Dragonflies at the Heald Tract

Last August, during a workday at the Heald Tract, we hiked through a beaver-flooded road that was just humming with the frenetic activity of dozens of dragonflies.  I knew then that I would have to return to lead a dragonfly walk at the Heald Tract.  Last week, I got my wish.  The Heald Tract did not disappoint, either.  Twenty two people joined me for a brief talk about dragonfly biology and conservation in NH, and then we headed into the swamp with nets swinging.  Skimmers, a large and varied family of dragonflies, ruled the day- we caught and examined many Spangled Skimmers, Slaty Skimmers, Widow skimmers, and Twelve-Spotted Skimmers.  Also netted were many bluets (damselflies), meadowhawks, and a single Canada Darner.  It was fun to see many of the adults just as enthusiastic as the kids, swinging nets with abandon and overtopping their rubber boots to reach dragons further out over the pond.  Because they rarely pause near enough for us to get a really close look, people are always fascinated to examine dragonflies up close in the hand.  The patterns and colors on their bodies and wings are often stunning, and it's also fun to let them go by setting them down gently on a finger.  Sometimes, they pause awhile on an outstretched finger, which is pretty magical if you're 5 years old....or 75!

A male meadowhawk takes a rest on someone's hand

This is the shed "skin" of a dragonfly nymph as it emerges from the water and morphs into an adult winged dragon!

Guided Hike Workshop

photo: M. Clyde

The Forest Society has been running a "Field Trip 101 - How to Lead a Guided Walk" workshop in conjunction with UNH Cooperative Extension for several years now.  We've trained dozens of people in how to plan, advertise, and implement a successful and safe guided hike or nature walk on conservation land.  And it's definitely starting to pay off- hundreds and hundreds of people have been reached through the many nature walks that participants have led on Forest Society lands and other conservation properties around the state.  We feel this is vitally important work- engaging people in their own communities on conservation land, so that they can understand the direct benefits of conserving land- for their families and their communities.

Dave Anderson leads a small group in the outdoor exercises (photo: M.Clyde)

In late July, we held another Field Trip 101 session on a very hot day at the Conservation Center.  Ten new "trip leaders" participated, and all were very tolerant listening to me, Dave Anderson, Malin Clyde, and Emma Carcagno go through the steps of leading a hike while fans whirred away in the conference room and everyone was sticky with perspiration.  The highlight of the workshop (as it usually is) was the outdoor exercises at the end of the day, where we break into teams and have a little friendly competition.  It's a fun way to spend a day... and one that will keep giving back to conservation in NH for years to come!

Photo: M.Clyde

Photo: M.Clyde

Monadnock Trails Week 2013

Rock work on Pumpelly Trail (photo: W.Weisiger)

Monadnock Trails Week was amazing this year, in many ways.  We had an amazing number of individual volunteers (82), with between 20 and 40 people showing up for trail work each day.  We worked on an amazing number of projects on an amazing number of different trails (15), and put in an amazing number of work hours on the mountain (over 1000- more than 400 over last year's record).  Oh, and did I mention the heat and humidity?  They were also amazing!  Whatever week we choose for Monadnock Trails Week is guaranteed to be the hottest and stickiest of the year, but our volunteers work through almost anything, and even maintain their good humor.  They are....you guessed it...amazing!

Gear shot on Fairy Springs Trail (photo: S. Merritz)

Volunteers getting ready to start the day (photo: J. Stetser)

Highlights from this year included completion of two beautiful rock staircases, one on the Fairy Springs Trail, and another on the Pumpelly Trail which was a full-week project.  In fact, there is further work to be done extending the Pumpelly staircase upwards in future years, taming this very steep and uneven rocky section of trail known locally as "Jacob's Ladder".  We employed three grip hoists in the making of these two staircases, which I believe is a trails week first.

Working on the Fairy Springs staircase (photo: C. Deegan)

Trailwrights volunteers survey their handiwork after day 2 (photo: C. Deegan)

Moving big rocks on Fairy Springs Trail (photo: W. Weisiger)

Roy Schweiker, Ed Scott, and Mike Zlogar (L to R) talk about rock placement (photo: W. Weisiger)

Nate Preisendorfer (center) directs volunteers on the Pumpelly Trail (photo: W. Weisiger)

Aaron Horner (center) wins the award for the most consecutive MTW days (10 and counting, 2012-13) (Photo: W. Weisiger)

Staircase on Pumpelly Trail.  The fact that this (and all these projects) were completed by volunteers just blows me away.  We have amazing, amazing volunteers! (photo: P. Landers)

Moving a rock in unison, Pumpelly Trail (photo: W. Weisiger)

The week's effort also included construction of a new bridge over the Ainsworth Brook on the Parker Trail, and many new rock waterbars (Birchtoft, Sidefoot, Mossy Brook, Fairy Springs, and Hedgehog Trails).  We also cleaned and scraped out existing drains, re-routed two trails,  brushed in bootleg side trails, maintained clearings, and cleared out stream blockages that threaten to wash out trails during high water.  It was a tiring week, but also immensely satisfying to see all the coordination and hard work yield real improvements on the ground.  Mount Monadnock thanks you all!

Girls from Camp Wa-Klo in Jaffrey helped out on two days (photo: C.Deegan)

Len Martin (L) and Wendy Weisiger (R) strip a spruce for use as a waterbar on the Sidefoot Trail (photo: C.Deegan)

Moving a large spruce log, not as easy as it looks! (photo: W.Weisiger)

Work on the bridge over the Ainsworth Brook, Parker Trail (photo: J. Bigl)

Nailing deck boards, Parker Trail (photo: J. Stetser)

Crew on the completed bridge, Parker Trail (photo: J. Bigl)

John Bigl working on a trail re-route, Parker Trail (photo: J. Stetser)

Carrying in lumber for the Parker Trail bridge (photo: J. Stetser)

Finished rock drain on Mossy Brook Trail (photo: M. Kresge)

Mark Kresge with a rock for his waterbar, Fairy Springs Trail (photo: W. Weisiger)

Winsheblo Forest Workday

The Winsheblo Forest in Gilford is a property recently protected by the Forest Society.  In the past this 210 acre forest was home to a girls summer camp, though the camp buildings are no longer on the property.  As a new Forest Sociery Reservation, Winsheblo needed a new property sign... and some TLC.  Unfortunately, some dumping of household and construction waste had happened here before we owned the land, and several areas were heavily used for target shooting.  In late June, a group of land stewards and staff met to help clean up the mess.

Don't these guys look tough?

Dan gets up in the truck bed to help re-arrange the load

Hundreds of metal bullet casings were meticulously (and back-breakingly) picked up off the sandy ground and deposited into five gallon buckets.  We also collected a few broken televisions, mattresses, tires, and tarps.  When the house cleaning was done, we installed some new signage, including a brand new routed property sign.  A complete facelift for the Winsheblo Forest in only a day!

Surveying our handiwork

Sign Me Up!

Intern Alex (L) and land steward Jason Morris (R) work on signs

The volunteer sign workdays keep getting better every year.  Partly that's because we have such great volunteers, many of whom have mastered these skills and come back to help year after year, but also, we keep tweaking the process each time in order to make it more efficient and effective.  This year saw some major changes, thanks to land steward Bob Macentee, who singlehandedly conducted a comparison study of different materials and techniques to see what might be most cost effective for the Forest Society over the long term, while still maintaining the rustic hand routed look of our signage. Though we didn't end up changing the untreated pine sign stock itself, the whole process did go from 14 steps to 11, because we changed stains and eliminated the several coats of spar varnish we usually put on the signs.  The thinking is that although spar varnish does keep out moisture for a few years, it eventually cracks and peels, and then tends to trap moisture in the wood, leading to rot.  The new stain alone should allow the wood to get wet and then dry thoroughly, hopefully extending the life of the sign.

Routing in progress

Hiel chopping signs to size

Another change this year was in painting the white lettering on the signs.  Normally we do this by hand with tiny brushes, and two to three coats are required.  This year we used large syringes to paint the letters!  Paint is sucked up into a large-needled syringe and then the syringe is used to fill up the entire routed letter with paint.  Then, the paint is simply sucked back out with the syringe, leaving a nice thick coat on the routed surface.  On many of the smaller signs, only one "coat" was required with this method, which saved us lots of time.  We completed at least 50 signs during the 2-day workshop, and everyone kept busy with all the different tasks to be completed.  Eleven steps is still a lot of steps!  Thanks to everyone who helped out during the workdays this year!

Stewards Gale and Schuyler work on stenciling letters

Stencil layouts

The sign crew on Day 1

Seth (L) and Gale (R) stenciling

Stewards Bill Bruce (L) and Michael Bettencourt (R) sand routed signs before staining begins

Land Steward Peggy Ueda (L) and Michelle Whisnant working the "syringe" method of letter painting

The whole Whisnant family came out to help with signs!

Stewards Bob Lyon (L) and Fred Tobbe (R) staining signs