 |
Notes From the Nature Nut
|
The
Spring Edition of The Kentucky Naturalist News
|
Notes From the Nature Nut
|
Hello again, and best wishes for the upcoming year. I hope your winter has been mild and you have been able to get outside and appreciate winter's special beauty.
I am anxiously anticipating the first signs of spring and those late January temperatures in the 60's make spring fever hard to control. But, alas, I am a realist at heart and February looms on the horizon with its unpredictable weather patterns.
Now is the time to look ahead and plan for our many, nature related, spring activities. During April, two very special KSNH activities are planned and I hope as many people as possible take advantage of both.
First, a special field trip has been planned to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for April 4 through April 8, 1999. The early response to this extended field trip has been tremendous and over twenty-five people have made early reservations. For more information on reservations, activities, and directions, please see the special section elsewhere in this newsletter.
Secondly, the spring conference of KSNH will occur on April 23, 24, and 25, at Carter Caves State Resort Park. Carter Caves has been a traditional favorite of the KSNH membership and a full house is expected during this weekend. John Tierney, past KSNH president and senior state park naturalist, will be on hand to help with our program and to renew old friendships. As many of you know, Carter Caves offers excellent spring wildflower displays, great spring bird watching, several beautiful cave tours, natural arches, and canoe trips that are usually wild, wonderful, and wet.
Accommodations are limited to twenty-five lodge rooms because all cabins are scheduled for reconstruction. The lodge rooms will be held until March 26, at which time they will be released to the general public. Please mention that you are with KSNH when making your reservations. A fifteen percent discount will apply for all senior citizens 62 years of aqe and older. Camping is available and features 89 campsites with water and electric utilities, restrooms and showers.
New Nature Book Store
We've become a associate member to Amazon.com (great savings).
Order a nature orientated listed and we recieve a 15% rebate that goes for the upkeep of our site. Any other link on this page - nature or
not, we get 5%. Photographers, I'm checking out nature related books that may help you as well. Any thing above the cost of the site will
benefit the Society with the access.
Wildflower
Weekends
at
Pine
Mountain Settlement School
Black Mountain Weekend� May 7-9 1999
People of all
ages join together to celebrate the awakening of spring after the long winter
sleep. The program includes: Slide presentations, Medicinal Plant Lectures,,
Bird and wildflower hikes, Folkdancing, Nite Hikes.
DEPOSIT: A
deposit of $10.00 per person is required prior to your visit. LODGING NOT
GUARANTEED WITHOUT DEPOSIT. The deposit is NON‑REFUNDABLE after 7 days prior to
beginning date.
Both weekends
begin with a 6 o'clock supper on Friday and end with lunch on Sunday.
Registration will be from 3:30 - 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 700 - 900 a.m. on
Saturday.
COSTS:� Lodging: $14.00 per person/per night (Westwind) Children under 5 yrs. sleep free�
(Laurel House rooms are limited - $17.00 per person/per night ADULTS
ONLY) Specific room requests will not be taken PRIOR TO 60 DAYS BEFORE the
beginning date of each weekend
*Laurel House is not available for lodging without phone confirmation first*
| Meals. | Adult | Children (under 12) | |
| Breakfast | $4.25 | $3.75 | |
| Lunch | $4.75 | $4.25 | |
| Supper | $5.75� | $4.75 |
Tuition
is $12.00
per person (this covers all activities for the weekend) Total cost of weekend
for an adult is $70.50 (Westwind) $76.50 (Laurel House) Total cost of weekend
for a child (under 12) is: $66.00 (Westwind)
For Reservations
and further information:� Call 606-558-3571
or 3542 between the hours of 7 am and 3:30 pm Mon‑Friday� Or Write: Weekend Coordinator, Pine Mountain
Settlement School,� 36 HWY 510, Pine
Mountain,, KY 40810-8289
E-mail
address: [email protected]
3 BEAR CUBS FOUND AT BIG SOUTH FORK
Efforts by Tennessee wildlife officials to reintroduce bears on the Cumberland Plateau appears to be working.
Three bear cubs were discovered last week in a den under a fallen hemlock tree at the Big South Fork National Recreation Area, which straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line.
The cubs are believed to be the first born on the plateau since the late 1800s or early 1900s.
The mother is one of the 12 black bears brought three years ago from the Smoky Mountains to Big South Fork.
An orphaned cub from North Carolina was placed with the other three cubs last month.
ELK RELEASE
Thirty-seven elk shipped in from around Hyrum, Utah, were released last month on the Bell and Harlan county line in Eastern Kentucky.
Moving them is part of an effort to bring 250 more elk to a 4-county area in Kentucky this year. Additional releases are planned in coming weeks.
The first 200 elk brought to the state will be taken to the Bell and Harlan county line, and the remainder will be taken to a site in Perry County where elk were introduced last year to Kentucky to roam freely for the first time in 150 years.
Lyme Disease Update
Many outdoor people are concerned about Lyme Disease. I imagine that you have seen recent commercials on a vaccine for its prevention. Lyme disease is a Tick bourne disease the can be serious and can be gotten by hikers. A new vaccine is now available, Lymerix. A phone number for information is:1-888-Lymerix. Three shots needed over one year for best immunity. Ages 15-70. Click Here for the Scoop.
KENTUCKY'S NATURE CALENDAR
APRIL:
Early
- Peak chorus of spring peepers, pickerel frogs, and American toads
- Morel mushrooms appear - Purple martins arrive - Redbuds and dogwoods bloom
Middle - Spring wildflowers reach peak bloom - Whippoorwills start calling - Broods of luna moths appear
Late - Large-flowered trillium blooms - Summer birds reach breeding areas
MAY:
Early
- Spring wildflowers peak in Eastern Kentucky - Hummingbirds need nectar - Peak of snake mating
- Pink & yellow lady slippers bloom - Shooting star blooms - Monarch butterflies lay eggs on milkweed
Middle - Peak warbler migration - Spring forest fire season ends
Late - Big brown and gray bats born - Peak of turkey hatch
JUNE:
Early - Fawns of deer and elk born - Mountain Laurel blooms - Turtles lay eggs - Least terns begin nesting
Middle - Red azaleas and purple fringed orchids bloom on Black Mt. - Rhododendron bloom
Late - Watch for moths at dusk on evening primrose
FROG LOGGER NEWS
Word has just been received from Jeff Hohman of Frog Loggers that Dreamworks Inc., Steven Spielberg�s movie company, requested the right to use their posters in an upcoming movie. Both the frog and orchid posters will be used as props for a new movie called �Cast Away�. The movie involves the life of a biologist and executive who is shipwrecked. The movie stars Tom Hanks and began production in Feb. Jeff says that he, Mark Gumbert and Joe Settles will be traveling to Hollywood soon to help Tom Hanks with his lines. KSNH has made contributions for the production of these posters. Next issue will be concerning Salamanders.
 |
NEW KSNH TEE-SHIRT This is a representation of the new tee shirt for
KSNH. Colors will be green, white, black and purple. The sleeve logo will be
green. Shirt color called natural (alittle lighter than illustration).
|
ATTENTION�WE HAVE MOVED
The Falls of the Ohio Chapter has moved its meeting location from the Bon Air Library to the Louisville Nature Center on Illinois Ave.
General
Information
|
1998-1999 Officers President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Editor, Kentucky Naturalist News Immediate Past President Coordinators and Board and Members Board Members at Large Affliated Chapters: Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) Wilderness Trail (Pineville)
|
The Kentucky Naturalist News is a quarterly publication of the Society designed to facilitate the communication of ideas and events pertinent to all aspects of Kentucky natural history. Unsolicited contributions are encouraged. Please send articles to: Len Stahlgren, 7100 Peppermill Ln. Louisville, 40228 or E-mail to [email protected] Deadlines for issues are as follows: The Kentucky Society of Natural History is a nonprofit organization that was incorporated in Louisville, Kentucky in 1943. The purpose
of the society is to actively promote study and interest in Kentucky's rich natural heritage
Margarette Perkins, Secreary-KSNH,
|
If you would like to submit a natural history article for possible review for Kentucky
Naturalist News, send it via e-mail to our publisher Len
Stahlgren. We would like to publish any aspect of natural history of our
Commonwealth.
Home || State
Newsletter || Falls of the Ohio Newsletter
Pine Mountain Newsletter ||K.S.N.H.
Grants|| Membership
Information
Enter K.S.N.H.||Local Activities||
Natural History Books||Free
Stuff||Contact Us
