|
|
|
|
|
Envirothon 2010
Harris Center Helping High Schools
Prepare for Envirothon this Spring |
Members of Conant High School's Envirothon Team learn about scat, skulls and other wildlife topics at the Harris Center. The Harris Center's work with Conant's team is supported by a grant from Public Service of New Hampshire.
 |
Envirothon teams from three area high schools have been getting a big help from the Harris Center.
The Envirothon is a national program in which small high school teams throughout each state compete on environmental issues. The program encourages students to study and understand forests, soils, water, and wildlife, and solve a reality-based problem. Each state's winning team goes on to compete at the national level.
This year's theme is groundwater, and the competition is May 18 at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.
To help students brush up on their wildlife knowledge, the Harris Center recently hosted teams from Conant, Conval Regional and Souhegan high schools.
|
|
 |
| The Nature of April |
Woodcock chick.
 |
Dusk is a great time to listen for the male woodcock, doing its ritual peenting and aerial display, as it seeks to impress a female. Check out this site to hear this sound of spring.
Cinnamon ferns, brackens, Christmas ferns, hay-scented and many other species of this ancient non-flowering plant are starting to emerge from the ground. Their full fans will soon be blanketing the woodlands. | |
|
| Sunday, April 11:
Professor Apple, Ben Watson and Slow Food Monadnock |
|
Apples have been an ongoing theme at the Harris Center since the beginning and we're happy to have two programs on the delicious fruit on Sunday, April 11.
Apple Tree Grafting: A Hands-On Workshop, with Tom Burford and Ben Watson. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Learn the traditional (but largely forgotten) skill of grafting fruit trees. Tom Burford is a Virginia fruit historian, apple expert, nurseryman, and co-author of "The Fruit Grafter's Handbook." He will discuss the theory and practice of basic grafting, from how to collect and store scionwood to the proper tools and techniques for making your own fruit trees. Ben Watson is a member of Slow Food Monadnock and consults with the Heritage Orchard Initiative for the RAFT Alliance (Renewing America's Food Traditions). Participants will take home two bareroot semi-dwarf trees that they create, selecting from among several heirloom apple varieties. All supplies, including knives, will be provided. Limit 25 persons; $25 fee to cover supplies; Pre-registration required. Call 525-3394 or email lefebvre@harriscenter.org.
Planning/Restoring the Home Orchard, with Tom Burford ("Professor Apple"). 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Tom will address basic issues for beginning home orchardists, including tips on selecting varieties and rootstocks, spacing, fertilization, and ongoing care. The second part of the workshop will be a guided orchard walk (rain or shine) at the Harris Center and will focus on pruning, "topworking" and renovating fruit trees. Free. Co-sponsored by Slow Food Monadnock chapter. |
| April 24, 1 p.m.
Matt Patterson: Freshwater Fish of the Northeast |
Matt Patterson will bring this Eastern brook trout and other beautiful fish works of art to the Harris Center for an opening reception April 24, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
 |
Here's another reason to celebrate the traditional start of trout-fishing season (the fourth Saturday in April): an opening reception at the Harris Center for Nashua artist Matt Patterson.
Matt is the illustrator of a remarkable book that will be in print just in time for the event, Freshwater Fish of the Northeast. It's a collaboration with his father, David Patterson, who wrote the text.
The new book is being published by University Press of New England and is handsomely illustrated with 60 fish species, from the big, exciting game species to the small fish, like sculpins and darters, that play essential roles in aquatic ecosystems.
To research the book, Matt and his father, a recently retired high school biology teacher, spent countless hours fishing in New Hampshire and throughout the Northeast.
See the art and hear Matt's story on April 24, 1 p.m., at the Harris Center. |
| Forest Forensics
Tom Wessels Helps Decipher the Forest's Clues |
Tom Wessels conducts "forest forensics" during his talk at the Harris Center last Saturday.
 |
There was a full house at the Harris Center Saturday for Tom Wessels, who spoke about his upcoming new book: "Forest Forensics: A Field Guide to Reading the Forested Landscape."
Tom is a remarkable ecologist and founding director of the master's degree program in conservation biology at Antioch University New England. He has made numerous appearances at the Harris Center, including those for his previous books: Reading the Forested Landscape, The Granite Landscape, Untamed Vermont, and The Myth of Progress: Toward a Sustainable Future.
After his talk, Tom led an information-packed short field trip in the woods behind the Harris Center, pointing out, among other things, an area that had shown little evidence of past logging. |
Indulging in Inquiry Keene's Wheelock Students Make Forest Discoveries |
Students at Wheelock School in Keene recently made some neat discoveries about the forest near their own school.
 | Sometimes, the best discoveries come from within.
That's what happened recently when Harris Center teacher/naturalist Polly Pattison asked fifth graders at Keene's Wheelock School to devise their own inquiry about a nearby forest.
Pattison led Dan Gillard's class on the short walk to the forest near Wheelock School, in part to let them get to know the area and devise their own inquiry for learning more.
After some initial poking around -- including plenty of wildlife and plant discoveries -- the students reached their inquiry: What creatures shred bark?
Part of this 4-week unit involved some inside work, like investigating their finds through various field guides and other resources. Back in the forest, students delved further into forest ecology, finding signs of white-tailed deer, pileated woodpecker, bark beetles, hairy woodpeckers, Eastern coyote, gray squirrel, red squirrel and lots more.
The result, Pattison said, was a fun and meaningful experience for the students.
"I think because they were pursuing their own questions and their own interests, the students maintained enthusiasm about what they were learning," she said. "Their level of engagement was heightened because their own inquiry was involved."
The unit was also meaningful because "this little strip of forest was a 9-minute brisk walk from school," Pattison said. "They found that there was so much wildlife near their school, in their own community. That had an impact on a deep level." |
| Back-Tracking ... a look back at the Harris Center's 40 years
Could it be ... the Wol's Nest? |
Wol's Nest has been a great summer tradition at the Harris Center since 1975. Save the date: August 1, 2010, for a Wol's Nest Reunion! Shown here from the late-1990s are Evan and Silas Lunetta on the right. Any guesses who's on the left?
 |
These three birds found something to squawk about when they discovered an unusually large nest near the Harris Center. It's all in a day's play during Wol's Nest!
We've been thinking a lot about Wol's Nest lately, not just because we're planning another summer of fun around the Harris Center and Spoonwood Pond. We're thinking about great traditions, like "Announcements, announcements," the game of Bobcat, ponding for aquatic critters, poking around the giant boulders, the closing circle hand squeaze, the skits at family night, and, of course, the dinosaur egg hunt.
We'll bring back some of those traditions and memories on August 1, when the Harris Center holds a "Wol's Nest Reunion" of past campers, counselors, campers, parents, grandparents and others. There'll be time for remembrances, traditions and food, so save the date and and stay tuned for details.
Want to sign up your child for summer Wol's Nest? Click here. |
Never Stop Learning
This Spring's Environmental Studies Institute: Vernal Pools and Birding |
It's a spring thing at the Harris Center's Environmental Studies Institute, with birding and vernal pools on the agenda.
The Harris Center's Environmental Studies Institute (ESI) offers a variety of courses that provide opportunities for adults to learn about the Monadnock Region's natural history, connect to the outdoors, and engage in meaningful discussion about the environment. Come join us ... and bring a friend!
Birding Beyond the Harris Center: Birds & Habitats of the Monadnock Region
April 30, May 7, 14, 21, 28, & June 4
Fridays, 7:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Instructors: Julie Tilden & Phil Brown
Cost: $60 members/$80 non-members
Meets at various field trip locations in the region.
The spring bird migration and early breeding season are most exciting times in the Monadnock Region of NH. May and early June are an ideal time frame to observe the migration of raptors, water birds, and songbirds - in fact, well over 150 different species pass through our region's woodlands, fields, lakes, and wetlands! We'll learn about and experience each family's unique adaptations to finding food, migrating, and raising young through the careful observation of birds and the habitats that sustain them. Come join us for this exploration of wild lands, many of which include prime conservation areas between the Monadnock highlands and lower Connecticut River valley.
Vernal Pool Ecology and Conservation
April 15, 22, 29, & May 6
Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Brett Thelen
Cost: $40 members/$60 non-members
Meets at the Harris Center.
Join Brett Thelen for this course focusing on the highly specialized habitat of springtime pools. Discover the amazing life cycle of such creatures as the yellow spotted salamander, wood frog, and fairy shrimp. Brett will share her knowledge of these unique wetlands with indoor lecture balanced with outdoor field work. You'll never look at a spring puddle the same. She'll share the latest in conservation measures for vernal pools and discuss local opportunities to help protect these areas and their inhabitants.
|
| Out and About with the Harris Center |
April 11 (Sun.) - Spring Hawk-watch at Pitcher Mountain. Join Lance Tanino and scan the skies for northbound raptors near the Pitcher Mountain fire tower in Stoddard. Lance is a former hawk-watcher for NH Audubon's Pack Monadnock raptor migration observatory. Meet at 8 a.m. at the Pitcher Mountain parking area on Route 123 and hike about ¼ mile to the summit. Stay as long as you want. Co-sponsored by Monadnock Chapter of NH Audubon. Sign up with Lance at lance.tanino@gmail.com.
April 11 (Sun.) - "Professor Apple" is Back with Ben Watson and the Slow Food Crew for a Double Header! Apple trees have been an ongoing theme at the Harris Center since the beginning. In the mid-1970s we began offering workshops on pruning, grafting and releasing apple trees for people and wildlife. They're still popular.
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Apple Tree Grafting: A Hands-On Workshop, with Tom Burford and Ben Watson. Learn the traditional (but largely forgotten) skill of grafting fruit trees. Tom Burford is a Virginia fruit historian, apple expert, nurseryman, and co-author of "The Fruit Grafter's Handbook." He will discuss the theory and practice of basic grafting, from how to collect and store scionwood to the proper tools and techniques for making your own fruit trees. Ben Watson is a member of Slow Food Monadnock and consults with the Heritage Orchard Initiative for the RAFT Alliance (Renewing America's Food Traditions). Participants will take home two bareroot semi-dwarf trees that they create, selecting from among several heirloom apple varieties. All supplies, including knives, will be provided. Limit 25 persons; $25 fee to cover supplies; Pre-registration required. Call 525-3394 or email lefebvre@harriscenter.org by April 8.
2 to 3:30 p.m. - Planning/Restoring the Home Orchard, with Tom Burford ("Professor Apple"). Tom will address basic issues for beginning home orchardists, including tips on selecting varieties and rootstocks, spacing, fertilization, and ongoing care. The second part of the workshop will be a guided orchard walk (rain or shine) at the Harris Center and will focus on pruning, "topworking" and renovating fruit trees. Free. 2 to 3:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by Slow Food Monadnock chapter.
April 11 (Sun) - A Family Hike to Jack's Pond. Come discover a beautiful small pond tucked into the base of Thumb Mountain. We'll keep our ears open for the songs of birds, frogs and even an early insect or two. A steep beginning followed by a curvy trail to an old woods road. Meet leader Susie Spikol at the Harris Center at 2 p.m. Back around 5 p.m.
April 18 (Sun.) - Spur Trail Cleanup at NH Audubon's Willard Pond Sanctuary in Antrim. Get to know the sanctuary's newest and longest trail doing spring cleanup! This trail is not for the faint of heart; it's a strenuous hike. With leader Rachael Johnson, we'll be brushing, maintaining waterbars, and clearing the last fallen remnants from the 2008 ice storm. Meet Rachael and Andrew Alling at 12:15 p.m. at the Willard Pond parking lot at the end of Willard Pond Road (off Route 123 in Hancock). Bring food, water and tools. Please register by calling 525-4096. Ends around 5:30 p.m.
April 24 (Sat.) - Freshwater Fish of the Northeast: the Art of Matt Patterson. Timed right for the opening day of trout season, Matt Patterson will be here for an opening reception of his fish art exhibit and discussion of his new book: " Freshwater Fish of the Northeast." Illustrated by Matt and written by his father, David, the book is a beautiful guide to more than 60 freshwater fish from the ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams of New England and New York. Hear about this remarkable father-son collaboration, enjoy some beautiful art, and learn a thing or two about fish! 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Harris Center.
April 25 (Sun.) - Spring Birding at Dillant-Hopkins (Keene) Airport, a nice mix of field, wetland and forest. Join Lance Tanino for a 3-mile walk along Airport Road in Swanzey. Meet at the airport parking lot just south of Keene (Route 12 to Route 32 to Airport Road). Migrants and breeding birds should be arriving in good numbers. Co-sponsored with Monadnock Chapter of NH Audubon. Meet at 7 a.m.; back by 11:30. Sign up with lance.tanino@gmail.com. |
|
Contact Info:
Eric Aldrich
Harris Center for Conservation Education
603-525-3394
| |
|
|
|
|
