Timberwolf Trail - Trail Camera Captures - October 2019 Edition

Enjoy these selections form this month's trail camera captures. Lots of old friends and a NEW species. :)

Gobbler

Flicker

Fuzzy Fox

The new friend. . the Flying Squirrel

Tyke Hike #69 - Waterville Prairie

 With the first day of the weekend having less than desirable weather, I postponed the hike until the next day. However, with Tyke Hikes being on other outlets besides Facebook, not everyone got wind of the change. With this Tyke Hike being held at the UW-Waukesha Field Station and having the Field Manager live in site, he was able to take a hike our on Saturday. With my three tykes long, I was able to do the same on Sunday. Overall, 31 hikers enjoyed a hike at the marvelous Marlin Johnson Prairie, previously known as the Waterville Prairie.

I was happy to see two of my teacher colleagues join with their families. It's always awesome to hike with friends. On this hike, we had am extra friend. A dog who had lost his way form his nearby home joined us for much of the hike. Extra friendly, he also enjoyed fetch, so we threw sticks into the prairie for him to return. He did so with the exuberance of a kid full of Halloween candy. We were even lucky enough to see him stir up some deer on one of his rounds of fetch. Watching a deer prance away is always a beautiful sight in my opinion.

Though the dog rescue and return did take us back and forth a bit more than expected, we did also view the pond, the very higher than normal creek, and even stopped at the Wildlife in Need Center before coming back to the beginning for treats, treats, and more treats.

On the way out, I also noticed this information kiosk, full of information on the fearsome foursome - Garlic Mustard, Buckthorn, Teasel, and Queen Anne's Lace. These invasive and plentiful non-native species are a constant reminder of how we can help restore and replenish nature.

Timberwolf Trail - Week 8 - 2019-20 Edition

With the temperatures taking their first major dip of the season, this was a perfect week to start talking about preparing for winter.

The class kicked off his week learning about HAM (Hibernation, Activation, and Migration) as we discovered what animals need to do to prepare for and survive the winter season. To help our animal friends with these preparations, we designed and started to construct our mouse houses.

Over the next few weeks, we will be adding on them, making design improvements, and adding items to our house to entice visitors, who we hope to catch with our trail camera.

We also had our first official snowshoe lesson. By the first time the flakes fly, these kids will be snowshoe experts.

We spent some time practicing our sit spot activity and nature notebooking.

The week wrapped up with our Fall Celebration. We played Fall BINGO,

decorated cookies,

and got all wrapped up in mummy-making.

The class the visited the leaf pile we have been adding to and voted unanimously to bury their teacher.

It was cold and wet, but lots of fun. We even helped the teacher dry off by having a leaf tossing party.

Pike Lake Perfection

I've always joked with my teacher friends about proposing the school year be moved from New Year's Day to Labor Day. This intrigues me for many reasons other than my love of Pumpkin Pie Blizzards from Dairy Queen, playoff baseball, and Oktoberfest beer.

The biggest reason is what I experienced today: the pure beauty of autumn. I could do this everyday!

 
From launching leaves to climbing trees, our afternoon hike at Pike Lake was a prime example of why I'd love the school year to free up time for more awesome autumn experiences.

Besides climbing trees, we hugged them and balanced on them.

We also scaled the tower and took in the splendor displayed in front of us. So did many others. The parking lots were packed and we greeted many new outdoor companions on our short but action-packed walk through the woods.

While the girls led the hike, Arden and I practiced our selfies (still a work in progress). Embry used her super scientist skills to spot a slithering garter snake rustling the leaves.

One of our many stops to take in the scenery was at the diaper-changing rock, which we didn't have to utilize this time around.

We did however utilize the area we call our natural play area. Adjacent to one of our absolute favorite trails (Black Forest Nature Trail) is a towering oak and fallen tree that we stop to explore in and around as often as we can.

This last week in school, she had the joy of meeting with some Retzer Nature Center naturalists who helped her and her classmates identify and collect seeds. Embry continued this experience on her own as we headed back to the lot.

She checked on the bergamot (beebalm) since she knows it smells like mint when pinched.

She found the burdock plant. So did Oakley.

She also shook the goldenrod fluff, hoping to scatter some seeds.

Oakley was happy just to bop the blazes along a short section of the Ice Age Trail.

I don't see the school year changing any time soon, but a guy can dream, can't he?