More photos from Fells Reservation trip

Me on the boulder -  GM 2010

I have been going though the mass of photos taken from my trip to Fells Reservation.  As mentioned in my other post about the trip, the pond was dried up leaving it as a boggy marshland.  The friend I was hiking with insisted we walk along the logs that lead to mini-island in the center of the pond.  There was a boulder that was at the end of the logs and about 20 feet of very wet mud separating us from the island.  I sat on the boulder as my friend attempted to go ahead of me though the mud laying some dead branches down to act as a bridge.  The picture of me on the rock was taken by my friend from the island.  I was about to put my camera away when I was told to look up for the picture.  What I like about this picture is that you can see a waterline on the boulder that shows the level of how deep the pond is usually.

The other picture that I found from that trip was the one of raccoon prints I saw in the mud.  They look like little hand prints.  If you click on the picture you can see it bigger.  There are other interesting animal tracks through the mud you can find in this picture.   What do you see?  What do you think happened here?

Have any of you gone on a hike lately?  I want to hear about your adventures and if you have made any interesting discoveries.  Send me your pictures and tell me your stories, you might just find it here for others to read about.  So what are you waiting for? Come along and Meet Me Outdoors!!

Observation Nights

Many planetariums, observatories and science centers have what is called an Observation Night.  They pull out their telescopes, a few binoculars and invite the public to join them each week (weather permitting of course) to view some of the unique objects in our nights sky.  I went to one last week at the Museum of Science in Boston (at the observatory on the 5th floor of the garage) and had a blast.  They focused the telescopes on Venus, the Moon, and on Jupiter.  The event was free and open to the public, families of all ages encouraged to come.

If you can't make it out to an observation night, you can have one of your own. Check your local science center or observatory's website to find a map of the night sky and print a copy. (or see Resources page for StarDome sky map maker) Make sure it is the right month, because the constellations and planet positions change depending on what part of the year it is. Once outside with a sky map in hand, your task is to find North so you can orient your map (point it in the right way). To find north, if you don't have a compass, use the stars. Locate the Big Dipper in the sky, seven stars that look like a giant spoon - 3 stars make up the handle 4 make up a the bowl of the spoon - with the two stars on the outer edge of the bowl of the spoon imagine that you are pouring liquid out of the spoon and following it as it spills until it lands on a star. That star is Polaris the North Star, a star that doesn’t move as time goes on because it is located directly above Earth’s axis, the invisible line that Earth rotates around. Now that you found North, hold the sky map so that North is on the bottom. All of the stars on the bottom of the map are in front of you, stars in the middle are above you and the stars at the top are behind you.  Now you are ready to start identifying some stars and constellations.

So are you ready for Observation Night?  I am!  Let's go look at the stars!  Come and meet me outdoors!

My Hike at Fells Reservation

A friend and I went out to to Fells Reservation, located north of Boston.  Fells Reservation is family and dog friendly nature reserve that has nicely laid out marked trails, some even stroller friendly.  At the main entrances to the reserve's hiking trails there are bulletin boards with maps of the trails, and postings of regular activities and events that happen such as hikes for all ages and interests. Many nature reserves have websites that hold all of this information that you can check ahead of time.

My friend and I both like to explore as we hike so while we kept mostly to the marked trails, there were a couple times when we decided to go explore a bit off trail.  Going fully off trail is not recommended for families with small children, but there are some more challenging trails that may be good for families with older children and can be used as a fun orienteering experience. On our off trail hike we followed along a stream that was dried up.  We had to navigate a few obstacles like plants with thorns and fallen trees or branches that hand to be navigated around as well as poison ivy patches.  These types of obstacles are more avoidable if you stick to the trails because they are supposed to be maintained well.

Along the pond trail there were small pathways to the pond's edge.  Since it is late in the summer most of the pond was dried up leaving a boggy marshland (very wet mud) with some areas that still had water a couple feet deep. Basically, where the pond stood was now wet muddy land with lily pads, logs, and some rocks.  I decided I wanted to look closely at what is living in this bog. I found some animal tracks that we identified as raccoon tracks, heard the persistent chirp of a black bird, saw some water-striders going across the small puddles and a few turtles in the distance.

Can you find the hidden frog?

My favorite animal find in the bog/pond area was when I rolled over a log (replacing it to its original place afterwards, of course).  I found under the log, what my friend identified as, a spring peeper, it's totally cute. I took a couple picture of the frog before it decided to hop away.  It is hidden well because of its camouflage coloring he just blends into the surroundings. 

Can you find the frog in the pictures? HINT: He is between the two sticks.

 Can you find him in this picture?

Next time I'll have to remember to bring my binoculars.  There were some animals in the distance, like a turtle swimming in the center of the pond and a few birds that we heard up in the trees, binoculars would help us get a closer look.

Going on a hike

I was invited by a friend to go hiking in one of the local reservations called Fells Reservation.  A reservation is a large area of land that has been set aside in as a nature reserve where you can hike the trails and explore.  The one that we were going to has a few simple trails laid out and some more complex hiking areas, also if you get to the top of the hill see great views of the city of Boston. While I may not be an avid hiker I thought I could give it a try. 

Public parks like the Fells are great places to bring the family or explore with a friend.  Remember to think safety. These parks have trails laid out so follow the trails provided, take a map if there are any, and have a plan for where to go. But most importantly have fun!  If you and your family are a regular hikers and want to try something new, print and take a Nature Bingo board and see how many items you can find.  This is a great activity for children 5 and up.  Nature Bingo can be played with younger kids as a way to get them look closer at their surroundings. 

I will let you all know what I find when I get back from my adventures.  Let me know what you have found, too!  Come along and Meet Me Outdoors!

WhatBird

Recently, a lot of my outdoor experiences have occurred on my walk to and from the train. This morning was no different.  I just left my house and heard some peeping sounds of a bird in the tree that is in the house across from mine and was curious to see what it was.  I slowly walked toward the tree so not to make noise or sudden movements that might startle the bird. Peering through the branches and leaves I finally saw this little black and white bird that had striped and spotted pattern on its body and was hanging almost upside-down on the branch.  As I reached into my bag to grab my camera the bird flew off to another branch and hopped around a bit before hiding in a higher part of the tree.  The pattern on the bird made it hard to see it among the leaves and branches, this is called camouflage.  Camouflage is a natural coloring adaptation that allows animals to blend in with its surroundings.  Since I couldn't take a picture of the bird with my camera I had to take a mental image, remembering its color, size and how it sounded and how it was hanging on the tree.  These details are important when identifying birds.

A good online resource for identifying birds is a website called "WhatBird." WhatBird is like the dichotomous key for trees but instead of asking about leaves and seed shapes it asks about size of the bird, shape of body, shape of bill, color, location, and other identifiers like song or call.  This may be complex for a young child to navigate on their own but with a little help from a grownup in asking comparative questions you can identify the bird together.  The bird that I saw was a woodpecker but since I could not get a picture of it to identify it more specifically I will have to try to find the bird again.

Have you seen any interesting looking birds?  I want to hear what you have found!  Come Meet Me Outdoors!

Community Gardens

Practically everyday I take the same shortcut that follows a bike path to the train.   I pass the same trees, the same little garden patches and the same sign that says "Community Garden."  But until the other day when I walked by I didn't stop to look at what this patch of greenery really was.

There are flower patches, small vegetable patches, a tin-man of sorts made from recycled parts and some very odd looking trees.  For some reason what was coming from the trees is what made me stop and look.  Picture a tree that seems to have  long green beans growing from it and that is what this tree looked.  I took photos of this tree and when I got home I used the dichotomous key same as I had used earlier for my Ten Step Challenge tree to find it, however it was not listed.  This meant I had to use a more advanced one, but I am skeptical of what the key told me is really the same tree because the pods in the picture of the key look different then the one of the tree I found. The key said the tree is a Redbud tree because it has a heart-shaped leaf and a legume for fruit. I decided to check my Golden Guide Tree book, just to be sure.

This is the tree that has green bean shaped fruit

As it turns out, this tree may not be a Redbud but a could actually be Catalpa tree.  The beanlike seed pods of this tree are closer to what the picture shows in the guide book that I have than what is shown for the Redbud tree.  I'll have to take a closer look again next time I go by to be able to identify it properly.

Leaves of the tree I found

After taking the pictures I continued walking and admiring the garden and wondering if there are other community gardens out there that I did not know about. As it turns out Somerville, town outside Boston, MA where I was walking, has 12 community gardens and there are many more through out the Greater Boston area.  If you go the website of the American Community Garden Association you can use the search box in the bottom right and corner to find community gardens in your area.

Is there a community garden in your area?  Go and explore some of the different gardens and tell me what you find.

Come along and Meet Me Outdoors!

Explore your town

Today I decided to take a different route to the train and in doing so I got a chance to explore a really cool area that I may not have normally gone.

Living in Boston, MA means that at almost every corner has some history to it.  I stumbled on a lovely park now named Powder House Square named for an old mill from 1704 turned gunpowder storage building during the 1747, and then later used in the Revolutionary War.  Now it is left as a landmark and public park.  The Powder House structure is on a hill you can see it from the picture on the left, and a closer view from the base of the structure below, I took both with my phone.

There is a stone wall on the far side of the hill from the building that looked like it would be awesome to explore. I would have stayed to check it out more but it started to rain and I wasn't prepared for it.

I stepped outside my normal path and discovered something new today.  Will you do the same? Come on and Meet Me Outdoors.

Ten Step Challenge Results

Hey Everyone!
Last post I challenged readers to start simple and take a Ten Step Challenge to see what you can find if all you did was leave to go out the front door and take 10 giant steps in any direction. To prove how easy it was I will show you what I found in my Ten Step Challenge.

OK, so  after finding this tree out in my yard from my Ten Step Challenge and I wanted to identify it. I went online and found what is called a dichotomous key for trees. A dichotomous key is kind of like playing 20 Questions and is used as a tool to identify something.  Today I used it to identify the tree but there are dichotomous keys for other items found in the natural world (the Resource Section has good ones to check out).  After answering the questions that the dichotomous key asked it told me that the tree I have is likely a black cherry tree.  I am going to leave the eating of the fruit of the tree to the birds.


Here is what some readers sent in from their Ten Step Challenge.

This picture was sent in by Jake who noticed that the flowers were packed down in one area.  Jake guesses that an animal like a deer could have walked on them or rested in the patch of flowers causing them to be flatten. Nice observation Jake!

Nahama found this patch of clovers on her Ten Step Challenge. She said she tried find a 4 leaf clover in the patch but couldn't find one.  Keep searching, you might find one some day. 

On Jimmy's Ten Step Challenge he heard some birds and in his ten steps he was able to sneak up and get close enough to take a picture before they flew away.  Can you find the birds in this picture? There are two that I can see.

Keep sending in your results!  I am glad that you all could Meet Me Outdoors.
Stay tuned for our next adventure!