Fall SKIP - Week 6 - Fall Ecology

Wow - what a great day we had for the last SKIP program of the Fall session! Lots of sunshine and pleasant temperatures were an extra bonus!

Today's program was led by Heather Lunn, avid Friends Director/Volunteer and naturalist. We had great fun participating in a number of activities Heather had lined up to show us how plants and animals have to work really hard to get ready for winter. Despite the fact autumn can seem like a dreary and quite time of year, it's actually very busy.

We set off for a hike on the Lally Trail, where Heather had us take a good look around at the trees. A number of volunteers participated in an activity that demonstrated photosynthesis - how plants use their leaves and the sun to create sugar in the summer, which is stored in the trees for use in the winter even after their leaves have changed colour and fallen.

Next we stopped at Black Creek, where there is always something to see. The muskrats have been busy setting up for winter by creating their tell-tale push ups. We saw a beaver scent mound, too (which we learned about the previous week during our voyageur canoe trip).

Continuing along the trail we saw a chickadee (who stays here for the winter) and what would a SKIP program be without a nice fungus sighting!

The next segment of our program predominantly featured poop - uh, scat. First Heather noted deer scat, and explained how risky it was for this herbivore (plant eater) to be eating in the open field with the risk of predators about.

To emphasize the point, the next scat encountered appears to have been from a coyote - a well-known carnivore (meat eater) who has an taste for deer.



Finally, we came across what is believed to have been omnivore poop (plant and/or animal eater) - namely a bear! Betcha those three weren't all in the field at the same time.

We returned to the cosy drive shed where Heather was joined by volunteers Pat and Jane for a lively skit about migration.

Jane and Heather did a marvellous job as migrating thrushes, while Pat explained why she, as a chickadee, prefers to stay here.

 Watch out for star-like objects that are actually lights on top of towers!

We headed back outside for a lively game of migration tag - always fun!

Then it was back to the drive shed where we made two different kinds of bird feeders from recyclable materials. The first one uses plastic bottles and a stick for a perch, and it can be filled with seed.


The second one uses toilet paper rolls covered in peanut butter and then rolled in bird seed. Yum!

And that all smelled so good that we were quite thrilled when Pat, today's Skipper, brought out caramel apples for us to enjoy along with peanuts in their shells and a helping of hot chocolate. Delicious!

We had enough time for another round of migration tag before it was time for our latest batch of SKIP participants to head home. Everyone received a commemorative workbook to take home with a page based on each week's theme.

A big thank you goes out to Heather for a great program, Pat for a wonderful snack, and to our volunteers Jane, Nancy and Steph. Stay tuned for news in January about the Winter 2011 session. Thanks to all our participants and volunteers this fall. We had a blast!

Fall SKIP Week 5 - Voyageur Canoes!

Our SKIP kids had a big treat for Week 5 of the session - a tour in a pair of Rideau Roundtable voyageur canoes!
The Friends extended an invitation to members and previous SKIP participants and their families to join us for the excursion on what turned out to be a pretty chilly Halloween day. A group of about a dozen hardy folks set out in the morning for a tour of Hogg Bay, with a peek at the Big Rideau, and the SKIP crew set out during our usual afternoon program time, along with about a dozen family members.

The afternoon session started off with a lesson from Jim about the four basic strokes needed to manouevre the big 18-seat canoes and then we set out, with Jim, Stu and Andrea as our competent guides and pilots.

We made our way from the park's boat launch out to Big Rideau Lake, where we were treated to the sight of a large group of juveniles loons (along with a grebe and a couple of seagulls), biding their time before setting off for warmer southern climes.

Then we headed back into the quiet waters of Hogg Bay, where we observed lots of interesting wildlife and habitat, including ducks, evidence of beavers and a swimming mammal that may have been a beaver or a muskrat.

A bit more paddling and we encountered this nifty thing, which sparked some debate - is it a beaver potty (a scent mound - used to mark territory) or a muskrat pushup? Our money's on the potty since this was built on a rock, preventing underwater access for a muskrat.

We made our way down the length of beautiful Hogg Bay - full steam ahead - until we reached McParlan House and the ruins of the Burgess Mill, a historic site dating back to about 1820 and is the location for our annual Archaeo Apprentice program (archaeology for Grade 5 students).

We paused to learn a bit about how the voyageurs lived, complete with some artifacts that helped to tell the story.

Then it was back to the boat launch, admiring the scenery along the way. And what would a SKIP program be without a weekly fungus sighting!

A big thank you goes out to all our participants and for the donations they made. We're also grateful to Stu, Jim and Andrea for the great program, as well as our Skippers, Jane and Steph, and volunteers Beth, Linda, Heather and Pat and, of course, Tobi.

Next week it's back to the Lally Homestead for our final program of the fall session on autumn ecology.

Fall SKIP Week 4 - Geology!

It was a cold and rainy day, but things were "rockin'" at Murphys Point on Sunday as the SKIP gang gathered for a hike to the Silver Queen Mine.

The program was led by the park's Natural Heritage Education Leader Tobi Kiesewalter, who gave us some great tricks for remembering important geology facts. For example, having trouble remembering rock terminology such as igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic? Well, Tobi remembers them as a rock band made up by members Iggy, Cedric and Morpheus, of course.

We started off in the drive shed at the Lally Homestead where a warm fire burned in the woodstove and Tobi showed us not only some nice crystal specimens, but also explained how we can make our own using regular table salt. He also demonstrated the result of a crystal-making kit. It's not as difficult as you might think!

Then we started off on our hike, stopping first at the barn foundation where Tobi explained the effect of erosion on rock. What water would take millions of years to do, our SKIP kids accomplished in a couple of minutes with a hammer - to make sand! We also learned about the types of rocks typically found in this area and how they were frequently used in building foundations.

Our next stop was devoted to learning about metamorphic rock - rock that changes through the effects of heat and pressure. What better way to demonstrate this than by stacking Starburst candies together and watching how they change after applying heat and pressure from our hands. It was a yummy demonstration.

Next, by looking at the landscape, we learned how different rocks have different levels of hardness. This was further demonstrated by attempting to scratch different specimens with various objects.
And look! We saw fungus, too!


We headed to the bunkhouse where we learned just how difficult it is to make money by mining. Tobi had us mine for chocolate chips in a cookie using toothpicks as drill bits. A cleanly recovered chocolate chip (mineral) could net $500, but if there was a lot of dough (waste rock) clinging to it, you would lose $100. Tobi assessed the results and tallied the earnings. It was yet another delicious activity!

And then it was time to go down into the Silver Queen, where we saw the real-life results of mining and caught a glimpse of the mica, feldspar and apatite that was mined here. A big thank you to Tobi for his excellent geology program, as well as to our intrepid volunteers for the day: Linda, Pat, Jane, Nancy, Steph and Maria.

Next week we're heading off in voyageur canoes to explore Hogg Bay!

Fall SKIP - Week 3 - Outdoor Cooking

It was a beautiful day to be at Murphys Point, and our SKIP participants joined volunteers in the Hogg Bay campground for a program about outdoor cooking.

 Of course to cook outdoors one needs a heat source, and our participants had a chance to learn about safely building a fire - with adult accompaniment, of course!

Led by volunteer Beth Peterkin, the kids were instructed on how to build a fire, with particular attention to safety. Keeping water nearby and a shovel, making sure clothing and hair is tucked in and away from flames, and being aware of wind conditions and the surrounding environment were among the factors discussed. Beth showed the group some of the basics of fire building, and before long we had two lovely campfires going in fire pits on two campsites.

Next it was time to prepare the goodies! First up, a modified version of s'mores - graham crackers and chocolate wrapped in foil - along with yummy baked apples - cored and filled with such things as brown sugar, cinnamon, chocolate chips and raisins and wrapped in foil.


Leaving some adults to tend the fires and wait for the treats to cook the water to boil for hot chocolate, Steph led the participants down to the beach. A pair of Canada geese honked as we approached, which was a good lead-in to our first game - the Migration Game. The kids played the part of birds on their way from Murphys Point to Florida and encountered all sorts of dilemmas along the way: predators, hunters, habitat destruction, bad weather, etc. It was quickly seen that getting to and from one's summer home is not always an easy feat! Next we took a breather and created the sound of a rainstorm with our hands. Then we played a modified version of the Biodiversity Tag we experienced at the Lally Homestead in Week 2.

Then we wandered down to the shoreline where we could see Canada geese and loons congregating, no doubt considering their own long journeys to their winter homes. We even saw some fungus along the way!

Everyone headed back to the campsites to enjoy the warm, toasty treats. Then we made sure the campfires were out cold before wandering to the playground for a few minutes of fun before it was time to go home.

A big thank you goes out to Beth and our volunteers Pat, Jane, Nancy and Steph. Next week Tobi will lead us all to the Silver Queen Mine as he tells us all about geology. SKIP rocks!