Yesterday we went to Weir Farm National Historic Site to search for signs of spring.
It's been a cold March. (That's ice, in Guinea Pig #2's hand.)
We had to look pretty hard. But we found a few things.
We saw some critter's house...
A few brave rhodie buds...
Some kind of larva eggs....
A bit of new growth...
A little skunk cabbage rising (double click to see it better)...
A woodpecker's lunch table...
And little yellow flag rising (on the far bank).
We found more signs in the gardens, where more sun reaches all the way to the ground:
Galanthus bank...
Daylilies and daffodils rising...
The nepeta is coming!
Primrose poking...
I dunno what this is. Hydrangea, maybe? Around our house, the deer eat the hydrangea down to bloody stumps, so I actually don't know what it looks like in bud.
And anemones.
Tree-Huggers' Resource Guide:
National Park Service: Umbrella site for all national parks, historical sites, and recreation areas. Searchable by park, geographic area, or type of site. Many individual parks' sites are loaded with educational resources, including downloadable lesson plans on science- and history-related content and real-life kits that teachers can borrow for free. Also excellent are the Parks'...
Junior Ranger Badge programs, which are extremely hands-on investigations of the science, history, and other aspects. These are fabulous ways to engage kids more deeply into real-life park visits; many of the parks also have Web-Ranger programs, which are designed for kids to do remotely, either prior to a visit or as a way of studying the ecology or geology of remote parks they are unable to visit in person.
The Nature Conservancy: Extremely well-run organization which supports conservation objectives through a wide range of initiatives, from direct management of protected spaces, through partnerships with national, state, local and non-profit organizations, partnerships with government agencies in countries as far-flung as Belize and Mongolia, to developing country debt swaps. They partner with a number of eco-lodges in the US and abroad. Their own, and their partners' (linked) websites are chock-full of information, including downloadable lesson plans.
Appalachian Mountain Club: Venerable hiking club with local chapters throughout the Northeast; also runs several lodges, a string of huts throughout the White Mountains in New Hampshire, family adventure camps and much more. Best source of hiking maps, detailed guidebooks and wilderness safety guides throughout the Northeast region.
Sierra Club: AMC's nearest equivalent in the West, albeit with a slightly different mission: significant environmental advocacy as well as hiking tours; also runs a lodge in California as well as camping trips throughout the Sierras.
National Audubon Society: Not just for birds: state centers with hiking trails, education centers, day camp programs, field study programs, protected habitats and more (the Connecticut and Maine centers have great field trip programs); very informative web sites with maps, classification tools, and downloadable lesson plans; group programs and trips.
Wilderness Awareness School: Informative website of non-profit naturalist center in Washington State, with links to day and overnight camps for kids, training sessions for adults, and home study programs.
Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv's passionate argument that today's kids are being deprived of their right to connect with nature and the implications of this alienation on their abilities to maintain attention, develop mastery, and find a sense of meaning and joy in their lives.
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