Seals!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Nova Scotia. We travelled to Keji National Park-Seaside Adjunct. It was much different than the pictures I had posted of Keji's main national park site. This park had few trees and very short, scrubby vegetation. The majority of the trails run right along the coast. It was beautiful. The exciting thing about this day was that we got to see seals! They were adorable! Seeing them in their natural habitat was really neat. They were not at all irritated by our presence. They stared at us and then continued their routine of laying on the rocks and occasionally jumping into the water.

Last night was a somewhat emotional night back at the accomodations. We had a wonderful dinner and then presented gifts to Chris and Christina. Before we left, the group decided that it would be nice to bring a gift for them and a gift for another team member. The gift was to be something that represented the state/area in which we live. We also all shared what the expedition has meant to us and what we plan to do with what we have learned. I think we all came to Nova Scotia with different expectations, but we will all be leaving with the same memories.

My time here was delightful. I so enjoyed meeting teachers from all around the country, but I also enjoyed working with two scientists who have dedicated their work and their lives to environmental protection. It is hard work and requires a great deal of time. Chris and Christina are amazing people. I will never forget them nor will I ever forget the experience I had here in Nova Scotia!

Last day of trapping!

First, I want to tell all of you how much I enjoyed seeing you (at least some of you!). It was so neat to be able to talk with you and answer your questions. I will share more when I return on Monday! Thanks to Ben and Katie who were brave enough to talk to the news crew. Awesome! Remember, it is not how much or how little we are doing for the environment, it is that we are just doing something!

Well today was our last day of trapping. Team B came from behind and trapped 3 voles! We were quite excited. Out of 5 teams, Team B finished 3rd. Not too bad. This afternoon was dedicated to 'teacher stuff.' Since we all live in different time zones, the scientists really have to work hard to make sure all of us have some time to work on our blogs and Skype with our classes. Several teachers walked down to the ocean while others just hung out at the green house. This evening Dr. Chris finished his lecture on small mammals. He also led us through tallying our data. It is a bit complex! At our first research site, we figured out that there are approximately 5 voles per hectare. At our second research site, we figured out that there are approximately 7 voles per hectare. Dr. Chris was expecting the numbers to be a little higher, but weather was a factor. On average, we figured there are approximately 11,500 deer in all of Keji National Park. We arrived at this number based on the 10 deer skat quadrats we conducted while we there. Throughout the year, the researchers will continue this work with other volunteer groups and eventually produce an annual report. It is a very long process and it requires a great deal of work!

Mr. Wignall attempting to catch Team B's vole.

Tomorrow we will go to Keji Adjunct Seaside Park. I am really hoping to see some seals and maybe some whales! Check the blog over the weekend to see if I saw any! Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday morning! :)

Success!

Well Team B had some success today! We captured 2 red-backed voles. It was a pretty exciting day for us because we are the only team who has consistently struck out! It was horrible weather here today. It rained, and rained, and rained, and rained! However, we still stayed out in the field from 9-4. While out in the field, we walked a few trails looking for skat, damage caused by mammals, and any other signs of mammalian life. After lunch, the guys worked on repairing the main roadway into Cook's Lake while my group worked on clearing a trail to one side of Cook's Lake. It was a dangerous day for Mrs. Metz----I was leaning on a tree fixing my boot and the tree was a bit rotten. The tree fell and a branch came down on my head! It was not fun considering I was soaked, cold, and a bit irritated with my boot! I survived, though! We headed back to the accomodations after stopping at a grocery store/mini-mall. It was quite a stop. We had a 1/2 hour before we had to be back to the van. Well, four group members had trouble telling time. Dr. Chris finally had to go back into the store/mall to find them. Eventually they all came out with food and trinkets from the dollar store in hand! Tonight we had a lecture about the geology of the region. It was quite interesting! I will share more with you all later!

Dr. Chris lecturing on geology.


Questions for you:
1. When you study geology, what are you studying?
2. What is the difference between a herbivore and carnivore?
3. Since this expedition team has cleared one entire trail, we need a name for it. I want you to come up with a possible name for the trail! We hope to pick one before we leave!!!

Check out our birthday party we had tonight!

Happy Earth Day!!!

A rainy, cold day!

First, check the video clips for some answers to yesterday's questions!

Today we traveled back to Cook's Lake in order to check our traps. Team B got really excited because we had one trap with the door closed! However, it was empty when we went to open it. Bummer! Team B gets picked on daily because we have yet to have a catch, but we are getting use to it. All of us worked on clearing a new trail today and also did some deer quadrats (making 10x10 squares and walking in a line while looking down for skat). It was a long day because it was raining and cold! We were already ready to head back to the accommodations. Tonight we had a meeting with an Earthwatch employee who is with us. The work never seems to be done! I had some good questions submitted to me so keep those coming. Hopefully tomorrow I can report a catch for Team B!!!

Questions to consider.....

1. Today we found more deer skat in the open, grassland region as opposed to the forested region. Why do you think there was more skat in the grassland?

2. It was 11° C for a high here today and 9° C for a low. What are those temperatures using the fahrenheit?

A new research site!

Cook's Lake Research Site

Trapping in the grassland!

Today the team moved to a new research site. The land is owned by Dr Christina's family and is about 40 miles from Cherry Hill. The site is called Cook's Lake. It is a unique site because there is a great deal of grassland but there is also a great deal of forested region. We have actually put ten of our traps in the forested region and 10 of our traps in the grassland (see video). I am hoping that Team B does better this time! Tomorrow we will return back to Cook's Lake and do some more work with our traps as well as some field maintenance. Chris and Christina depend on the volunteers to help them keep up with maintaining the trails and repairing bridges, etc.
My questions are:
1. In the video, I was trying to hide my trap for obvious reasons. Why else do you think I needed to cover my trap with lots of grass?
2. Do you think I am more likely to find mice in the grassland region or the forested region?


On our walk to the site, Dr. Christina stopped and talked with us about some mammals which have/do call the site home. I have included a picture of one of the skeletons which we talked about.
My questions are:
1. What animal do you think it is?
2. What is the difference between horns and antlers?

Keji

Today (Sunday) we visited Kejimkujik National Park. It was about a 50 mile drive from here. Once there, we walked about 8 miles. We walked a trail and looked primarily at the old growth hemlock trees. These trees are over 350 years old! In the picture, you will see a boardwalk which winds its way through the hemlock forest.

We also continued to count deer skat in several different areas. As we approached our trail, we noticed several white-tailed deer so we decided it would be a good area to survey for skat. Needless to say, the area which we covered did not contain much deer skat.

A few questions I would like for you to think about/Google and submit your answers to Mrs. Fricke in wrap-up or during class on Tuesday. Feel free to also include any other questions which you may have for me and I will try to respond to them!

1. Why do you think the boardwalk (refer to pic) was constructed through the hemlock forest?

2. See if you can Google and find out about the Acadian forest zone. What type of trees/vegetation would you find there?

3. What is a habitat?

4. What is an ecosystem?

5. One kilometer is equivalent to how many miles?

6. One hectare is equal to how many acres?