SNOW ON CROCUSES

March 23 will always be a special day for me. It is one of those borderline days with the touch of spring in the air but the chill of winter hanging on. This week the ground thawed completely and the Crocuses on the south facing bed took full advantage of a rare 70 degree day to make their first appearance. They opened their first bloom about 10 days ago but by today they were the stars of the winter garden bed.

Tonight, the weather shifted back a step and we had what is affectionately called a winter mix – half rain, half snow, half sleet with lightning and thunder in the background to add a little drama –a bit of wild weather and I think the last gasp of winter. When it was over the garden had a light slush covering the Crocuses and their neighboring tulip sprouts. Snow on Crocuses – that is an image, a sure sign of the end of winter and the start of new life.

I remember another March 23 morning in1979. That one was a brilliantly bright and sunny spring day. I was coming home from the North Shore hospital about 8 or 9 in the morning after spending the early morning hours in the delivery room. My son Robert was born that day at around 6:30 AM. When I got home, with a lifetime of thoughts swirling in my head, there were the Crocuses in the front lawn, their purple cups waiting to celebrate along with me. Every time I see a spring Crocus I can’t help but think back to that day and what became of that babe. He is grown up now, a smart and healthy college grad, working hard everyday, newly-wed to a special young lady who complements him in every way. Hopefully they are planning their lives together and a family of their own and, of course, a place to grow Crocuses every year.

THE GIFT OF WINTER

Winter woes, the winter blues, cabin fever, there are so many common complaints about the winter season. I hate to shovel – that’s my number one complaint. No doubt winter is a tough times especially for our coming and going and our everyday human activities. But in the natural world every season has its purpose and unexpected gifts.

Out in the preserve there is a quiet and peacefulness that is transcendent. Walk out alone and in some places the crunch of snow and ice under your boots is the only sound. It is absolutely silent which is rare in these days and times. Stop for a minute, close your eyes and just breathe in and the winter silence is a gift of the season that warms the soul. All of nature looks like it is sound asleep, in its infinite blanket of snow and ice.

But there is much more to consider. What else does winter give besides a brief time of peace and rest?

In a wetland some of the physical and geological processes are as active as ever and, in fact, are readying the wetland for the year to come. Take the phenomena of HYDROPERIOD. This is one of the definitive wetland functions and actually is part of the definition of a wetland. All wetlands have a hydroperiod -when and where waters flow in and out of the system in special ways. In a tidal wetland the hydroperiod is usually daily (semi-diurnal or diurnal) with a slightly higher monthly cycle synchronized to the spring and new moon. In all seasons of the year the salt marshes of the Alley still have their twice daily flooding and draining as the tides rise and fall in Little Neck Bay and Alley Creek. These are endless cycles not really affected by change of season.

More seasonal are the water levels in the freshwater wetlands and particularly the WETLAND PONDS. Last fall one of the senior classes did a resource management study in the Alley and one of the particular findings was that water levels at that time had fallen dramatically (by up to two feet) giving the appearance that some of the ponds were headed toward drying entirely. Not to worry. I had the chance to walk the nearby preserve in early January and it is not at all surprising that water levels (i.e. the hydroperiod) had returned to ‘normal’ levels. With a foot or two of snow and ice still covering the preserve, the inevitable spring melt will add to the shallow groundwater or directly into the wetlands bringing the water levels up even further.

Think about it. Ground water flows do not stop even in the winter. With frozen surface conditions and evaporation being greatly reduced (by near freezing temperatures) and with transpiration by plants being almost zero the water levels will almost certain rise until the wetlands and ponds are brim full. This is the normal cycle of things with water levels declining in the late summer and across the fall and returning in the winter and during the wet spring season. Without winter our ponds and wetlands would certainly diminish. On a scale perhaps a million times larger, our distant reservoirs and catchment areas would run dry without their annual recharge for the coming year. We couldn't get through the next summer without the gift of rain, ice and snow.

This is one of the true gifts of winter – a chance to recharge all of our vital water resources- and a chance for us humans to rest up and get ready for the year to come. Be thankful for winter. Happy New Year everyone.

The Holiday Are Upon Us

Arctic Blasts. Frozen Ground. Nor’easters. And every cold and frigid night Orion the Hunter for company in the night sky. Something tells me winter is upon us.

Field work in the preserve has pretty much come to an end this season. I’m tallying up the field work hours for the Service Learning department and getting a few early reflection papers. I’m satisfied with the results of this field work season. Looking back there were some highlights and so much enthusiasm. Certainly there is much to build on next spring.

The most exciting thing on the spring horizon is some early planning for a conference in April; we are thinking about a week-night conference followed by a week-end field trip to focus people on biodiversity and the issue of invasive species (among other issues); the APEC board heartily endorsed the plan and is looking to host an evening forum in April (tentative title- SAVING URBAN BIODIVERSITY).

It is just in the idea stage right now but I should be able to pull it together; I actually have a committee of great people to work with. Surround yourself with committed, strong, creative people and share the goal – that is a formula for success.

Once we have our ideas on paper I’ll be sure to post the developing plan to this space.

Right now is my time to get away for a couple of days so everyone should enjoy the holidays and the start of the winter season. Much love, peace, happiness and joy to all in the days ahead. Take care and love one another and I’ll be back early next year.

GOD SMILES

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week-end came and went; (personally I need to work off a few calories and maybe some field work is just the ticket). We resumed classes today (Monday Nov. 29); the last thing that I heard from students as we said our farewells last Tuesday was that some students just didn't want to stop the field work as I had originally scheduled; they just wanted to work through to the end of the semester; one group was aiming at DEC 4 (Saturday) and another group was looking at DEC 8 (University holiday); honestly this was very unexpected but if they can work through the winter chill all the more power to them; we worked into DEC last year so it can't hurt to keep going; let's see what tomorrow will bring.

Progress to Report

The field work for the fall semester is reaching a peak and, like the falling leaves that cover our trails, will soon be part of the history of the preserve; Very much like last year the field season starts slow but ends with a flurry of activity, enthusiasm and accomplishment. Yesterday (Nov. 17) we had a full field day and students started at any time they wanted between 9 and 3 and worked until the end of the day with sunset being around 5 PM. It was a very successful formula with some starting as early as 9 AM (my early birds!) and many others joining in at 10, 12 and 1. Being able to choose the best time seemed to make a difference and we always had fresh troops to throw into the effort.

'early birds"


We had a total of 30 students across the entire day (which is a new record) and they did some group projects that smaller groups could not possibly do on their own; in the morning we concentrated on some vine control and cutting out the worst sections of alien vines with some good results (some great before and after pictures are included here);

1. pick your target!

2. get to the root of the problem!!

3. smile for the camera!!!

GREAT RESULTS!!!!

debris pile of vine cuttings

In the afternoon, with more people on hand, we broke up into two construction crews and one group went east to trail segments 5 and 6 and built a terracing stairway to the top of the berm; the other crew went with me to the spring section of the trail where we had some of the heavy duty boardwalking materials stored; these are “monster” planks - 16 feet long, one foot wide- and when they are wet they weigh upwards of 200 pounds. I had everyone fashion 7 or 8 ‘rope loops’ that we put around each plank. Walking on opposite side of the plank we lifted and carried it roughly 200 yards into its final resting place; no one person was going to lift anything like this by themselves but 7 people, each carrying a small part of the weigh, can accomplish amazing things; This is a lesson to be learned and the idea of 'teamwork' and 'sharing the burden' was not lost on these fine students; Both planks and their underpinning only took us about an hour to get in place and they now span one of the wettest and softest swales in the trail.

I'm proud of the heavy work these students saw and did not shy away from and also the careful work that the other group constructing the steps on the earthen berm. These two tasks only took two hours total and with plenty of good weather and daylight still burning they opted to go out one more time and do some touch up work, some fine cutting and replace one missing marking block. I told them that whenever you return from the field “never come back with an empty wheel barrow”. On their way back they hauled out some of the worst old highway debris that they came across along the way and it makes for a great final picture!

We’ll have to take a day or two to assess where we are at this season and to see if certain things need to be wrapped up; other students are still asking if they can work in a few more days and hours before the end of the semester so if the weather holds and doesn’t change over too fast maybe there is more to do in the very near future.

I couldn’t be more proud of this particular group; I know from their reactions and their good-byes and their feedback today that they took something special away from this very long and tiring day. I did too!

CAUSE TO CELEBRATE

This season's field work is moving forward step by step; several days had wet weather and even a tornado watch so that was a bit of a slow-down; on the other hand the days that had the gorgeous fall weather like today had some great results;

so why is there "cause to celebrate” today?

Today was a STJ school holiday and so we had the chance to do both morning and afternoon field work; three work groups from the morning and two more in the afternoon move the trail project forward and completed the last part of our trail marking blocks; (see the three pictures below) this may not sound like much but we have been working on this since this project began last Oct’ we now have all 85 blocks in place and have the entire 8500’ of the trail marked approximately every 100’. That was the original plan and it is now a reality.
We still have to put the trial symbols and exact distances to each of the final blocks but they are FINALLY in the ground and ready for the final markings.

THE FINAL BLOCK

The rest of the day was spent in some heavy duty vine control (see other pictures) and in some TLC (– both Tender Loving Care and Trail Length Care-) in trail segments 4, 5 and 6. It was great working with these young students and sharing their enthusiasm.

Vine Country

l

Way to go - Peter/Nicole/Emily

In the middle of the day a former student from many years ago walked into our work site and surprised us; Chris Tomasello is a good friend and former student who now runs his own environmental consulting company and was just passing by and took the chance to stop in to the center and say hello; Chris is in the oil spill and Haz-Mat clean-up and remediation business and it was a nice chance to catch up a little.

And some TLC from Raphael

It was a tiring day. As we said our goodbyes I asked the students at the end of this long and tiring day how they felt about the project? they had all sorts of good feelings and thoughts; they had a sense of teamwork, they had a sense of accomplishment; one said it was therapeutic; and perhaps most importantly they had a sense of what this place might someday become.

Having the trail marking part of this project complete is only one step but it is an important step. Now we can ask volunteers to direct their efforts to particular tasks at particular trail intervals; we can begin to interpret the ecosystem and the plant communities for visitors and we can begin to produce trail maps and guides keyed to the trail markers that encourage people to get out and explore the park by following the marked trail. I think that will have to be my next project for the winter months when things are frozen solid and snowed over waiting for spring to arrive.

I’ve waited a long time to celebrate this day. I have to thank the students from last Oct., last April and this fall season that worked so hard to take this off the drawing board and put it into the ground.

And a final thank you and good-bye from one of the locals.

THE REAL FIELD WORK BEGINS

Haven't written in a couple of weeks but everything is moving ahead as planned; we ran the second orientation tour with more than 30+ students on Sept 29 for a total of around 75 volunteers; others still want to join in even though they couldn't make the Wednesday walks; as long as they can get the basic idea of what to do then they should still join in but the orientation to the whole preserve is a problem.

I drafted a 5 part work plan and am dividing the work into days depending on how many we have on any given day; today WED 10-13 was the first day we had a real crew on hand and they did a splendid job; I'm not surprised that they wanted to work back in the spring area - it is so beautiful this time of year. Good place to begin as any but it is far out and the farther out we work the harder the work is; nevertheless it was their choice and they did fine;

We have a new tool in the arsenal called a 'brush grubber' I was hoping it would pull masses of wild rose up by the root mass but the stems are too tiny for it to grab; but it was outstanding for pulling roots of porcelain berry which in the long run may be even better; porcelain berry is at its peak right now but we can really set it back with enough hands and effort;

We took extra time to give instruction about tool safety and working together and then took half hour or so to walk to the site; that didn't leave us with much time but in a little more than an hour what a great job they did;

Before and after pictures are some of my favorites and so here is were we started; (-the spring is in the middle of the photo-)

and here is how it looked when we finished!

Now it is possible to get visitors to walk to the edge and see all the drama of that cold, clear-flowing artesian spring; people can't help but be fascinated by its flow; the best descriptor 'simply mesmerizing'; it is a marvel of nature and a tribute to nature in this great valley.

We talked a bit about stabilizing some the collapsing banks of the spring with some natural stone but that is something that would need to be planned very carefully. Sometime the old adage is true - "if it ain't broke don't try to fix it"

These students have to be proud of their accomplishment even if it only took them an hour; When they get back and show what they did in a short time then I can guess how the rest of the group will be encouraged. Next time I write I need to post the work plan to this blog but I'll have to do that from the office computer;

I'll try to write the results from each week and show the progress we make across the field season. My congratulations to this first work crew which chose wisely and had a terrific first encounter with this great park.