February 2012

BOOK REVIEW:  In working out the list for natural flowers in our wetland we used the study from Yale  on Connecticut’s Freshwater Wetlands by Stephen P. Broeker, Yale Study. The third plant we chose to look for this spring is the Showy Lady’s Slipper  cypripedium reginae. It flowers from June to July. Flowers are pink and white and about 2 to 3 inches long. It is endangered in the state of Connecticut.  The word reginae comes from the Latin meaning queen.

NATURE THINGS TO OBSERVE THIS MONTH: Things to observe at camp this month (From Mass Audubon)  Groundhog day. Great horned owls begin nesting. Watch for snow fleas at base of tree trunks and boulders. Osier shrub stems begin to turn red. Listen for the sp;ring songs of chickadees and titmice. Flights of duck head north. Map;le sap begins running. Morning cloak butterflies  make flights on warm days. See red winged blackbirds. 

JOIN OUR ONGOING PROJECTS: We’re designing nature interpretation displays at Bird Spot One and Two;  We’re building owl and bat houses at camp Thursdays this winter. The nature journal is being kept of weekly sightings and can be read at the Nature Library.