Jr Ranger Applications

To All Our Jr. Ranger Applicants:

Our application date has passed and we will no longer be accepting new applications.  Those Jr. Rangers that have already been accepted are asked to get in touch with Len at your earliest free moment.

Len Germinara

K-12 Education Coordinator

UMass Field Station

lensir@hotmail.com

Jr. Ranger applications being accepted

Are you interested the natural world? Consider applying to The Jr. Ranger program at the UMass. Field Station.  Visit the link below and check out this months field station newsletter. Bright personable applicants will need the desire to learn through experience and have an ability to express themselves using a variety of mediums.      

http://www.umb.edu/nantucket

Horned Poppy: Invasive Plant Found and Removed!

This is an invasive plant, Horned Poppy. Thanks to Kelly Omand of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation it was identified here at the field station and removed by the field station Jr Rangers.   

Description of Horned Poppy: Several branched stems grow from a rosette of leaves. The crinkly, gray-green leaves also appear on the stems and below each flower. The golden-yellow flowers are open and about 2 inches in diameter. Occasionally, there are orange or red flowers. The roots of the horned poppy are poisonous.

Seabeach Knotweed: A Plant of Special Concern

Seabeach Knotweed  (a plant of special concern) has been discovered here at the field station. In this photo, Jr. Ranger Isobel Mackinnon helps with placing markers for the GIS class from UMass. Boston so they (UMass. students) can take bearings and create an accurate map using global positioning satellite technology.  The biggest challenge for this plant is often "dune nourishment" efforts to save coastal barriers, loss of the plant (being covered over) is but one instance of what is called unintended consequences.


Threatened and Endangered Information:
Polygonum glaucum Nutt.
This plant is listed by the U.S. federal government or a state. Common names are from state and federal lists. Click on a place name to get a complete protected plant list for that location.

Connecticut:
seabeach knotweed		Special Concern
Maryland:
seaside knotweed		Endangered
Massachusetts:
sea-beach knotweed		Special Concern
New Jersey:
sea-beach knotweed		Endangered
New York:
seabeach knotweed		Rare
Rhode Island:
seabeach knotweed		Threatened

Summer Flounder

Paralichthys dentatus (Linnaeus, 1766), also called a Fluke (fish pictured here), is a member of the left-eyed flounder family Paralichthyidae. There are typically 5 to 14 ocellated (eye-like) spots on the body. Like most members of the left-eye flounders they can change the color and pattern of their dark side to match the surrounding bottom, and are also capable of rapidly burrowing into muddy or sandy bottoms. The teeth are quite sharp and well developed on both upper and lower jaws. The average Summer flounder reaches sexual maturity at 2 years and weighs 1 to 3 pounds, typically 15 to 20 inches in length. Though they may grow as large as 26 pounds and live up to 20 years with females making up the largest and oldest specimens. Adults are highly predatory and considered mostly piscivorous, (fish eating) often laying buried with only their head exposed to ambush prey which includes sand lance, menhaden, atlantic silverside, mummichog killifish, small bluefish, porgies, squid, shrimp, and crabs. but not Jr Rangers;) While primarily considered a bottom fish they are rapid swimmers over short distances and can become very aggressive feeding actively at mid depths, even chasing prey to the surface. While walking from the beach into Folgers Marsh Mookie, Caroline, and I found summer flounder, all about this size in the creek leading into the marsh. 

Fiddler Crabs In The Lab

Thomas Glover set up an aquarium for some Fiddler Crabs last week.

An Experiment on Tuesday's Nature Walk

The Deer Flies were out and bothersome today.  We told our visitors that all scientific reports suggest that Deer Flies prefer the color blue for some reason.  So we put cups covered in a sticky substance 1 red, 1 blue, on top of two of our friends and took a walk.  Boy the stories they'll have when they get home!  As usual, blue was the clear winner and no humans were hurt in the course of this experiment. On a related note, Jane (red hat) proved to be a world class mosquito magnet.