Darrow School students, faculty and alumni joined CLC staff for trail work at the Ooms Conservation Area at Sutherland Pond. We bench cut 1/8 mile of the green trail using hand tools. This volunteer project was an Earth Day celebration and part of the Darrow School’s Hands to Work program.
Following up on the great work from Darrow School volunteers, two seniors from Ichabod Crane School volunteered at the Ooms Conservation Area and made additional improvements to the Green Trail.
On Saturday, February 17, 20 citizen scientists took part in CLC’s Great Backyard Bird Count at Ooms Conservation Area at Sutherland Pond. The final tally: 52 birds from 17 different species!
The star of the show was the brown creeper, a tiny very-well camouflaged bird that spends most of its time spiraling up tree trunks in search of insects. Because of its specialized anatomy, the brown creeper rarely climbs down a tree, but rather flies down to begin a new ascent at the base of a nearby tree.
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About 30 people joined Board of Trustees Chair Deborah E. Lans on a Christmas Walk at Ooms Conservation Area at Sutherland Pond.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s CLC in a plane. Once a year, CLC takes to the sky in order to monitor all of the lands on which we hold conservation easements. The aerial perspective is breathtaking. The county is split into vast green meadows and snow covered woodland slopes. The landscape is dotted with ponds, rolling hills, and working farms. These are all the features you see on the ground, only from this unique perspective you see how they are interconnected. From the skies there is a surprising amount of water, houses tucked away from the main roads, and a diversity of landscapes. CONTINUE READING
On a rainy October day, 32 science students from Hudson High School braved the weather and spent the day at Lasher Memorial Park in Germantown to participate in a “Day in the Life of the Hudson River” environmental education program. Using the banks of the Hudson River as an outdoor classroom the students worked with educators from the Columbia Land Conservancy to learn about the estuary and its unique characteristics. Rotating through three testing stations to collect data and capture a “snapshot” of the Hudson River on October 4, 2012. CONTINUE READING
This fall, as in past years, the Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC) sponsors apple orchard visits for Head Start groups in Chatham, Valatie, and Hudson. The children meet the farmer. Then, they go on a tractor ride to the orchard. They pick a bag full of apples, plus one to eat on the tractor ride back!
CLC educator, Jenny Brinker, reads “Apple Farmer Annie” to the group and talks about colors, shapes, and sizes of apples, as well as products that can be made from apples. Then, there are apple activities, including consuming apple products – apple cider and apple cider donuts. CONTINUE READING
The tour gave visitors the opportunity to see the diverse face of farming in Chatham, and provided educational and entertainment opportunities for all ages. It was co-sponsored by the Chatham Agricultural Partnership – underwriting by Columbia County Tourism. View the photo album by Andreas Stresemann.
