On Saturday, April 21, a lively group of adults joined their enthusiastic kids/grandkids for an evening adventure on Linda Sewell's beautiful property. We arrived at 8pm (a real treat for some of the little ones who are often in bed by then!) and made our way to a nearby field just before the sun set. Jeff Skevington led us on a birding walk and we were lucky to hear American Woodcock and 4 species of owl. The Young Macs got to try their Barred Owl calls and some were not bad at all!
Once the darkness settled in we went back to the ponds where Angela Skevington organized the Young Macs in a very fun search of the ponds where they collected specimens and put them, temporarily, into pans so that everyone had a good look and learned how to identify each species. Many Eastern Newts were found along with numerous insects, such as water boatmen, predacious diving beetles and a water scorpion. Drawing the greatest attention though was a diving water bug, best known to the kids as the "toe-biter". Interestingly for this time of year, we did not see or hear a frog. They are very late this year.
Many thanks to Angela, Jeff and Linda for a memorable evening.
