It Takes a Village...

Thank you to Nourish Juice Bar & Cafe for inviting TLC to be the beneficiary of their recent event on Friday, October 26th.  A great time was had by all as we sampled the seasonal brewing of Victory Village Beer and an array of foods that were prepared by Nourish Juice Bar & Cafe.  Attendees were also able to enjoy the live music from Jason Ager.  All proceeds benefit the mission of TLC. 

** Photos by Claire Murray

Francine Covelli (Nourish Juice Bar & Cafe)
and Steve Hackman (One Village Coffee)

A Beautiful Day

It is a beautiful Monday for a hike at one of TLC's Nature Preserves.  Visit our website to view the interactive trail maps created by TLC intern extraordinaire: Chad Hudson. 

Fall is the season of volunteers--we have a busy week ahead of us--and some fun to fill you in from our Friday night event at Nourish Juice Bar & Cafe.  Stay tuned to learn where we were and where we are going this week!!

Kettling Vultures

Have you ever seen a group of birds swirling about high in the sky?? This is referred to in birding circles as "kettling".  The birds are riding on the thermal updrafts in the sky and take on the appearance of water boiling in a pot hence the "kettle".  I can not say that I am reminded of water boiling in a pot, but I still think it is a neat sight.  Always make sure to observe all of the birds carefully, sometimes there is an unsuspecting bald eagle enjoying the ride on the thermal with various other bird species.  This previous blog post can help you to differentiate between the flight of the bald eagle and vultures.

While we were out monitoring conservation easements this past week we came across the kettling black vultures seen in this photograph. Notice the white tips-- black vultures have light feathers under their primaries that are referred to as "stars".  They have a terrible sense of smell, and typically will associate with their cousins, turkey vultures to lead them to carcasses.  Turkey vultures have a very highly developed sense of smell.  Eating carrion may not seem like your idea of fun but vultures and their food chain are an important part of our ecosystem!! Enjoy watching the birds ride the thermals...

Remember NOW IS THE BEST TIME IN HISTORY TO EASE YOUR LAND! If you are interested in permanently protecting your land, and taking advantage of all of the benefits associated with a conservation easement  please contact Gwen Lacy, Executive Director of TLC at director@tlcforscc.org or call 610-347-0347 ext 102. 

Seed Pods!

The blurry brown stalk in the
foreground is what caused
my excitement! (ignore the Garlic
Mustard in the background)

It seems like a strange use of an exclamation point, but I had to express how excited I was by this discovery.   While walking on the trails at Stateline Woods Preserve with some graduate students from the University of West Chester, I suddenly shrieked and dropped to the ground.  I can only imagine the look that they were giving each other until I explained while I was so excited (I'm sure they still did not quite get it, but sometimes it is the little things in life).  My excitement was caused by a lonely stalk jutting up from a nondescript leaf.  Sounds exciting right??

The leaf is the most striking feature of the plant.

Even though I missed the blooming of the  Aplectrum hyemale (Putty Root Orchid) it happened this year. The remaining stalk and seed pods were proof of the bloom.  This  persnickety native orchid does not have the most showy flower, in fact, you may miss it when it is blooming--I have never caught a Putty Root Orchid blooming (EVER!).  Typically the most distinguishing feature of the plant are the leaves which are present through the fall and winter months.  Slowly the leaves fade away, and the orchids that bloom will exhibit a flower in late spring to early summer.  Now that I have proof that at least one of the orchids in the population is blooming, I'm going to spend some time in the late spring/early summer of 2014 trying to capture that ever elusive bloom.  If you find it before me, please let me know!

TLC's Weekend on the Trails

This past Sunday, TLC led another invasive species clinic with an interested Home-Owners-Association. The focus of our clinic this month was Celastrus orbiculatus or Oriental Bittersweet.  We had a great turnout of kids and adults, all ready to help save some of the trees throughout their open space that were being inundated with vines. 

We cut the vines at chest height and again at ground level.  We chose to cut these vines in the fall when the leaves have turned yellow.  Cutting the vines when the leaves are yellow allows you to avoid the re-sprouting of the stump. This is the most efficient method of control for Oriental Bittersweet but if fall cutting does not fall into your schedule, there are other methods that exist.

If your Home-Owners-Association is interested in a hands-on invasive species clinic, please contact our Landscape Visionaries coordinator today: stewardship@tlcforscc.org or 610-347-0347 ext. 103 to set up your appointment.  

Camp Out at Bucktoe

Several families gathered together at the Bucktoe Creek Preserve this past Saturday for an October overnight camp out with The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County and the Delaware Nature Society. Tents, sleeping bags and s'mores were in an unlimited supply!

During the evening walk we were lucky to hear three Eastern Screech Owls and spot at least two of them! At times throughout the night we had a few glimpses of the bright moon, however, the clouds covered up our light source for most of the night so we relied on headlamps to guide us through the dark trails. With little sight involved our hearing senses sure became heightened as wildlife sounds filled the air.

Everyone warmed up and ate delicious s'mores by the bonfire until the drops of rain began to fall, which luckily coincided with bedtime. As our group discussed in the morning, it was rather nice falling asleep to the sound of rain hitting the roof of the tents. It subsided soon after, so we woke up to beautiful dry morning with the smell of cooked oatmeal and tea by the fire.

The event concluded with a hike along the southern side of the preserve checking out the historic sites, unknown animal dens and tracks, common trees and their beautifully changing colors and then leaving off with two red tailed hawks flying overhead.

There is nothing quite as refreshing as falling asleep and waking up to the sounds and smells of the wild natural world around you.

If you are interested in attending another event at Bucktoe Creek Preserve, check the calendar page or contact education@tlcforscc.org.

TLC's Friday Adventures

Today, TLC staff was lucky enough to be invited to take a tour of the Dansko office buildings, and the Dansko warehouse out in Jennersville.   We thought that our blog readers would be interested in learning about this wonderful business that is in our back yard.

When you first pull up to the office buildings, you'll see beautiful gardens around the parking lots.  They are not only pretty but functional in filtering all of the runoff from the buildings and parking lot into various systems that get reused throughout the property.  Only in very large storms--Hurricane Sandy size, does Dansko have runoff leave their property.  There is an amazing array of local artists who have sculptures throughout the parking lot and paintings and sculptures also line the walls of the interior.

When we entered the office building, the first thing that you see is the green wall.  Not only does it offer a spectacular diversity of plants, but was also the largest in the United States when it was built--Longwood Gardens drew their inspiration from Dansko's living wall.  The lobby also has a floor that is made of completely recycled and reused glass--this theme of re-purposed materials and supporting local efforts is a large part of Dansko's culture.  The offices were constructed in a way that used many recycled and local materials, and is highly energy efficient. 

They do all of their work in-house: Marketing, Design, Photo Shoots, Accounts Payable, IT work--including programming--if it is a function of Dansko's business--someone in our community is employed to handle it.  Everywhere you look throughout the building you see hints at how generous the business is throughout the community.  If you are familiar with TLC, you know how much Dansko supports our organization, but they give support to so many organizations in the county.  Above and beyond, they also care about their small and local retailers, in fact, the reason that you can't walk into a Dansko store anywhere in the United States (with the exception of the outlet in Jennersville) is because they want to help support local entrepreneurs and smaller stores throughout the country.  In addition to being so amazing and supportive both philanthropically and also among the local community--they just built an amazing warehouse!

The second leg of our tour involved the warehouse where we saw the robot operated system which helps to ease the shipping and handling process.  The machines help to bring shoes to the front of the warehouse


where they are packed, processed, and shipped by the Dansko employees.  In this case, technology has definitely not taken away jobs, but has helped to make the jobs of the employees much more efficient. 

After the tour, we did a little shopping--make sure to come out to one of our upcoming events to check out our new Dansko kicks.