Fishing on Lake Shavehead – September 11, 2008

As I’m getting ready for a group of school children to arrive at camp, I get to see the lake in this morning mist. This is one of my favorite sites at camp.

Nature Adventure Camp 2007

Presentation 1, originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

What a blast! The campers learned so much!

Here’s the audio(mp3) of what the kids liked best about nature camp 2007(the survival game was obviously a big hit). Kid’s Nature Camp 2007 Audio Evaluation (mp3)
Here’s a list of some of the many things that we did:

Get to know you games
Camping out
Fishing
Canoeing
Fire Kites
Bug Suckers
Bird Calls
Bird Adaptations
Water Slide
Archery
Swimming
Swamp Hike
Campfire Songs
Gift of Nature, God, Ourselves, & History

 

Busy “Spring Like” Day – March 12 2006

 

Can you find the garter snake in this picture?

Garter first of the season March 12 2006

Originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

Weather

Warm, in the 60’s and there are stratus clouds filling the sky.

So much happening

It’s 2pm and I’m at the intersection of the fen and main camp drive. This is my favorite spot at camp because I can always see some wildlife. Today, I see the following:

•  
  • 1 male and 2 female green frogs in the fen.
  • A muskrat propelling itself by its rat like tail.  It goes from the south side of the fen through the 2 foot wide drainage pipe under the road to the north side.
  • There are 24+ painted turtles sunning themselves on a log in the south fen.
  • There are some small fish visible on the north side of the fen.
  • I garter snake on massasauga trail.  See photograph above.
  • A belted kingfisher(blue and white colored bird) is repeatedly going from an old snag(dead tree) into the water with a splash to get its prey(fish I assume).
  • The regulars birds: Sandhill cranes, Canadian geese, robins, red wing blackbirds, and common grackles fill the sky with movement and sound.
  • Cleaing out the drainage pipe, the camp program director finds a scud(type of shrimp) in the water.  It’s only about 1/8 inches long. Scuds are indicators of good water quality.

  

That’s what I call a full day!