What's Your Nature?
Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!
American Kestrel Fledgling
While on my morning walk to check our various bird boxes, I heard a commotion in the veggie garden. The tree swallows were swirling and calling. I spotted a recent fledge from our kestrel box sitting on the fence. He was kind enough to pose a while. I got a few nice shots before he heard Mom calling and joined her in a nearby tree.
Beautiful trees at the feild station
Beautiful sunset litup the trees at the feild station at the book exchange camp fire! Lovely night!
Night Time Bat Paddle
Ever wanted to get a closer look at some of our local night time friends? You can on our bat paddle!
Separate from our regularly scheduled bi-weekly paddles, this paddle will take place at twilight and beyond to give us the best chance of seeing, and hearing, the bats that soar above our canoes. Why paddle? Bats prefer to hunt over open water, like the little river, because bugs tend to be easier to find! Be sure to bring a headlamp to help you see.
Community Science Workshop - MOW the Grasse!
Join Nature Up North to learn more about how community members, that's you, can monitor the waterways near you! Our MOW the Grasse (Monitor Our Water) community science initiative provides an opportunity for hands-on experience with the tools and methods needed to check water quality. We'll walk you through the step-by-step process of checking physical conditions (temperature, flow, and others), chemical conditions (pH, agricultural runoff), and finally biological conditions (macroinvertebrates, and e-coli).
Community Campfire - Flower Pressing!
Join us at tonight's campfire for s'mores, flower pressing, and a scavenger hunt to see how many flowers you can find!
Snake on the road while biking
Had to stop quick and take a picture of this snake on Judson Street Road.
Historic Paddle with the SLC Center for History and Culture.
Stay tuned for more details to come about this paddle with the St. Lawrence Country Center for History and Culture (Formerly the Historical Association).
Multiple sights are being scouted, each with their own unique potential for historical discovery on local waterways.
Crayfish at Eel Weir State Park NY
After finishing a paddle on the Oswegatchie, I spotted these small Crayfish over the shore by the boat launch.
Community Paddle - Birding from a Boat!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's definitely a bird.
Come paddle with Nature Up North as we look to see what birds we can find along the Little River! We'll start at the Little River Boat Launch at 6:30 and discuss some common birds we may see and hear during our paddle. Then we'll paddle upstream (to the right) and look for them!
A helpful app to download ahead of time is Merlin, an app that identifies birds based on the calls that your phone hears. Our event leader, Dan, will use Merlin to play a few common bird calls using this app at the start of the paddle.
Papermaking Workshop
Papermaking is a fun arts and craft that we can do almost anywhere! You can use natural materials, recycled paper, flowers, and more to make your own decorated pieces of paper. This Thursday at Wachtmeister Field Station, we’ll host a free event with all materials provided where we make paper with local seeds we’ll find on a trail walk! We’ll hold onto the paper as it dries, and then you can come retrieve it from us this weekend at the Canton or Potsdam farmers markets! Feel free to bring any paper you’d like to recycle as well!