Birding Quincy Bog by Jeremy Phillips

By Jeremy Phillips, Rey Center Education Associate

Quincy Bog, Rumney, NH

This gorgeous 1-mile loop is full of wildlife. This walk was mostly about birds, but a small jaunt off the main path onto “the point” made the additional quarter mile worthwhile. The whole point was covered in pink lady slippers. This is also where an unidentified bird was heard, our 26th bird - I’ll get back to you if I figure out what it was! There were many highlights along the trail including a pair of northern orioles bringing food back to the nest and a very close look at a yellow-bellied sapsucker poking its head out from behind a tree.  The whole list is as follows:

Curious George Cottage - Volunteer Day in the Gardens

Preparations have begun for the upcoming relocation and renovation of the Curious George Cottage. The first of two volunteer work days was held on Thursday, May 20, 2010. A hearty crew of volunteers spent the morning dismantling and digging up the landscaping so that we can reuse as much as possible for the new landscape after all the renovations are completed. Projects included dismantling the Mary Bierbrier Community Garden Plots (we were able to salvage all the cedar boards for use in the new landscape), digging and potting up and any and all perennials that we could find in the flower beds and garden beds (which turned out to be many more plants than anyone expected), disassembling the rock borders around the garden beds,  moving the garden arbor, and more!

Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped out!

Joanne Kost

Bob Kost

Birdie Britton

David Britton

Nancy Knight

Jilly Crane-Mauzy

Jeanne Crane-Mauzy

Jamie Crane-Mauzy

Grace Mauzy

Kathleen Corcoran

And many more thanks to Nancy, Joanne and Bob who came back on Friday to finish the job!!!

We look forward to getting all those plants back in the ground at the end of the summer.

Spring Birding Report by Jeremy Phillips

By Jeremy Phillips, Rey Center Education Associate

Starting out at the Livermore Road Trailhead and walking the 2.8 miles out to Greeley ponds is a beautiful jaunt. This fairly wide, smooth trail provides plenty of opportunity to gaze in other directions than just forward. If you get a chance to hike this trail, make sure to keep your eyes to the trees. The trip on this day produced twenty species including an interesting observation at Greeley Ponds of a broad-winged hawk chasing a tree swallow. The entire species list is as follows:

Waterville Valley is a tough place to draw a crowd in early May, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to host guitarist Brad Richter here at the Rey Center while he was in the region playing a few other venues. Those that made the journey to come see him were treated to an evening of beautiful, original compositions by Brad Richter. Brad’s between-song commentary added a lot of dimension to each song, as he painted a vivid visual image of the place or experience that inspired each song, giving you an extra layer to listen for while he was playing. The only disappointing thing about the evening was when it came to an end. Brad will be back in the area in January. We hope he will pay another visit to the Rey Center. If he comes back - be sure not to miss it!

What Floats? with the WVES K-2 Students

The K-2 class at Waterville Valley Elementary School has been finding out “What Floats or Not” with some experimental observations indoors, followed by testing our theories about what floats outside in Snow’s Brook. In the style of Winnie-the-Pooh’s Pooh Sticks, we raced sticks, leaves and pinecones trying to pick out the one that would float better and cross the finish line first. We also found some floating water striders skimming across the top of the Corcoran’s Pond. What extraordinary amazement this group of students expresses towards science!

 

Rey Center Attends Aerospace Festival

The Rey Center participated in the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center’s first annual Aerospace Festival by sharing H.A. Rey’s love for the stars with young and old alike. Children, and even a few adults, that visited the Rey Center table were able to create their own constellations by dropping marshmallows on a piece of black paper to randomly create a pattern of stars. The next step was to see what picture or constellation they could make out of their star pattern. The results were creative to say the least! We had a great time at Aerospace Fest and look forward to next year!