Update

Well things have been very busy here (hence my lack of blog posting). Two weeks ago we had an amazing class on bird language with Dan Gardoqui. As a result I have been living the life of a nerdy birder running around with binoculars trying to identify birds, their songs and most importantly trying to figure out why they are doing what they are doing. I knew about 10 or 15 birds before this class and now I know over 50 by sight and song and I'm learning more every day. This land has so much variety in vegetation that it is perfect habitat for tons of birds. A few of the cool birds that I didn't know exist but now I see/hear everywhere include: the blue winged warbler, black and white warbler, wood thrush, magnolia warbler, black throated green warbler, catbird, northern oriole, common yellowthroat, american goldfinch, yellow warbler, song sparrow, chipping sparrow and the list goes on. I was even lucky enough to sneak up and touch a chipping sparrow while it was on a feeder by the house. I guess that is cheating since it was on the feeder but it was still pretty fun.

So that class happened a week before last and this past week I spent on a survival trek. I decided that I wanted to do the trek by myself and face those struggles that come with being alone in the woods. It was a great experience and I was blessed with some very valuable life lessons. There is a quote about tracking that I like. It goes: "An animal is an instrument being played by the landscape." This is true for people too except our landscape is usually very comfortable, easy and safe. We don't have to worry about being cold at night or a coming rainstorm or finding food. By leaving that comfortable place and living in a dynamic setting I had to constantly be present and problem solving. It also demanded an intense level of physical endurance and strength. Anyway living in a more difficult interactive setting made me feel really good and like nature was pushing me towards my potential as a human being. I think I want to take a short survival trek every couple of months to be reminded of that potential and to be brought back to reality. I have pictures that I will add later but for now here is our bird language group. We had alot of really great and knowledgeable people here.

Tracking Week

We had a fun and succesful week of tracking in the woods around camp, the Albany Pine Bush, and the Adirondacks. One of my favorite excercises was making a foot print in a tire track and then using our fingers to restore the tire pattern, causing our tracks to dissappear. Another highlight was seeing this baby Great Horned Owl on the side of a cliff.

Snapping Turtles look like rocks

Can you see the snapping turtle in this picture? If you need a hint, Joe is working hard to stare it into submission. We took a trip to the Mohawk river to look for pieces of Basalt to use as ax or adz heads and we nearly walked right by this snapping turtle. It was sluggish from the cold so we were able to pick it up and have a look-see. Despite the snow flurries we have had lately spring is really almost here this time. The little coltsfoot flowers are popping out along with willow buds and wild leeks. Soon the honey suckle leaves are going to open and we won't be able to see anything but green. I added an updated picture of my sit spot before all the leaves come out so that we can compare in a couple weeks and see if it is even recognizable.

Gone fishin'

It is 40 degrees and rainy today but we did get one beautiful warm day last week so we took that opportunity to go fishing. I didn't have any luck but Ric caught a very nice brown trout. I think it measured at 16 inches or so. He was kind enough to let us students eat it and it was delicous. Below are pictures of D'Arcy with our fish, the remains of the fish, and a sunset after a nice day.

Finished Celt!

The Celt is finally finished. The handle was a little greener than I thought and as it dried it started to split so I wrapped it with wet rawhide. The rawhide shrinks as it dries and holds pretty tight. I'm happy with how it came out and it chops really well. I expect it to be a formidable foe for a couple saplings this spring.

Arrow making and hide tanning

Here are some pictures of an arrow I made and the hide I'm working on. The shaft of the arrow is Nannyberry. I found it standing dead- all seasoned and ready to go. The point for the arrow I knapped out of local silt stone. The fletching is from turkey feathers and I wrapped it all with artificial sinew. It is a bit clunky but I think it will work as a quick survival arrow. The hide is almost finished but it is stiff in a few spots so I'll need to keep working on it. We "tanned" it with a bark solution using oak, walnut and hickory bark. These trees have an especially high amount of tannic acid in the bark which we use to balance the pH and it also turns the hide a pretty brown color. Once my hide is soft we will smoke it which will turn it even darker.

Celt

The Spring Semester has officially begun although it doesn't quite feel like spring yet. We have been working on buckskin and discussing spring survival strategies. I've also been working on my bow and a stone ax called a "Celt". The hole in the handle is tapered so that the top and bottom of the stone wedges in. The sides of the stone don't touch the handle because if it did then it would split the wood. All that is left now is to thin and sand down the handle.