International Rock Flipping Day 2011, or...

a good excuse to celebrate nature! 

My 11 year old and I participated in the fifth annual event organized by some adventurous nature bloggers, and found plenty under rocks and logs, in ponds, and on the trails. I'm going to post the official Rock Flip Find on Flickr, as the frog above is much photogenic. Click over, and you'll see what I mean.  J. found several kinds of amphibians yesterday. I was surprised at the nice variety. The National Audubon Society Field Guide to New England, by Peter Alden, et al. (Knopf, 1998) came in handy when making the i.d.s.

We flipped and hiked at the Connecticut Audubon Society's Larsen Sanctuary, in Fairfield, CT. It's a beautiful spot. We heard turkeys, hawks, blue jays, and chipmunks, and saw a small herd of deer in addition to the critters that appear in the photos.

The blog Wanderin' Weeta has more details.  Also, check out the Flickr group page for more pictures. Others participating are listed below.

A Roving I will Go, Outside my Window, Rebecca in the Woods, Fertanish Chatter, Bug Safari,Growing with Science Blog, Wild About Ants, Powell River Books Blog, Meandering Washington, Cicero Sings, Via Negativa, Mainly Mongoose, Wanderin' Weeta, Rock, Paper, Lizard. (The Interpreter), Cabin Girl From Twitter: At Rattan Creek ff. From @gjesse on Twitter 

Comments

[Michele]

This is sooo flipping cool! I will have to look for that book at our library - my 11 year old son is a nature and insect fanatic - our freezer is overrun with frozen bugs as we speak. Here's to future entomologists! Have you read Children of Summer or any of Henri Jean Fabre books? Fantastic reads. Have you read Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods? A great read for us parents.

Thanks for the wonderful post!

xoxo michele

[Michelle]

Steve would have loved to participate in that!

[adrienne]

My godsons *love* flipping over rocks. There is a particular one in my front yard where they often find a toad that is so huge it is hard to imagine how he crawls under there.

[Susan T.]

Michele, now you'll have us running to the library, too! Yay. Thank you for the recommendations. I have read the Richard Louv but not the others. Sometimes I re-read Last Child in the Woods just to get inspired. I'm sure you guys know about Houghton Mifflin's Scientist in the Field books; they're fantastic.

AMT, I have so much fun documenting the goings on; we would love to have you and Steve along, too. Your creek would be fantastic for this project!

Adrienne, Aren't toads the greatest? They look wise to me. Frogs are more athletic, more swim-team kinda guys.

[rebecca]

Hooray for another rock-flipper finding amphibians! I confess that, nice though worms and beetles may be, I am always hoping for vertebrates when I flip my rocks.

[Susan T.]

Yay for amphibians! I was surprised at the variety we found. The best part of the day was just the time in the woods. So peaceful and pleasant.

Thanks for stopping by. Your photos at your blog are wonderful.