Rhode Island Feeds

“It’s a leech!” The cry came from the kids in the water. Friends of Ursula and Virgil were visiting, and all of them were down at the pond.

“Catch it! Catch it!” That was Anna, or maybe Amber. The two girls had buckets of water on the dock and had set up a leech farm. A half dozen of the sinuous creatures swam in each bucket already, but Amber and Anna were happy to add to their stock. Amber scooped a leech out of the bucket. She held it up close to her face. It curled into a fat ball, then lengthened in attempted escape. She expertly turned her hand along with the leech, watching it. “Can I try?” asked one of the smaller kids.

Lots of kids, and adults, too, are afraid of leeches and other creepy crawly slimy animals. The leeches in our pond can be long, six inches or so, with two lines of bright orange or red spots along their tops. They often travel in squadrons of five, like fighter pilots, the lead leech slightly out in front, its mates in formation on either side. Otherwise brave people have fled the water after catching sight of a leech squadron heading in toward our beach.

But not these kids. They fanned out with nets, buckets, and bare hands, looking for the coolest, grossest, most scary animals they could find. Liam, Ian, and Evie hunted crayfish that lurked in the shadows of overhanging bushes, hoping to find the big one they’d glimpsed earlier, the one they’d dubbed “Mr. Pinchy.”

Rayna and Adam stalked the sentry bullfrogs along the shore. They had discovered that captive bullfrogs needed to be kept in isolation, or the larger would take the opportunity of imprisonment to eat the smaller. “No cannibalization allowed!” Rayna declared.

What repulses us can also attract us. The slick green frogs with their wide hinged mouths were beautiful when they croaked, the yellow pouch below their jawline pulsing out with each deep note. But not when the bottom half of another frog squirmed in that same mouth. Then they were monsters — real-life ones, not the ones in books or on TV. And the realness, I think, was a big part of the attraction for the kids. They stared at the creatures from two inches away and studied the colors, felt the textures in their wet hands, tried to mimic sounds and motions. The edge of fear added a thrill, a sense of the visceral, the elemental.

“I used to be afraid of leeches,” eight-year-old Adam said, to no one in particular and to everyone. “Used to” might have been that morning, or the first 20 minutes on the dock. Now he said, “I gotta go catch more things that scare me.” Off he went, looking for more marvelous monsters.

Learn more
… about leeches
… about crayfish. (Ours, I'm sorry to say, is likely an invader species, the rusty crayfish, and probably introduced to our pond by a fisherman.)
… about bullfrogs. (This National Geographic video shows bullfrogs eating, well, just about anything.)

“Great Kids, Great Outdoors” is an AMC Outdoors blog, written by Kristen Laine.

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As many are likely aware, the RIPTA bus system enables cyclists to expand their area of travel through their Rack n’ Ride system.  Each RIPTA bus is able to carry two bikes and there is no additional charge.  Many people have been eased into bicycle commuting by putting their bike on the bus into work and then enjoying a ride home, it is a great way to reduce the perceived challenge.

Unfortunately, the following story recently came across the Bike-to-Brown email list:

This is to warn those who use the bus bike racks.  This morning by bike went flying off the rack while going over rough pavement on Rt 95.  Luckily it didn’t make the big leap but got hung up in the rack and stayed there.

I’ve taken the bus and bike many times, but this was the first time I noticed the rack bouncing WAY up and down, from my seat near the front, when we hit potholes. and then it was gone.

When we got to Kennedy Plaza the driver told me I had it on the rack wrong and claimed the FRONT wheel should be hooked in.  He called his supervisor who said, no, I was correct.

They’re saying “your bike looks fine” but I tell them to hold on, I need to check the rims and derailleur.  I spin the wheels and look at everything and it does seem to be OK.  I tried to tell the supervisor there may be something going on with the rack, doing that huge bouncing on the road, he didn’t want to hear it.  I said all seems well with my bike but suppose there does turn out to be a problem, what should I do?  At that point he says “you spun the wheels, you’re fine”.  They both turn their backs on me and walk away.

How would you handle this situation?

Some tasks I think RIBike should take on and report back to the community on are:

• How should someone contact RIPTA when a rider notices a bike rack is in disrepair?
• What is the maintenance or replacement schedule for the racks on the buses?
• Who assumes liability for a bicycle on the bus?  Is it completely placed upon the rider?  RIPTA?  What if the rack is in disrepair?

Please contact us if you are interested in approaching RIPTA on these matters and we will put you in touch with some contacts who can point you in the right direction.

We successfully completed this year's NABA Butterfly Count in RI! The East Bay survey circles were counted on June 19 and the West Bay circles were counted on July 10. The results are still coming in and mystery photos are being identified, but this much we know--it will be a record-breaking year for numbers of butterflies! The previous maximum was 3,521 butterflies, and already we have 4,889 butterflies recorded! Much of this is due to one field in the Bristol Co. survey area that is teeming with Baltimore Checkerspots. 3,240 were counted in this one field! We are working with researchers who are studying this site and its amazing abundance. Another great find was the American Snout, which has never been found on the RI Butterfly Count before. It is a migrant species that is only seen occasionally in our area.

More interesting sightings are being reviewed--stay tuned for the final results!

When we bought our house here on Orange Pond 13 years ago, motorboats buzzed circles around the shoreline on sunny summer weekends. Down at the public landing, which runs through our land, we filled trash bags with discarded bait containers, fouled fishing lines, broken bottles and plain old garbage.

At times, we worried that we weren’t really getting the front row seat to wild nature that we hoped this place might someday provide for our kids. We put up a sign at the landing introducing ourselves as the landowners. After that we saw less trash. A couple of years ago, the pond received an electric-motor-only designation. The lake quieted. Loons began to visit.

At first the big black-and-white diving birds came only to dine out on the trout that a New Hampshire Fish and Game truck dumps into the pond each spring. (Our neighbor, a hunter and savvy observer of wildlife, is convinced that loons actually follow the boxy “fish van” from lake to lake.) Then they seemed to use the pond as a stopover to and from their breeding territories in the spring and fall. We saw them make their characteristic bellyflops onto open water when the pond is still half iced over. Sometimes, they even graced us with their haunting wails and tremolos. Finally, we started seeing pairs together on the water, seeming to check out the neighborhood like newlyweds looking for a good place to raise a family.

This year, the pond apparently passed the test. Two loons settled down in May. They built a nest at the end of a marsh. Lucky for us, they were just close enough to our dock that we could check on them through binoculars, but not so close that our presence ruffled their feathers. Also lucky for us, Ursula and Virgil are old enough to be interested, too.

We watched them on the nest for a month, all the way through the Fourth of July weekend. Loons are water birds — they spend a good portion of their lives under water, catching fish — and we could see how ungainly they were on land every time they exchanged nest duties. Last Monday, we heard the loons calling and calling in a frenzy we hadn’t heard before. We hurried down to the dock and saw a little dark fluffball tumble from the nest to the water and immediately be folded under its mother’s protective wing. (Dad was still on the nest, making all the noise, as if to say, “We have a baby!”)

The second egg in the nest did not hatch, in spite of Dad’s efforts. Susie Burbidge, a field biologist from the Loon Preservation Committee who tracks loons in the western part of New Hampshire, explained to us that the biologists like to give loon eggs some extra days beyond 30, just to be sure.

On Friday, Ursula and I paddled out with her to take a look at the nest. It’s been a good season for “her” lakes — ours is one of several new ones in the area with nests and babies. After Susie had collected the egg from the nest (the Loon Preservation Committee will freeze it for later testing, to see if something inside went amiss), we floated for a while in the canoe, watching the loon family on the other side of the lake. The chick, a bigger fluffball now, rode on top of a parent’s back, then bobbed alongside, then followed in parental wake like a tiny water-skier. Ursula asked Susie what it was like to be a field biologist, nodding at Susie’s answers (yes, she spends a lot of time outside; yes, she’s been in other beautiful places; yes, she loves animals).

The Loon Preservation Committee understands the importance of raising new generations of loons, which are considered a threatened species in New Hampshire, and of raising new generations of human beings who care about loons and other wildlife. The nonprofit is hosting a family-friendly Loon Festival at its headquarters in Moultonborough, New Hampshire this Saturday, July 17, from 10 am to 2 pm.

Last summer I took Virgil, then 6, to the festival. He ate his fill at the cookout, spent an hour at the crafts table, got his face painted and balloons twisted into cool shapes, answered loon biology questions for the chance to dunk a field biologist, and didn’t want to leave when it was time to go. Neither of us knew that a year later, we’d be celebrating loons again — without even having to leave home.

Learn more
... Junior Naturalist: "What's black and white all over (with a spot of red)?"
... the Loon Preservation Committee's Loon Festival

“Great Kids, Great Outdoors” is an AMC Outdoors blog, written by Kristen Laine.

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Planting Water, Water, Water

Should you decide to plant, make sure the root balls, either containerized or balled and burlaped of the new specimens are well watered before they are installed. Here's a simple tip. Place the plants in a water filled pool or large bucket and let soak for about 4 hours, remove the plants from the pool and let stand long enough until the excess water drains away, after which time they can be planted. Following installation, immediately mulch the plants then, water until run-off. For the first week, water daily applying 15 gallons of water each time, three- 5 gallon buckets. Starting in week 2 and lasting until November 1st, apply the same amount but reduce the frequency of watering to three times per week. The rule is to NEVER allow installed plants to go longer than 5 days without water during the first year.

July 20, 2010

While this is not an official RIBike event, it might be more fun to go with a group of RI bicyclists to ride the Charles River bike paths in Boston, they are on both sides of the river. Since many of us bicyclists also like trains, my plan on Tuesday, July 20 is to take the MBTA commuter train that leaves Providence Station at 9:43am. This is the earliest train that allows bikes aboard (no extra charge for them) The Back Bay station in the Copley Square area is just few blocks from the river and the bike path.

I envision a possibility of lunch in Harvard Square, and coming back to Copley by 6pm when the beautiful main public library there has a (free) tour of its architectural and art features, and at the same time, the library is also featuing a film about Hank Aaron.

The trains back to Providence leave Back Bay at 6:55pm and at 8:15pm. I encourage anyone wishing to join me to call me at 353-6536. Rain cancels it for me.

Endless array of colorful blooms

We are certainly blessed with the large number of flowering trees that are able to thrive in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. This very special situation, aided by geography and moderating weather patterns, has made it possible for us to experience an almost endless array of colorful blooms from late-February to mid-October. That's a remarkable stretch of time that amazingly covers all four seasons of the year.

Are You Prepared? [Register] Storm related tree damage can cripple an unprepared community. Envision this scenario in the storm's aftermath: Toppled trees and downed electric power lines; thousands of hazardous trees needing immediate attention; tree debris strewn everywhere, blocking fire and emergency access and making local roads virtually impassable. This is a very dangerous and chaotic picture, but this is only half of the problem. The other half involves storm damage mitigation described simply as returning the community to its pre-storm condition.

Are You Prepared? Storm related tree damage can cripple an unprepared community. Envision this scenario in the storm's aftermath: Toppled trees and downed electric power lines; thousands of hazardous trees needing immediate attention; tree debris strewn everywhere, blocking fire and emergency access and making local roads virtually impassable. This is a very dangerous and chaotic picture, but this is only half of the problem. The other half involves storm damage mitigation described simply as returning the community to its pre-storm condition.

Food & Wine Tasting, Silent Auction & Raffle Join us for One Night to Remember in November.
Stroll through the beautiful Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, the largest display of indoor gardens featuring flowers and plants from all over the world, while sampling an array of fine food from well known restaurants and a selection of wines, micro brews and festive beverages to please your pallet. This fundraising event will include a silent auction and raffle with great prizes, sure to make the evening one night to remember in November.
Tickets are available here or by calling 401 764-5885.

Reminder, our monthly meeting is this evening @ 6pm.

There is a conflict at the Brown Bookstore for this evenings meeting.  To accommodate them, we are moving our meeting the the upstairs of the bookstore, near the faculty author section.  There is a comfortable couch and TV in the vicinity.  The bookstore staff will have extra chairs in the area for us.  If you need directions, please as a book store employee.

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