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As promised, here’s a brief report on the nature field day that my friend, Eric Snyder, and I led at the Richmond Conservation Area on May 28, 2007. We spent much of the day exploring the nature trails with twenty of Lisa Hetherington’s science students from Bell High School. I believe this was our fourth outing with her students and, as always, it was an interesting and fun experience.
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This was my first extended visit to the Richmond Conservation Area site. It’s definitely a spot that I will return to. The above panorama shot is of one of two large “ponds” of similar size (click on it for a larger view). The ponds are actually sewage lagoons that were decommissioned about 20 years ago when the site was no longer needed for that purpose. A conservation area now encompasses the lagoons and several acres of forest and meadows bordering on a small section of the Jock River. On this day, we followed a trail along the high berms leading between the lagoons, then through a meadow and forested area to have lunch beside the river. Along the way, we stopped to observe birds, plants, insects, frogs, and even a couple of muskrat carcasses found on the berm between the lagoons. Tree and Barn Swallows were putting on a great show as they skimmed the water while catching midges and other flying insects over the lagoons. It was an excellent day for our visit and we managed to see quite a good variety of creatures.
Rather than me writing much more about the day, I’ve excerpted a few passages from the field notes that I asked students to write during their lunch break. If you would like to see more photos of some of the flora and fauna – consisting mainly of insects, frogs and toads – check out the photos in this online gallery that I’ve just put up.
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
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Tags: Richmond Conservation Area, Habronattus decorus, Stratiomys sp., Soldier Fly
