Amidst the hot and the wet, summer programming has begun with Nature Up North!  Our first week of programming was a blast of campfire songs, goose wrangling and Little River paddling.  We kicked off the summer with a dendrology canoe trip on the Little River.  After safety and techniques were covered, our group of paddlers, ranging from first timers to seasoned veterans, ventured out to enjoy the meandering river while encountering a chorus of green frogs (Rana clamitans) accompanied by the yellow warblers  (Sectophaga petechia) and other flying  friends.  We explored the riverbanks and checked out the big drooping box elders (Acer negundo), the thorny hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), and many red (Pinus  resinosa) and white pines (Pinus strobus)  hugging the sandy banks. 

Staying with our paddling theme, we headed out Wednesday the 23^rd and focused less on the trees and more on our search for a gaggle of geese set to be accessed by the DEC during the Annual Goose Round-Up at Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area in Massena.  We helped bring in 404 geese to aid in the DEC’s efforts to monitor the Canada Geese in the area. To read more about this trip check out explorer Maria Corse’s blog post where she gives us the play by play of the adventure!

 To round out the week we enjoyed a relaxing campfire, the first of many to come this summer. We have set up a fire circle right outside of town that will serve as home to our weekly campfires that will include performers, s’mores and hopefully not too many bugs!  This week we were lucky enough to have Gizmo and the Tinker Toys on site to provide us with some original and classic campfire tunes. Join us Thursday July 11^th for our next fire!

All of our upcoming events can be found on our events page, come join in the fun!