Nature

Summer is officially here and Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) had their first river sampling day on Wednesday, June 18, 2014. This year there are 26 river and stream sites being monitored by SeVWA. These sites are along the West, Williams, and Saxtons Rivers, as well as North Branch Brook, Rock River and the Whetstone Brook.

This year SeVWA has over 25 volunteers who graciously give their time by waking up early and heading into the rivers to collect water samples for testing. Volunteer involvement ensures that this program continues and we are incredibly thankful for all of their efforts. This first sampling day went smoothly with collection from all 26 sites and samples sent to the lab in a timely fashion. Testing for E. coli bacteria is time sensitive and requires the coordination of many people to be able to test all the different sites in Windham County, with an additional few sites in the village of Chester in Windsor County.

The old rule of “March – in like a lion, out like a lamb” seems to have gone haywire this year. It’s more of an “out like a ice-breathing water dragon,” or maybe a “cold toad.”

Have the seasons shifted?  Perhaps April will now be in like a lion and out like a lamb. But that might lead to May showers bringing June flowers. (Which will lead to the loss of a quality joke for 6 year olds. What do May flowers bring? Pilgrims! It doesn’t work with Juneflowers.)

Today I saw two separate small flocks of Robins, one in Guilford and one in Brattleboro.

I couldn’t resist sharing this-

Leanne Kalabis, who lives in Nelson, British Columbia, was quite surprised to come home and find a bobcat in her basement. The poor, confused animal probably got in because a door was blown open while she was out. Once in, though, it couldn’t find a way to get out again, and became agitated, lunging at a window…”Initially I just saw the front of its face and thought, ‘oh, it’s just someone’s cat,’ but then I saw the rest of it,”

Rest of story here: http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/honey-theres-bobcat-stuck-window.html

The NWS says there is a Wind Chill Advisory in effect until Wednesday morning:

“A wind chill advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors…make sure you wear a hat and gloves.

The winter solstice this year is on December 21st st 12:11 PM EST. Although some might think it came early, the date and time shown is when it officially starts.  The only thing I like about winter besides Christmas is the night sky with all the bright stars and constellations that can be seen like Orion and Sirius the Dog Star, for example.

Two adventurers set out in a canoe and . Something mysteriously beautiful.

We were woken a little after midnight by a hoarse barking sound under our window. It went on at intervals of maybe 2 or 3 seconds between each bark. There was an answering bark in the middle distance as well.

The barking moved from yard to yard pretty quickly, but seemed to come back to our yard several times before moving off for good.

In an effort to get me to stop talking about the beach, Chris bought us a canoe this summer, well used but sturdy and appropriately green.  I’m not an expert paddler but I love to float around in boats, so I was appeased by this gesture.  Even so, it was almost September before we had mastered our knots (for tying it to the car) and assembled our gear.  But all the preparation turned out to be worthwhile once we pushed off into the Retreat Meadows.

Please join SeVWA for Connecticut River Watershed Council’s (CRWC’s) 17th Annual Source to Sea Cleanup!

On the morning of October 5th help us clean-up some of our most favorite local swimming holes and recreational sites along the West River in Brattleboro, Dummerston and Newfane – be a part of making these locations cleaner and safer for those of us that visit and enjoy these sites, for the wildlife too, and to protect the river’s water quality.

Wantastiquet Hellgrammites Volunteer for the Connecticut River Watershed Council

The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) is organizing a volunteer opportunity for those who are eager to help clean up the shorelines of our regional resource of beauty and recreation, the Connecticut River. The Wantastiquet Local River Subcommittee of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions is pulling together a group of volunteers to clean up the island under the Hinsdale Bridge in Brattleboro/Hinsdale.

Meet up at our base camp on Oct. 5th at 9:15 am at the Amtrak Vermonter Train Stop parking lot, 36 Bridge Street, Brattleboro. Look for a big tent. Please join the community of volunteers that day. Gloves, trash bags, and refreshments will be provided.

For years, I’ve been looking at this stone which I collected off the shoreline of the West River, up towards Williamsville.  I’ve not been able to figure out what it is.  Do any of our amateur (or professional) geologists know?

Although not obvious from this photo, the stone has a strong blue-green cast and is crystalline in nature.  The broken area at the top shows the crystal form somewhat, if you look closely.  There are a lot of stones of this type in the river around the area where I found this one, and I thought now would be as good a time as any to enlist the expertise of the community to finally identify it.

August 28^th was the last river sampling day of Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s (SeVWA’s) 2013 river monitoring program. In 2013 there were 24 river and stream sites that SeVWA monitored. Those sites were in the West River and Williams River watersheds and along the Saxtons River and Whetstone Brook. This summer the river monitoring program began on Wednesday, June 19^th and this past Wednesday, August 28^th was SeVWA’s sixth and final monitoring day of the 2013 season!

Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s (SeVWA’s) water quality monitoring program was begun about 10 years ago. At that time, the organization was known as West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA). In 2013 there are 24 river and stream sites that SeVWA is monitoring and those sites are in the West River and Williams River watersheds and along the Saxtons River and Whetstone Brook.  21 volunteers sample at those sites every 2 weeks during the summer, with 7 additional volunteers filling-in for the “regulars” on occasional days during the

What do you get when you cross a Teddy Bear with a Housecat?

You get a 2-pound, big-eyed, tree-dwelling carnivore from South America and it is called an olinguito.

The Smithsonian Institute the first such species to be discovered in the American continents in 35 years. It is a native of the cloud forests of Ecuador and Colombia.

Coming next week…will you be ready? 

To those of you fellow citizens who awoke to a grey sky this morning. . .

if you had been up at 5:30, you would have seen the glorious sky known as the “pink – blue sky” to the east, above Wantastiquet.

It only lasts a short time, but it is a good sight for the eyes that have just come out of the dark and from sleep into the day.

It also reminds me of an idea I had for a photo excursion. In the winter, I frequently suffer from the blahs; the dark crowds in on me, and the cold saps me some. I have taken to going out, when I am in a bad mood, and trying to find beauty. Just the activity of trying to find moments and scenes of beauty, is restorative to my feeling of well being.

Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s(SeVWA’s) water quality monitoring program was begun about 10 years ago. At that time, the organization was known as West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA).The 2013 river and stream monitoring program began on Wednesday, June 19th and this past Wednesday was SeVWA’s fourth 2013 river sampling day. 

Turtles to Toads – LIVE ANIMAL PROGRAM at the Brooks Memorial Library 
Explore the worlds of repitles and amphibians through an interactive slideshow, touchable artifacts and live animals.

Saturday, August 3, 10:30 AM
Main Room

Presented by the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum as part of the Dig into Reading Summer Reading Program. 

Space is limited. Register by calling 254-5290 ext 110.

Through most of late June and early July, it was impossible to live anywhere near the town woods and not hear the eerie call of the wood thrush.  They seemed to be everywhere.  For a while, believing they were rarer than they are, I thought it might be just one or two who got around a lot.  But I heard them so regularly and in such scattered places — Cedar Street, Forest Street, the Retreat trails — that I decided there must be more than a few.