By Boat and Land: Explore Bahama and West Point

Join us this weekend as we explore the Durham area by boat and by land. On Friday, November 18th there will be the Wonders of Lake Michie by Moonlight program from 7-9pm. We will listen for night sounds as we explore the beautifully illunminated lake. Only canoes and kayaks are allowed on this trip. Please make sure to register if you need space on a city boat. The cost is $4 for city residents and $5 for non- city residents. Let us know if you have a playmore card too. We will meet at the Lake Michie Boathouse.

Then on Sunday, November 20th from 1-3 pm is the History of Spruce Pine Lodge. Have you ever wondered if someone lived in Spruce Pine Lodge? Join us on a hike around the property, together we will explore the history of the surrounding area. We will meet in the main parking lot.

Then from 3:30-5:30pm head over to West Point on the Eno for our Tracks and Scat program. Here we will hike through the forest as we take in the beauty of nature and look for signs of animals. From footprints to burrows to scat we will search for signs of animal life in the forest. We will meet at the Environmental Education Center. Follow the blue and yellow signs to the old blacksmith shop.

NOTE: Most of our weekend programs are introductory level classes that are geared towards families and people wanting to learn about a new topic in nature. If you are looking for a high level class on any of the topics that we are presenting please contact us and we can help direct you to those programs.

Please call with any questions: 919-471-1623, option 2.

NC Bears

This weekend we have a program on black bears in North Carolina.  Of course our focus is on the Durham area, but we also will be talking about the population of black bears in North Carolina and what is happening with these animals.  The program will be on Saturday, November 12.  The program is from 10am-12pm at West Point on the Eno Park.  We will of course meet at the Environmental Education Center here at West Point.  Feel free to call 919-471-1623 (opt 2) if you have any questions. 

In light of the Starry Starry Night Program ...

I saw this in the news this morning and wanted to share it with all of you:

"An asteroid the size of a city block will zip past Earth today at a distance closer than the moon, but poses no danger of hitting the planet, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says."

It will be moving at 29,000 mph. I was just telling some people at the Discovering Deer program that deer can run up to speeds of 35 mph ... that is nothing compared to the asteriod!

Enjoy!

Constellation and Deer programs this weekend were great!

This weekend at our Discovering Deer program, we were able to see signs of deer at West Point like their footprints and scat. As we journeyed through the woods we noticed the deer tracks mainly by the muddy shores of Crooked Creek. The tracks looked a bit like thisAnd the scat, A.K.A. poop, we found looked a little like this (the one on the left side):
This picture is a comparison of the white-tailed deer and eastern cottontail (which live in NC).

This great picture was found here: http://www.biokids.umich.edu/guides/tracks_and_sign/leavebehind/scat/

On our night program, Starry Starry Night, we were able to get great views of the wanning gibbous Moon and Jupiter with 3 of its moons. Jupiter has 64 known moons, but 4 of them are massive and can be seen from Earth with a telescope or binoculars.

Here is the phase of the Earth's moon we saw:

http://ed101.bu.edu/StudentDoc/current/ED101fa09/egach/Waning%20Gibbous.html

And here is Jupiter with 3 of its massive moons:


http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/3307071.html

It was a fun weekend with many sights to be seen.
Join us this Saturday, the 12th from 10am-12pm at West Point on the Eno, to learn about NC Bears. Chris will take you on hike through the forest to learn about the lives of black bears in NC.

Don't forget to check our website link on the right to see upcoming programs. 

Nature Programs for November 5

We have two programs this weekend.  Our first program will be a Discovering Deer class where we will walk around the park looking for evidence of deer and talking about how deer survive in an urban setting.  This program is on Saturday, November 5 from 1 - 3pm.  The program is free and you don't need to register, just come meet us at the Environmental Education Center at 1pm.  This is an all ages program. 



Deer Scat



Deer Tracks



Our other program this weekend is a constellation program.  That program is full and we cannot take any more participants.  Our next night program will be a Lake Michie by Moonlight nature program on November 18.  Contact us for more information.  Have a great weekend and hope to see you soon.