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QUAIL RIDGE NEWSLETTERS 2008 - 2013
QUAIL RIDGE MONITOR Vol. 22: November 2011 - 2012
Dear QRWC Members, Supporters, and Friends,
What a wonderful year we have just experienced! Walks, matching funds, new land acquisitions, new members. We are continuing to move forward.
Besides our regular monthly walks, we had two Club Scout troops come to walks on Quail Ridge Reserve (QRR) to fulfill requirements for the Naturalist Badge (see e-mail letter below). I thought it would be of interest to our QRWC members to see just exacltly what topics we covered in our walks. It is impressive that the Scouts have such requirements for their 10 year-olds and impressive also that we are able to provide all this information on our guided walks.
Hello Frank,
Thank you for accommodating our group for your next guided hike on Saturday Sept. 15. The Cub Scouts are in the 10 year-old range and are working toward earning their Naturalist Badge. The various activities for the badges include the following:
- Watch for birds in your yard, neighborhood, or twon for one week. Indentify the birds you see and write down where and when you saw them.
- Learn about the bird flyways closest to your home. Find out which birds use these flyways.
- Learn to identify poisonous plants and venomous reptiles found in your area.
- Watch six wild animals (snakes, turtles, fish, birds or mammals) in the wild. Describe the kind of place (forest, field, marsh, yard, or park) where you saw them. Tell what they were doing.
- Give examples of a producer, a consumer, and a decomposer in the food chain of an ecosystem, one way humans have changed the balance of anature, how you can help protext the balance of nature.
- Identify a plant, bird, or wild animal that is found only in your area of the country. Tell why it survives only in your area.
- Learn about aquatic ecosystems and wetlands in your area. Discuss with your webelos den leader or activity badge counselor the important role aquatic ecosystems and wetlands play in supporting lifecyldes of wildlife and humans.
- Look around your neighborhood and identify how litter might be dangerous to the birds and other animals. Clean up the litter. Identify what else you might do to make your neighborhood safer for animals.
- Explain what natural resources are and why it's important to protect and conserve them. Make a poster that shows and explains the food chain. Describe to your den what happens if the food chain becomes broken or damaged. Learn about an endangered species. Make a report to your den that includes a picture, how the species came to be endangered, and what is being done to save it.
The boys are also learning about trees, so any information about tree species and benefit to wildlife and plants would be terrific.
I will be in touch over the next several days to provide you an updated head count.
Regards,
D.W. (Cub Scout Leader)
What do you get for your dollar? As we consistently emphasize in our communications and publicity, we have a wonderful, nearby area protected for research and education. This is great in and of itself, but for our members and supporters there are additional benefits, all of which are on our website:
--Monthly educational walks for your family and guests
--Virtual Science Field Trips for K-12 school science classes
--Personal events on the Reserve for you to schedule with a group, club,
school, etc. of
special interest to you
--Online-accessible web cameras to view the Reserve and its wildlife
--Member-hosted home dessert parties for fun and for networking for QRWC
and the
Reserve
--Access to QRWC’s Gift Boutique for unusual items relating to the Reserve,
and nature in general (go to www.quailridge.org/boutique.htm for the full listing)
In addition to our Conservancy outreach programs, the UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) has also been moving forward. The following is a summary of highlights of the UCNRS activities from the past year at QRR, sent to Frank Mauer in early November by Shane Waddell of the Davis unit of the UCNRS.
If you would like more detailed information on any of this research, contact Frank below at the bottom of this page.
I would like to take the opportunity here to remind everyone that your QRWC membership and donations, small or large, help support the basic expenses associated with our educational outreach, not to mention the expenses of land acquisition for the Reserve; and that all of the time and energy it takes to run our programs and quided walks have been donated freely for well over two decades. Please consider increasing your membership level and/or making an additional donation this year. We are still working to match a gift of $24,000 that we received last year from a generous donor.
Please come on one of our regularly monthly walks (click here for link to activities schedule) or arrange your own special walk; or support a virtual field trip for a local school since few schools today have funds for field-trip buses. Other ways of supporting the Conservancy's work include making a holiday gift purchase or two from our Gift Boutique (click here for link to boutique); donate an old vehicle; and use your Nugget or SaveMart scrip cards as you check out at these grocery stores -- by just swiping these cards, QRWC receives a 1-3% donation for the amount of your purchase. Let us know if you need additional cards, perhaps for a friend to use. Finally, do not forget our Escrip program, using your credit card for purchases with a consderable number of participating vendors.
All of you have helped over the past 2+ decades to create and maintain our beautiful Quail Ridge Reserve, but we still have work to do and need your continued support. We are always ready to serve you by sharing the Reserve with you as we have done with the Cub Scouts (though you may not be in need of a badge!).
We look forward to hearing from you. Have a productive and happy holiday season 2012.
Frank W Maurer, Jr.
Executive Director, QRWC
530-219-4477; frankmaurer41@gmail.com Website: www.quailridge.org
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e-mail: frankmaurer41@gmail.com
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