Action On The Water!

What's that moving in the water?

Things were busy at the water this week, some natural occurrences, some turtle-made!  What mysteries were you hoping to solve today?  After a quick game of charades and touching base with our turtle friends we were ready to explore Harrington to see how the birds, bugs and other living things use water to survive. 

How did the Bird Club work out, Snapping Turtle? Did you get all your questions answered?  According to the agenda, lots of birds of prey were discussed.  What would you like to learn next? 

I think we decided that Osprey's were the best kind of raptor!

Time to see what living things are hanging out around the water!  For many creatures it is home sweet home. Algae takes over the world…or so it seemed!  Why do you think the algae is so thick on Mill Pond?  Black Bear didn’t mind!  He collected a nice juicy pile and painted one of the picnic tables on Butterfly Hill with it.  He prefers it to using dandelions as it provides more colour apparently.  Thanks for the artistic advice, Black Bear!

The turtles did their part to help clean up the algae!

Butterfly Hill, Sunrise Hill and Sunrise Field were teaming with life.  Don’t forget the man-made creations though!  Dragonfly launched our paper boats just by the dam and yikes!  Why do you think they sank?  Should we think of a redesign?  What can we do next week to help keep our boats afloat?  At least they still found their way to the finish line! The story Float helped us realize that even if things don’t work out we can try again and even create something else with the same materials…like paper airplanes!  Did your plane fly far?  Did you have to make any adjustments to help it soar?  Whether total success was achieved or not, friends helped and cheered each other on. Thanks for all the delicious food you prepared at the mud kitchen, Deer. Coffee, chocolate dessert and beef stew were on the menu.  After all the hard work it was delicious!  

Chef Deer in her kitchen!

Grey Squirrel gathered us in the library for a book about some life cycles of various creatures.  In Watch It Grow-Backyard Life Cycles we focused on learning about frogs, their eggs and how they survive in the water. 

To our great amazement we experienced the frog life cycle right in front of our eyes.  As we walked through Cedar Hideaway to the water we immediately found lots of big tadpoles and even a froglet!  A big crayfish joined the group for good measure.  Sure looked like the one we found last year, the one with one big claw.  Could it be that same one?  With the help of Pin Cherry creating an appropriate habitat for the creatures, water striders were also added to the bowl.  Thanks to everyone for returning the animals to their homes and for watering the trees as we headed back.  

The first crayfish catch of the day by Leopard Frog. We were pretty sure we caught him last year too!

As we walked back to the hall, did you think about the mystery you wanted to solve today?  Hope you found some answers to your questions.  If you didn’t, not to worry!  There is always next week to continue the quest!