This year’s nature camp took place in June. Phil Daley wrote up a great summary from the event and we wanted to share it here with you:
The 2012 Natural History Day Camp (Nature Camp) was once again held at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. The camp was split into two one week, sessions ( June 11-15 and June 18-22) which was earlier than previous years.
The twelve ‘Week One’ campers enjoyed discussions and explorations of various woods and fields as well as the importance of native plants and the relationships they have with the insects and other animals which rely on them for survival. During our pond exploration day, every camper caught at least two fish (Bluegills, a Large-mouth Bass, or catfish) using homemade cane poles. They also enjoyed finding and identifying numerous other critters that live in and around Banshee’s main pond. Despite a very heavy downpour on our second day, all campers and leaders enjoyed(?) a rainy day walk and the numerous toads, frogs and mushrooms that emerged to enjoy the wet weather.
The thirteen campers who attended ’Week Two’ started off the first day in very wet and chilly conditions, but soon had a great time checking out invasive species, learning about trees and forests, and finding many salamanders in Banshee’s seepages. They also and had a good learning experience during our water monitoring exercise in the Goose Creek.
During both weeks, campers enjoyed finding and identifying many insects, looking after our Five-Lined (blue tailed)Skink and Ring-Necked Worm Snake, learning to adjust and use binoculars, playing nature related games, and decorating T-shirts and the camps’ flags.
Each camp week ended with ‘Family Day’ when the campers and interns entertained with songs, prepared and shared home-made ice cream, participated in the always thrilling ‘Pill Bug Derby’ and tried valiantly to solve the mysterious ‘Rope Game”.