Pets and people encounter nature in their own ways. On this day my son and our cat Spazz seemed to be musing about the winter world outside. Both are sharing the moment in the comfort and warmth of home.

St. Lawrence Land Trust volunteers met with Nature Up North interns Liz and Maya to learn more about our new water monitoring project, soon to be publicized on our website. NCPR intern Claire also participated to gain insight for an upcoming story on our project - stay tuned! Volunteers familiarized themselves with the protocol procedures, collected physical, chemical, and biological data to assess water quality, and gave feedback for future volunteer trainings. Thanks to our volunteers for a beautiful, sunny morning on the Grasse River! 

Nature Up North and a crew of North Country paddlers got out on the Little River on a beautiful night on Thursday. The bugs were kind to us, and a few people enjoyed a little swim in the warm water. Look out on August 3rd for our last paddle of the summer! 

Nature Up North and TAUNY teamed up on Thursday to host a campfire jam at the Wachtmeister field station, featuring Barb Heller of NCPR. A troupe of five guitars, one banjo, one harmonica, and twenty voices made for a beautiful music- filled evening. 

Found this happy little wildflower at the edge of the road.

Ten boats got on the water to join Nature Up North in a water-plant themed evening paddle on Thursday. The rain that was forecast to pour down on us disappeared and we were left with a gorgeous evening! We paddled along the Little River which opened up into the Grasse River, and we talked about the different types of water plants along the way. We learned about floating plants, submerged plants, emerged plants, and algae. We also learned some helpful tips on how to ID water plants.

Beautifully calm afternoon to paddle around, learning about water plants on the Little River!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Fourth of July at the Canton Farmer's Market! Our natural dye table attracted visitors of all ages, who dyed handkerchiefs and tee shirts with natural dyes made from local plants. Vibrant hues of blue, green, burnt orange, and pink will hopefully be floating around the village of Canton soon!

The Nature Up North team was joined by a group of youngsters at Eel Weir State Park for a fishing workshop on a beautiful summer day. The little anglers hooked some rock bass, yellow perch, and sunfish using worms as live bate on open-faced reels. 

Exquisite sunset from Coney Mountain! What a wonderful evening. Happy solstice everyone.