What's Your Nature?
Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!
Aster getting plenty of action
Tons of Painted Ladies! Once I got closer a variety of bees (some of which my be types of flies?) At least 6 distinct buzzing insects. And one Monarch.
Seeing Red
We need to figure out a way to have Amazon deliver the weather in the future. I don’t believe Mother Nature intended to give us a record-setting wet summer; I just think all the good weather probably got misplaced on a loading dock in Topeka, or something like that. The spate of mild sunny weather we’ve been having over the past couple of weeks, while very enjoyable, was clearly meant to be dispersed over the course of June and July to break up the nonstop rain. I’d be willing to pay a premium for timely delivery next year.
Eastern garter snake
During a nature walk on the Kip Trail one of the girl scouts from the Nikentsiaki Service Unit in Canton-deKalb spotted this little garter snake slithering across the trail. This one is an Eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), a subspecies of the common garter - or garden - snake.
First frost
Last night was the first hard frost at my house in Canton and at camp in Pierrepont. Layer of ice on the windshield and beautiful ice crystals outlining so many things. Lovely.
2017 Naturalist Festival
This even started at 2pm and went until ~6pm. Each walk had a specific topic and had presenters from either St Lawrence, Clarkson or the Cornell Cooperative Extension. The topics included edible/medicinal plants, fungi, herpatology and ornithology (birding). It was very informational and really fun. During our bird walk we got to see a young bald eagle and a large amount of ravens. The fact that this event was free makes the experience even better.
Young Scientist Workshop - cancelled
Nature Up North invites interested 10th-12th graders to participate in a free field-based workshop. St. Lawrence University senior and local to Northern New York, Jessica LaMay, will be incorporating fundamentals of conservation biology, nature-based learning, and field research methodologies into this fun three-hour event. The Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive beetle that feeds on Ash Trees, was recently discovered in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties.
Making Fire by Hand
Ever made fire by hand? Students in the Intro the Environment and Society class at Colton-Pierrepont High School met with Dr. Timothy Messner, Archaeology professor at SUNY Potsdam, this September to learn how to make fire by hand using just a simple tool and the energy in their hands and breath. Below, students Summer Scovil and Ariel Garvin provide an insight into the experience:
Fire
Friday the 15th of September our Intro to Environment and Society Class met with Professor Tim Messner from Suny Potsdam for a bow drill demonstration. A bow drill is a prehistoric fire starting tool. There are several steps that are very important when using a bow drill. The main pieces are a hearth board, the bow, the spindle, and the bearing block. I, Summer Scovil, was unsuccessful creating fire with the bow drill even after working all period to attempt to make fire. It is very exhausting physically after a while of work. I, Ariel Garvin, was successful creating fire.
Wellesley Island Kayaking
Another fun trip to Wellesley, this time with the kayak. I stopped at the nature center to get some info on where to go. After talking with the volunteer I knew exactly where to go and how to get there. She also gave me a map, a kayak ID sticker, and reflective stickers for my paddle (for free!). She was extremely helpful and made the whole trip that much nicer. The water was so clear I could see the fish swimming underneath me. The weather was great and the water was not rough at all (granted I stay very close to shore). I plan on going back several more times.
Lake Pleasant
The launch point for this lake is about 12 miles from the nearest paved road. This means that for the most part the lake is undisturbed. This is a great place to paddle along in a kayak when you have no where to be and plenty of time to get there. The water was very calm and quite clear. You can see the bottom in most places. One thing we did notice was the lack of large fish and waterfowl. After exploring around more we discovered that there was not a lot of aquatic vegetation so this is likely the reason. After a quick lunch we went to the stone dam farther up the road.