Saturday, August 23, 2014

Get ready for the annual Lake Wallace clean up!

Saturday, September 27th from 9-noon at Lake Wallace

Help with trash pickup and trail maintenance and contribute to the health of the Lampson Brook and Connecticut River watersheds ... we're all in this together!

CRWC Source to Sea Cleanup 2014
http://www.ctriver.org/portfolio-items/source-to-sea-cleanup/

Join the group
http://www.ctriver.org/projects/source-to-sea-cleanup/join-a-group/

Check out the map
… look how many groups there are, from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound!


Lake Wallace
GROUP NAME: Lake Wallace                             CONTACT INFO: llevy@belchertown.org    
CLEANUP DATE: Saturday, Sept 27, 2014              
MEETING TIME: 9am                                  MEETING LOCATION: picnic tables on Foley  Field


New year, new crew!


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

4th graders and Sophomores team up

for a trip to Lake Wallace
Friday, June 6
After all, the Biology MCAS wrapped up early this week, and the rest of the 4th graders were away at Natures Classroom ... what better chance to explore the local environment?!

Off we go, 


with nets and buckets in tow.


How big is that tree? ...


Timber! gives us a good estimate
there are many things to see when you actually get into the water

... including a surprise visitor



Scoop, sort, identify, sketch and appreciate








yep, even leeches are pretty when you take a closer look!


The Creativity Competition ... Ms.Naz' last year










Woodland Ecology surveys the SRE puddle for the second year


Preparing for the big-dip


Seriously, people, it's just not that deep.
A few buckets-full to look at


"And in bucket #1 ..."

Scoop, sort, identify ... once again, we find mosquito-predators, not mosquitoes.


Some bring home the bacon, others, mud.

Tyler and the girls discovering life in the SRE puddle
Not exactly a prom picture

Ecomentors in May

An essential life skill - honking with grass.

Scoop, search, document


Hmm, what could possibly be so interesting about a dead fish?!

let's take a closer look, we may be able to identify it's last meal ...

 ... We might have been able to, but the fact remains that the fish was dead too long.
Our noses provided enough evidence of that!

Identify, count & record.

Yet another successful Ecomentors outing!

Spring visitors to the Levy's

Shade loving fungi

False morels

Indigo Bunting, 15 feet from our door

Fledgling Cardinal - so new, it hasn't grown any red feathers yet!

A few visitors to the Levy's

Our resident Red-Tailed Hawk just sitting peacefully on a December day,

only to be yelled at by a visiting Hermit Thrush


Look closely, it's not just bare ground ...

 ... it's not just a blob, it's a Fox Sparrow (at 12:00 near the snow, with a White-throated Sparrow at 9:00)

Male Northern Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Song Sparrow

Give it a guess - rabbit or squirrel?

possum

Dark-eyed Junco (I saw it hop through just before I took the picture)

Hmm ... are these two the same or different?