September/October 2013 Trailblazer
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Oregon Ridge Nature Center Council 13555 Beaver Dam Road NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION Cockeysville, MD 21030 U.S. POSTAGE PAID PARKTON, MD PERMIT NO. 120 Return Service Requested SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2013 Supporting Oregon Ridge Park TRAILBLAZERand Nature Center for 31 years Is YourCurrent? Membership ys ar H a e appy D in . H a ere Ag THE BUZZ IS . WINNY TAN CONFIRMED AS HONEY DAYS ARE BACK, TOO! DIRECTOR/NATURALIST Honey Harvest Festival 2013 RENEW Exactly one year ago, the front page of the Trailblazer OREGON RIDGE NATURE CENTER COUNCIL October 5 and 6 , 11 AM to 4 PM featured our Honeybee, wearing a slightly worried expression and pulling along a sign that said, “The Times They Are NOW! A’Changin!” As it turned out, the sign was a bit more prophetic LOW, YEARLY DUES: Our Honeybee returns, sporting a smile this year, thanks to all things temporary becoming permanent. Along with our than expected! This was a year of the good, the bad and the • Individual $15 interim Director becoming our official Director, last year’s ugly, depending on one’s perspective. Interim Director Winny • Family $20 • Seniors/Students $12 temporary Honey Harvest date is now back to its traditional Tan faced unexpected staff changes, some unique public • Lifetime $150 first weekend in October. incidents in the park, the loss of some friends and lovable Join the Central Maryland Beekeepers, the ORNC staff, critters, tensions between council and county, even a bout of MEMBERS RECEIVE: and the Council volunteers for a good time learning about appendicitis and a series of rabies shots — all of which ended TIG for the best, but required careful steering. By stepping up and GET HT • Bimonthly newsletter bees, beekeeping, and honey. Honey Princess 2013, 19-year- WI IN NOW TH JO ! • Member discounts on all programs very N old Emily Campbell from Aitkin, MN, will give hive demos navigating through what can be only nicely described as a AT • Priority mailing of seasonal calendar U challenging year, Winny earned a promotion to the position RE! • First option for camp registration and talk about the importance of honeybees, the versatility of • 10% off Gift Shop purchases $30+ honey, and the diverse demographics of beekeeping. Enjoy of Director/Naturalist for the Oregon Ridge Nature Center. • “Members Only” events demonstrations by a wool spinner, blacksmith, and Civil War Following in the path of Bob Stanhope, Kirk Dreier, and Re-enactors. There will be music, food and fresh pressed cider, Courtney Peed, Winny Tan begins her journey more seasoned Full Name ________________________________________________________________ lots of gift items to take home, face painting, puppet shows, and ready to take the helm. Address ________________________________________ State _____ Zip _________ crafts, a petting zoo, and wares from interesting vendors. Luckily, good prevailed over bad and ugly. Winny has a Attending the Honey Harvest Festival has become a family long list of achievements this year. When asked of what she Phone _____________________ Email ________________________________________ tradition for many. Why not start a new tradition with your Continued on Page 5 family this year! MJS Checks to ORNC Council, 13555 Beaver Dam Road, Cockeysville, Maryland 21030 410 887-1815 [email protected] www.oregonridgenaturecenter.org Oregon Ridge Nature Center and Park Council, 410-887-1815; www.oregonridgenaturecenter.org; TDD/Deaf 410-887-5319 Page 2 Sept/Oct 2013 Sept/Oct 2013 Page 11 TWO WILD AND CRAZY RIDGIES ORNC COUNCIL SPEAKER SERIES CHORUS LESSONS Bella Possidente and Zoe Applebee If waking up to the sound of the dawn chorus, FREEBIRD with a degree in economics, but no defined career path, Bella and Zoe aren’t really crazy, but they are wild about I leap from my bed and rush downstairs to the deck he put his imagination to work. A life-long passion for animals. That’s why they are two of our best Ridge Runners. Photographer Middleton Evans photography, ignited by a Ridge Runners are a group of teens between the ages of 13 And watching hushed and exuberant listen September 16, 7:30 PM semester abroad in London, and 18, who volunteer weekly to care for our animals, educate To the Carolina Wren teaching her newest batch was parlayed into a two- visitors to the Center, and help with special events. This The rudiments of singing the song they will be repeating year photographic odyssey special group of young adults is necessary to the successful For the rest of their lives, teakettle, teakettle, teakettle Over the past 15 years, Maryland photographer through Maryland, with operations at Oregon Ridge. Our animals depend on them. They refuse; they like better tea, tea, tea Middleton Evans has made more than 50 trips to hopes of being published. premier wildlife sanctuaries across North America, In 1988 a family business And if the Towhee is off in the woods teaching her latest in search of amazing encounters with a great array of was launched to realize Batch their song, drink your tea waterbirds in pristine habitats. During this narrated that dream, and Maryland They refuse; they like better your tea slide show, Middleton will share favorite images from in Focus was released to his most compelling trips, detailing the trials and celebrate the compelling And the Robins are skating like Russian dancers tribulations of wildlife photography. Highlights include subjects encountered along On the sidewalk this sunny spring morning nesting Reddish Egrets and Roseate Spoonbills on the his travels. Over the years, Texas Coast, wintering Bald Eagles in Homer, Alaska, a Middleton has published And if I happen upon a gaggle of pink plastic Flamingos tropical seabird paradise off Mexico’s Pacific Coast, and 6 books, as well as bird Dancing in a circle, dipping and bowing to each other the stunning King Eider duck on the high Canadian brochures and calendars. Arctic. Maryland images will be included, especially He still loves to explore and I am reminded of Henry David Thoreau remarking from Patterson Park, Baltimore’s waterbird hot spot. photograph nature in his That he never knew how much was going on Middleton will also have a book signing for Rhapsody in hometown of Baltimore, In Heywood’s meadow. Blue, his latest coffee table book of bird photography. especially his favorite locale — Patterson Park. To read more Middleton began his professional career within a week about Middleton Evans, go to: www.ravenwoodpress.com. Edith Maynard of graduating from Duke University. Returning to Baltimore MJS Bella Possidente (left) loves taking care of all of the animals. (Past ORNCC President) Her favorite job is feeding the snakes. She especially likes the young corn snake and enjoys playing with it when she is on known as seasonal or ephemeral pools, are isolated waterbodies PRICELESS PONDS FOR duty. Bella is home-schooled, is becoming accomplished at the that fill in spring from rain and melting snow, and then dry out THREE SEASONS piano, draws, and enjoys her cats Smoochie, Noel, and Tiger. in summer’s heat. Though they may appear to be an eyesore She also has a fish named Erika. Bella says the best thing about Professor H. Eugene Wingert to some, in reality they provide a critical habitat for breeding being a Ridge Runner is that “you get to pretty much play October 21, 7:30 PM amphibians, producing the greatest vertebrate biomass in the with certain animals for the whole time, IF you finish your forest. They are widely recognized by environmentalists and jobs.” If others want to become a Ridge Runner, she would Vernal ponds are a crucial component of our natural ecologists for their unique role in the landscape, their valued say that it’s really fun since you get to talk to people and learn legacy, providing habitat for a distinctive set of species wetland function, and their contribution to the propagation about animals. adapted to seasonal wet of plants and animals of special concern. Zoe Applebee (right) wanted to become a Ridge Runner and dry periods such Professor Wingert is a longtime expert to help pursue her dream of becoming a zoologist. Her favorite as wood frogs, spotted in Northeast flora and fauna, as well as job is feeding the animals because she likes to see how they react and mole salamanders, science education, and teaches in several to food. This way she learns what they like and how to feed spring peepers, and the Dickinson departments, including biology, them better in the future. She remembers a moment when she delicate fairy shrimp environmental studies and education. He is a was thawing out mice and one of the frozen mouse’s head fell (photo). Gene Wingert, contributing faculty member to Dickinson’s off. She knows that is all part of working at the nature center. Environmental Science/ Center for Sustainability Education’s Valley The corn snake is her favorite animal because it is beautiful and Biology Professor at and Ridge Study Group, which helps very sweet. Zoe is also home-schooled, likes to sing and play Dickinson College, will professors from all divisions incorporate guitar, watch Animal Planet and Anime, play video games, give a presentation on the sustainability elements into their curricula. and hang out with friends. She wants to encourage others to critical need to preserve The focus of this group is decidedly local. become Ridge Runners and pursue their dreams. vernal ponds because of “Biology has to be down home,” Wingert You can be a Ridge Runner, too. Call Winny at the Nature the important role they play in our ecosystem. says. “You have to learn how to appreciate your own backyard Center if you want to join these wild and crazy nature lovers.