Soggy Marsh Dwellers

Another day of heavy rain! We followed the Beaver Pond 'stream' as far as we could until it turned into endless marsh! I was completely soaked. We did test site 3 at the outflow of beaver pond.

Searching for Creek Pond

Rena and I took the first logging trail off We were told that the dam and lodges were not there last fall. We looked for a way around the marsh to locate the outflow from beaver pond into the creek pond but could not find one. We walked up and down hills, climbed over rocks and tree trunks-a great adventure!

Reading Facilitation & Site Scouting

Today I prepared the reading facilitation. It was a good learning experience and we all took turns, so we can empathize with one another. I was looking forward to initiating the facilitation and when the time came, I was surprized to feel nervous, and by the details that I overlooked. Everything went well, and I feel that what I hoped to be taken home -was.

We went out to the headwaters to locate the testing sites and to begin testing. We scouted out the site for the outflow from Beaver Pond and spent time at the dam.

We enjoyed a romp through the underbrush as we followed the stream to see if we could find the inflow into the Creek Pond. We walked f

or 20 minutes and had to turn around to meet the class. We took a lot of photos and were amazed at the high water mark and the amount of soil erosion and soil washed away from under the trees.

Project Planning, Organizing, & Research

Today we (my group partner and I)spent time at the computers and reading through the previous water quality project report. We worked on our project proposol. We searched for New Hanphire State water quality standards for the variables that we plan to test at the Headwaters.

All in all a productive afternoon. We decided on the site locations where we will test the water, and we (with Lara's help) made arrangements to borrow the necessary testing equiptment.

Watersheds

Professor David Burdock shared a powerpiont presentation explaining what wetlands are and why they are important. Next we met on site and walked to teh beaver pond where David demonstrated taking soil samples, how to designate a 1m^2 transect for data collection, and to talk about the vegetation in and around the wetland area. Awsome, interesting, informative field trip. Thanks David for your expertise!

Facilitaton #1

I am a maple tree...

stretching and reaching toward the sunlight. My trunk arches to the southwest, and my leaves thrive on that side while there are few on the opposite side.

Maple tree, please give to me...

The ability to bend and stretch toward the sun and as the winds rustle through the forest, teach me to bend and not to break easily.

Teach me to be resilient and to thrive where I am planted.

Teach me to be self-pruning, letting go of the old or negative thoughts and habits, while growing and maturing in the positive areas of my life.

Teach me to coexist with others: even though they may be a different species than me, even though they may do better in different conditions than I prefer.

Help me to just be...

A naturalist guide from Maine

Dan Gardoqui from White Pines programs met the class at the Barrington Headwaters to guide us on a mini 2-hour nature walk identifying animanl scat, tracks and signs of animal foraging. Together we found moose and deer tracks, coyote, fox, moose, deer and turkey scat, and multiple signs of foraging of low growing plants along the trial.

We followed Dan through the underbrush, off of the beaten-trial. The nature walk was invigorating and enlightening , I learned a lot and enjoyed it very much.

Scavenger Hunt at Barrington Headwaters

We began our second day with going over the data collected from our 150m^2 plot in college woods. The data showed that hemlock was the most dense, with the highest number of stems (saplings in the understory), and maple and beech represented the highest Basal area due to having larger diameter trunks. It is likely that in about 100 years, hemlock trees will dominate the forest here.

Station 1 was along the beginning of the trial at a spot where the trees composition was very different. We pondered what the differences were and possible causes.

Next, we set off on our first visit to the
Barrington Headwaters. Eleanor and Lara planned and coordinated a scavenger hunt activity with 5 stations, as a way for us to become aquainted with the conservation area.

Station 2 caught all of our attention with two stone foundations back-to-back and a third 100' off to the side. A gravestone for an 11 month and 10 day old girl was located in the the smaller area. Apparently the stone may have been moved from the cemetary located just across the trail. The ground sloped down from the trail with what appeared to be a wagon trail winding off in a northward direction.

Station 3 brought us to the beaver pond was an intrigueing, beautiful area with the bright, hot afternoon sun casting shadows on the still water.

Are the beaver still active? Would the area remain flooded if teh beaver have abandoned the dam? We are still learning to read the history of the landscape, so not 100% sure.
There are a lot of dead trees throughout the area, so it has been flooded for for several years.

Station 4 was located a short walk along a side trial or former logging road. We observed and sketched 2 sets of coppiced or multiple trunks, and pondered why trees grow in clumps. What does this tell us about the landscspe land-use history?

Station 5 brought us out into the sunlight in the power line transect! Wild lilies grew amongst oak saplings, mountian laurel, beach roses, buttercups and starwberries. yellow and orange butterflies and dragonflies fluttered on the cool breeze while crickets churped and japanese beetles chewed at the plant leaves. We spotted a turkey vulture off in the distance gliding overhead.

UNH College Woods

We began our first day with a field-trip to College Woods, our destination-the 'Paul Bunyan' tree: a huge, magnificant old white pine that had lost the upper trunk above the canopy during a summer wind storm.

The upper trunk, lying where it landed when it broke off, was larger in diameter and longer in length than all of the surrounding trees. The diameter at breast height or DBA was 127 centimeters and an estimated years old.

Despite my lifelong love of the outdoors, I have not previously kept a nature journal. Learning to journal and record my experiences, feelings, thoughts, and observations has been a long-time goal that that I am excited to begin.

I imagine journaling will be a journey for me, a process of learning and growing, with the journey being more significant than the destination .

College Woods is a peaceful, beautiful area to visit. Today we broke off into groups and marked off and surveyed the trees in a 150 m^2 area. Our goal was to contemplate what the forst composition may look like in 100 years from now.

We discussed the characteristics of a healthy forest and forest succession.