What is it Wednesday: May 12, 2021

 

This was our first ever What is it Wednesday video!

Can you identify what's in this video?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo/video. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo/video 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, 

 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 video was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

May 12, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

What looks like snow falling in this video is actually the seeds of aspen trees!

After aspens flower, the female catkins produce tiny seeds that are blown into the air by the wind, much like dandelion fluff. Aspens are prolific, and often many many seeds release and travel at the same time, causing a buildup of aspen “fluff” in the air and on the ground near the trees. This type of seed promotes the spread of aspens, by causing the seeds to travel away from their mother trees. This is one of the reasons aspen is such a successful pioneer species, growing well in newly disturbed open soil.  Aspens also reproduce by sending out shoots from their roots, sometimes creating large stands of interconnected trees that are actually one organism!

Aspens are one of the very first trees to blossom in the early spring, around the same time of red maples blossoming, in late March and early April. Like the maples, aspens produce their flowers before they produce their leaves. We are also seeing lots of red maple seeds on the ground right now – maybe there was also a moment when it looked dramatic with a lot of maple seeds winging to the ground at the same time, but we didn’t happen to see that one!

Have you ever seen something in nature that looked like snow but was something else? Make sure you keep an eye out for beauty raining down around you out in nature! 

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 Wednesay: May 5, 2021

 

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, 

 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

May 5, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

This is a pickerel frog. 

The image is a little funky-looking and it looks like there is an extra separate foot because we are viewing this pickerel frog through the side of a container, and the image is refracted through the water and plastic. Here's what it looks like with a clearer view from above: 

We usually leave critters in their homes at Lutherlyn, aside from a short scoop-up to look at them – the animals who live here are best cared for by mother nature. But this week, LEEP had a chance to visit Northwest Elementary in Butler, PA to help the kindergarteners through fourth graders get to know some mammals and amphibians. We brought some of our Discovery Room friends with us to give students a closer look at mammals, and caught a pickerel frog, green frog, tadpoles of spring peepers and green frogs, and red-backed salamanders to show them amphibians. 

It was wonderful to spend a day with the students of Northwest Elementary! After their adventure, all the amphibians were returned to where we found them at Lutherlyn, including this pickerel frog.

Pickerel frogs are smaller than green frogs and larger than spring peepers, and fairly easy to indentify by their square and rectangular markings. (Leopard frogs look similar, but have circular or oval markings.)  You may also be able to identify that there are pickerel frogs around without even seeing them – their call sounds a bit like a squeaky door slowly swinging open. Like most frogs, they can been found near water (this one came from alongside the amphitheater pond), but they also frequently wander out into grassy areas further from their water source. Spring is a great time to look and listen for frogs and other amphibians!

For more on how LEEP can bring nature knowledge to you, either by coming to your location or welcoming your group to Lutherlyn, check out www.Luthelryn.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!