are currently working on a service project here at camp and you'll be able to see it when you return for pick-up. It's coming along very nicely! The Junior Counselors are busy this week shadowing groups and assiting at tables during meals. This, along with all the other great ways they assist us throughout the camp make us very lucky to have these both these groups with us!

We welcomed back the Maine Kayak Adventure yesterday afternoon after they spent their last day in Maine at Popham Beach, where they had a morning of R&R after a week of paddling down the Kennebeck River! They gave hugs all around this morning before heading back home - but not before they all headed to Kimballs for some ice cream! I didn't get to go... :-(

Tonight is "Bring a Letter to Dinner" night, so I better go and write mine, but take a look for some familar faces in the pictures below taken today and yesterday. We'll be back again, probably on Thursday for another edition. Keep those letters coming and we hope you're having a great week too!

Bob

Water Rockets - FUN!

Ready....Aim....