Crow’s Nest: More trail cam footage

I hesitate to sign my name to this one, but here’s a trail camera photo submitted and authenticated by Crow’s Nest Educator Molly Smyrl. I don’t think you can top this, Tim. And no, we don’t have too much time on our hands at the moment.

If you haven’t read Tim’s thoughtful, most recent post, take the time to do so now, especially since we’ve now moved this dialog back from sublime to ridiculous.

Note that our public visitation at Crow’s Nest has increased roughly five-fold for the last week. The preserve is plenty large enough to absorb this number of visitors and we’re very happy to see people enjoying nature. Just be sure to practice good health habits such as social distancing, and keep in mind that the visitor center and all restrooms are closed. Some of our other preserves have had even greater increases in visitation which have resulted in too many people in one place at one time—so keep in mind that if these preserves’ parking lots are already full when you arrive please come again at another time.

We’ve still been doing land stewardship here and are quite busy despite the major changes to our normal scheduled activities. We have more time than usual available, but there is still more work to do than there is time.

Our prescribed fire season has been cancelled this spring, so I’ll probably go back and mow a couple of the meadows we were planning to burn. The preserve has some duplicate power tools such as brush cutters so Alec and I have been able to go out and work cutting invasive plants separately. Although all of our spring programs including volunteer days have been cancelled, we still have a couple exciting projects yet to be announced in the works; you’ll read about it here second (after the official press releases have gone out). And we’re working on ways to share the beauty of the preserve with you through photos and videos that you can enjoy from home.

Best wishes to you all.