Science Nerd Central

It's Science Nerd Central around here lately.  I'd like to blame that on Aiden, but let's be honest... the reason he's so into this stuff is because Andy and I love it and can't wait to show our kids something new and cool  all the time.  This weekend we started off with a bird banding demonstration at Massabesic Audubon Center.  The weather did not look promising, but as it turned out, it stayed dry from 10-noon for the whole thing. The licensed bander, Jay Barry, was great- he was so happy to show everyone what he was doing, all the steps from catching the bird to weighing it, taking measurements, sexing and aging it, banding, checking for ticks, and releasing it again.  The mist nets were set up right in front of two feeders, so we caught resident feeder birds, for the most part, but some great variety: song sparrow, house finch, goldfinch, pine siskin (late!), chickadee, titmouse, and even a downy woodpecker.  There was another girl there, about Aiden's age, who was just as into it as he was- it was funny to watch the two of them race around following the bird bander from the nets to his banding table and back.  I felt like we should tell her about the birding camp Aiden is going to this summer.  Haley loved the captive raven (broken wing) that they have at the Audubon Center- she spent most of her time hanging out by his cage and trying to get him to croak at her.  She's still on the fence about nature most of the time- she loves to be outside and get dirty, but tends towards shrieks if a bug lands on her.  We're working on her...

House Finch

Pine Siskin

After bird banding, we had an awesome sushi lunch (Happy Mother's Day to me!) at a Japanese place in Manchester, and then headed to Amoskeag Fishways.  This is basically a fish ladder at a hydro plant on the Merrimack River that they have turned into a nature center to highlight anadromous and catadromous fish populations.  When we arrived, they still hadn't raised the grates to let the herring, Atlantic salmon, and shad climb up the ladder.  There was one herring and a single salmon that you could see from their underground viewing of the ladder chambers, but those had been around all winter and were waiting for the gates to open too.  So, not as cool as it could have been, but we definitely learned a little about our migratory fish populations from all of the interpretive displays.

On Sunday we did a crazy amount of yardwork and prep for our upcoming garage/yard sale next weekend. But we also found time to collect a mucky water sample at Low Plain so we could look for protozoa and other little beasties under our new microscope.  Wow!  I hadn't done that since Limnology class in college, and now I remember how much fun it is.  Andy, Aiden and I were basically fighting for the scope to see all of the cool things we were finding.  Daphnia (water fleas), paramecium, euglena, rotifers, desmids, spirogyra, copepods and lots and lots of things we couldn't even identify with the very lame $5 book I got with the microscope.  Time for a better textbook/guide, and also time to figure out how to hook our *supposedly* digital microscope up to the computer screen so we can all watch at the same time!  In true science geek fashion, Aiden immediately asked to create a sketch journal of all the creatures he's seen under the scope.  He was working on it at about 9:30 tonight when we finally had to go in and tell him "lights out."  Even scientists need their sleep.

Low Plain Mother's Day Hike

You would not believe what's living in here!