I just wanted to send on a quick thank you to each of you for all of your hard work at Saturday's Nature Trail Clean-Up. It was a cold, damp, borderline day, but all of you with your great senses of humor and wonderful energy made it a very enjoyable experience. AND, the trail looks GREAT!!!
Friends:
Its time for spring cleaning out on the Nature Trail!
Last year, Robert Mathers and I headed out, chain saws in hand, and did some clearing and trail work on our own, but this year EVERYONE is invited!
Winter (with snow, please):
We finally have some winter out there complete with snow days off work and school and temperatures hovering in the plus and minus single digits. Even though its cold, it is still an excellent time to go out and see the campus nature trail. Last week I was out on the trail checking out some tree growth sites with a student. We got a bit chilly, but saw yellow shafted flickers, red tail hawks, chipping sparrows, several acrobatic squadrons of crows, and lots of deer, turkey, and vole tracks. Oh, and the trees are doing fine, too.
Deborah and I were out hiking yesterday on the ridges and hollows around Roaring Run Creek in Armstrong County. We were looking for, among other things, "vernal pools." These are small, shallow, temporary puddles and ponds that form in basins which fill up with spring rain water. These pools typically form in the same spots year after year and are extremely important sites in which many amphibian species (including many frogs, toads, and salamanders) lay their eggs and in which the early, aquatic life stages of these species grow and develop.