The Naturalist Notebook

With even less coercing, Rutabaga was talked into yet another creative holiday craft! With slight patience, we created beautiful fancy bows out of non-recyclable chip bags and you can too!   Terracycle is a national recycling system for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste. Anyone can sign up for these programs, called the Brigades, and start…

It was with a tiny bit of hesitation that I agreed to make a wreath. It is with no hesitation that I can now say, an hour later, wrangling a 15 foot grapevine into a compact circle, tying Spruce and Pine needles around it, and adorning the thing with additional herbal accessories is really quite…

Here it is again, friends.  Arriving as planned.  Winter is coming, it has inched its way in, starting with a few overnight frosts and cold rains.  The daylight hours grow scarce, the sun gets a little weaker.  Old leaves sink a little further into the ground.  The hiking trails around Shaver’s Creek have become lovely…

The Green Team here at Shaver’s Creek is dedicated to finding ways to conserve resources and divert garbage that goes to landfills.  This year, we got rid of our trash dumpster in favor of sorting ALL of our commodities so that they can be recycled or composted.  The results of our efforts are obvious from…

As another leaf falls and fades away, so does the memories of another Fall Harvest Festival. Although this years’ Fall Harvest Festival is a result of many years of refining, various autumn, harvest, or Halloween celebrations have been going on at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center for over 20 years. To say the least, I think…

With October’s rainy days, autumn is in full swing: trees have turned into pockets of rust, crimson, and yellow on the mountain.  White pines drop their needles that are more than one or two years old.  The mornings are getting chilly, promising colder and slower days coming up.  As the month stretches on, the insects…

Shaver’s Creek was back on WTAJ-TV’s Central PA LIVE twice this week. On Wednesday afternoon, Joshua Potter was back on for another installment of The Naturalist Notebook, talking about changes in the plant world in autumn: http://bit.ly/NaturalistNotebook_02 Last night, Environmental Education Intern Ryan “River” Elliott stopped by the CPL studios to carve some pumpkins and…

Come on out to the Fall Harvest Festival this weekend at Shaver’s Creek and enjoy some great fall fun! The majesty of this year’s fall is in full serenade as the winds are whistling through the newly bare tree limbs and familiar crunch is back underneath walking feet. I have officially had my first cup…

No, wait, that’s not quite right – it’s a great time to be a Wildlife & Fisheries student. For the past two days, students from WFS 310 have been getting their feet wet in the water of Shaver’s Creek for a herp survey!  (If you’re not familiar with the term, “herp” is short for herpetology,…

Check out this brand new show, Central PA Live, which airs weekdays from 4-5 PM on WTAJ-TV. Shaver’s Creek’s Raptor Center was featured yesterday!   PETERSBURG, HUNTINGDON – Just outside of State College, just over Pine Grove Mountain, Penn State’s Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center is home to 23 raptors. Shaver’s Creek cares for injured birds,…