What is it Wednesday: February 28, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 27, 2019. 

And the answer is....

This is a closeup of the sign on Lutherlyn’s sugar shack, where we boil maple sap into maple syrup (perhaps the best-smelling place at Lutherlyn, during maple season!).

This Saturday is LEEP’s annual maple sugaring Saturday Safari – join us to be a part of maple sugaring at Lutherlyn! 

Everyone gets to choose and tap a tree, hang a bucket, collect sap from previously tapped trees, and see (and taste!) sap being  boiled in maple syrup, while also learning about how trees function and how to identify trees in the winter. 

Your participation in the day’s activities helps make the delicious real maple syrup we eat in the dining hall over the next year!

To register or find out more go to www.lutherlyn.com/safari. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday archive: February 21, 2018

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 21, 2018. 

And the answer is....

These are the tools that we use when we tap maple trees at Lutherlyn:

 a bit-and-brace drill

 a spile

 a mallet

 and a measuring tape. 

What are the toothbrush and popsicle stick for? 

To find out, and get to use these tools to tap a tree yourself, join us at the Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari, the first Saturday in March every year! 

To learn more about Saturday Safaris go to www.lutherlyn.com/safari

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: February 21, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 20, 2019. 

And the answer is....

This photo of a trail in Lutherlyn’s forest shows something special: a portion of the historic Venango trail where it passes through Lutherlyn’s property, and where George Washington traveled in 1753.

The purple trail marker indicates Lutherlyn’s Venango Trail, which loops around Upper Lake, and part of which overlaps with the historic Venango Trail. The Venango Trail was a much-used Native American trail long before European colonists arrived and began using it.

The blue and white trail marker indicates that this section of trail is also part of the Washington Trail that marks the route George Washington took on a mission in 1753 in the lead-up to the French and Indian War. 

Washington and a guide named Christopher Gist traveled from what is now Pittsburgh north to negotiate at French forts near present-day Franklin and Erie, and then back again.

We know from Washington’s journals of the trip that he and Gist traveled south through Lutherlyn’s section of the Venango Trail on the day after Christmas, 1753. (Just a little ways south of here is where Washington had a gun pulled on him by an enemy Native American man, but the gun didn’t fire so Washington was unharmed.) 

As we celebrate Presidents Day (this past Monday) and Washington’s Birthday (this Friday), we at Lutherlyn enjoy also celebrating the fact that Washington traveled here!

Getting to know our land also means getting to know its human history, which is fascinating! 

LEEP's Saturday Safari in November 2019 will visit the historic Venango Trail and the nearby archaeology site, and dig deeper into the story of Washington's journey and other history of the area. To find out more about this or any of the many other ways you can learn more about Lutherlyn's local history with LEEP, check out www.lutherlyn.com/ee .

Find out how you can learn more about our local history with LEEP at www.lutherlyn.com/ee . 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: February 14, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 13, 2019. 

And the answer is....

The hole in this tree was created by a maple sugaring tap placed in this tree in previous years. 

After the spile (small metal tube) is removed from the tap hole at the end of the maple sugaring season, the tree begins to heal the hole (and any crack that might develop along the hole) by growing new tissue in the hole. After a year or two, the hole in the living tissue of the tree is completely filled in, and a hole and crack in the outer bark is all that is left behind. 

Eventually even the hole in the bark is covered when inner bark becomes outer bark and replaces the old outer bark as it sheds. As a tree grows wider, the outer bark cracks and the inner bark beneath the cracks is exposed. As that inner bark toughens and dies, it becomes outer bark, covering the growth cracks with new outer bark. Gradually the topmost layers of outer bark break off in small pieces and the new outer bark below becomes the top layer. The same thing happens with tap holes. Finally, only a small “pucker” on the outer bark shows that a tap was once placed in that spot. 

The tap hole in this photo was probably created two or three years ago.

We have already had two groups help us tap maple trees this season, and we will be adding more taps and buckets with each group that joins us for maple sugaring over the next month. You can be a part of maple sugaring at Lutherlyn! Join us for our maple Saturday Safari on March 2^nd, or call to schedule a special group. Find more info or register for Saturday Safaris here: www.lutherlyn.com/safari . 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: February 7, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 6, 2019. 

And the answer is....

These marks in the snow are made by the wings (and claws, in the upper imprint) of a bird. But which bird? 

The ski tip and poles in the bottom of the picture provide some size reference. The widest point of the wing marks are probably a little less than 4 feet apart, so it must be a bird with a wingspan at least that large, maybe larger. 

The claw marks could indicate a bird of prey trying to snatch a small animal poking up through the snow - something small enough that it was under the snow, leaving no tracks, like a shrew or mouse.

That narrows it down to probably a barred owl (wingspan 42-44 inches), great horned owl (wingspan 44-52 inches), or red-tailed hawk (wingspan 48-49 inches). Turkeys, osprey, and eagles all have much larger wingspans, while crows and the smaller hawks and owls have much smaller wingspans. 

The bird was probably flying towards us, picked up the animal, dropped slightly lower from the weight of the animal creating a stronger imprint with its wings, then continued flying on. 

(At least that’s one possible interpretation! Maybe you can piece together a different possible scenario from these clues.)  

When there is snow cover, we can suddenly see in the many tracks evidence of how much activity (and drama!) is constantly going on around us in nature. For more information on ways LEEP can help you gain an awareness and understanding of the ongoing activity of the natural world, through school trips, Saturday safaris, special groups and events, and more check out www.lutherlyn.com/ee .  

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday archive: November 28, 2018

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on November 28, 2018. 

And the answer is....

This oily-looking sheen is not caused by pollution, but by naturally occurring bacteria. 

In places where there is a lot of organic material and no oxygen - like a marsh - anaerobic bacteria  are present. Certain kinds of these bacteria break down minerals like iron to get energy. As the bacteria break down the mineral, the combination of the mineral, the bacteria, and byproducts of the bacteria like methane creates the colorful sheen we see. 

There is iron naturally present in the rocks and sediments of Pennsylvania, so this occurs pretty commonly around here with iron-loving bacteria, often with small amounts of an orange sediment nearby.

One way to determine if a sheen like this is caused by pollution or is naturally occurring is to tap the sheen - if it breaks up and stays broken (sometimes looking a little like broken glass) the oily sheen is from bacteria. If it swirls and re-combines, then it is from man-man petroleum products. 

During LEEP activities, we often get questions about this and other natural phenomena we encounter in nature. To find out more about how you can be a part of LEEP activities and learn the answers to nature puzzles like this, check out www.lutherlyn.com/ee.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!