Discovery Southeast is offering a Discovery Day for children aged 7-12 who have off from school on Monday, November 21. 

Join naturalist Kanaan Bausler and our AmeriCorps Christine Amor for a thrilling day of learning and exploring. We'll kick the day off at the Juneau Hunter Education Shooting Complex to learn some archery skills in the morning before heading out to investigate the areas around Montana Creek trail in the afternoon.

At one of last year's November Discovery Days, our group kept warm and even worked up a sweat building shelters...

What to bring: Children should come with a lunch, snack, water bottle, and weather-appropriate clothing to stay comfortable and happy outside. Discovery Southeast can also help outfit your child with rubber boots or raingear if needed -- just ask.

Prices: $35 per day for Discovery Southeast members, $40 per day for non-members. Scholarships available -- call 463-1500 to inquire.

Times/transportation: The day lasts from 9am to 3pm. We'll meet in the morning at the Hunter Education Complex at 5670 Montana Creek Road, and pickup will be at 3pm at Skater's Cabin. Due to road conditions, we will not be running the Discovery Southeast van, but we're teaming up with DSE partners to find alternative transportation options for those who cannot be dropped off at the Hunter Education complex at 9am that day.

Call 463-1500 to register, or download, fill out and return this registration form by faxing it to 463-1587 or emailing it to oed@discoverysoutheast.org.

Visit the Discovery Days page to see pictures from past days!

Have you been wondering about the winter season?

Swapped out your summer gear for the cooler months ahead?

 Let’s hope for a nice 2011-2012 winter with plenty of powder!

At Discovery Southeast we are not just concerned with running some great winter tracking programs, snowshoe adventures and checking out all that winter has to offer in the woods. We are looking forward to hosting the Backcountry Film Festival now in its 7^th year! The festival highlights the wonder, beauty, diversity and extreme fun of winter backcountry experiences.

 Whats Playing?

Best of the Festival: “Solitaire”, Sweetgrass Productions. Lost in the winds of snowbound badlands and the blizzards of primordial forests, Solitaire fuses western-inspired tales of backcountry gambles into landscapes never before visited on film. 

Best Short Award: “Chalk and Ski”, Produced by Chris Dicky and Purple Orange LLC, it’s a chalk-in-hand daydream about skiing and winter.

Best of the Backcountry Award: “Breaking Trail”, by Powderwhore. This backcountry epic highlights riders of all disciplines choosing their own adventures. 

Don’t worry; there are other film selections. . .

 ·        4o Tribes Kyrgyzstan

 ·        Berber Turns

 ·        Ski Bums Never Die

 ·        Winters of My Life

·        Seasons; Winter

·        Bike, Ski, Raft Denali Traverse

 Whether you wait patiently for snow to fall before you grab your skis, or are more of a good book and hot-chocolate lover, you will want to check out this years Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival.

When: Monday, January 23^rd, and Tuesday, January 24^th.

Where: Goldtown Nickelodeon

Mark your calenders and look forward to more information as January approaches! 

Have you ever wondered about the ocean's tides?

Did you know that tides are produced by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon?

Or that tides also occur on a smaller scale, in large lakes, the atmosphere, and within the solid crust of the earth? 

 Types of Tides

There are different types of tides. Extremely high and extremely low tides are called spring tides.

 These tides occur when the moon is full or new, and the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined and exceptionally strong.

 Neap tides occur when the sun and moon are not aligned, and the gravitational forces cancel each other out.

 These tides occur during the moon’s quarter phases- where the sun and moon are working at right angles. Here, there is a much smaller difference between high and low tides. 

The Proxigean Spring Tide is a rare SUPER high tide. It occurs when the moon is unusually close to the earth- in its New Moon phase (moon between sun and earth). 

Check out this diagram for a visual explanation! 

Let’s Celebrate! 

This year’s highest tide is on Thursday, October 27^th  at 1:46 pm. Get your cameras and check it out! Make sure you show off your new tide expertise when you do.

If you are interested in tides for the whole year, visit Juneau’s Tide Table.

Did you miss this month’s Discovery Days? No worries, we are offering the next Discovery Day on Monday, November 21st.

We ventured to the Eagle Valley Center on Monday for our first day of fun. Naturalist Kevin O'Malley led us through a backcountry adventure where we put together clues about the previous visitors along our trail. We learned about animal adaptations and saw some critters along the way. 

We also had lots of fun identifying all the edible plants that are still hanging around. We discovered many berries still among the muskeg, and learned about the difference between tasting and eating a mystery food in the woods. By the end of the trip we were basically experts, with the help of our naturalists and parent volunteers. 

We were really interested in all the exploration, but some of the time we were just checking out the local color. The changing fall foliage never fails to be delightful and refreshing. It is a much needed burst of color between Juneau’s fall rain and winter snow.

Have you ever wondered how and why the leaves fall and change colors? Why an alder’s leaf eventually turns to brown? Ask your children!  

It turned out that what we were finding all over the trees was Rag Lichen, a beautiful southeast addition. Did you know that rag lichens can be found everywhere from branches to twigs, but are often found on younger trees? We didn't . But we did know that it was pretty cool to touch these smooth and wrinkled lichens! 

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After an awesome Monday, we headed out to Eaglecrest with naturalist Cathleen Balantic, for some fun in the rain. 

When we say rain, we mean rain. Good thing we had the lodge to dry off in and catch a bite under shelter.. . Thanks Eaglecrest!

We also spent our time playing a new edible plants game, which focused on the plants that we may still find around town. Our newly found knowledge allowed us to feel confident in our foraging skills later in the afternoon. 

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If any of this sounds like fun, feel welcomed to join us at our next Discovery Day! Check out our album for snapshots of these great adventures. 

Call 463-1500 to sign up over the phone, or find our registration form at the Discovery Days section of our webpage. 

What created the silvery pattern on this cottonwood leaf?

We decided this was the work of a leafmining insect -- likely some kind of moth. These insects spend the beginnings of their lives feasting on leaf tissue, which gives them food and protection from predators all in one. Can you find the spot where this one exited the leaf (and probably pupated, if it was a moth)? We guessed that the exit spot was just to the left of that big vein in the center.

What happened to this raven?

You really never know what you'll find on a walk outside, and that's what keeps it interesting. Unexpectedly, we came upon this dead raven. Careful not to touch it, we snapped a few pictures of some very curious growths on the leg. We came up with a few theories about the growths: were they tumors... something caused by an infection... or something else? (Our naturalists are still doing some background investigation research on this phenomenon...)

What are the tiny circles on this log?

We identified this as "bird's nest" fungi. The "nest" serves as a splash cup, and the tiny "eggs" inside each fungus are reproductive spores that get launched out of the cup when a rain drop hits inside.

What else did we do?

After taking a lap around Sandy Beach to...

• Measure the water temperature (we recorded 44*F)
• Take pictures of the downward-creeping snowline on Mount Roberts and Mount Juneau (we'll compare them to future weeks)
• Practice identifying willow and cottonwood leaves, and
• Observe whether the tide was coming in or going out...

...we explored the Treadwell historic mining ruins and tried to visualize what the area might have looked like one hundred years ago. 

And then we tried to imagine two hundred. 

Can you?

***

The Early Dismissal Monday groups at Gastineau and Mendenhall River are small -- we have plenty of room for you. Interested in signing up? Call 463-1500, email oed@discoverysoutheast.org, or download a registration form. Scholarships are available. 

Oh, hi!

Were you wondering if we still have room in our Discovery Days programs next Monday and Tuesday? 

Tuesday is full, but there are a few spots left in the van for Monday's exciting excursion out the road to Amalga Meadows. Come explore, hike, play games outside, and hang out/warm up in the fantastic Eagle Valley Center lodge - we'll use it to take refuge from rain if we need to.

If you missed signing up during the work week, not to worry: We'll be checking email and voicemail messages over the weekend to fit you in last-minute. 

What to bring: Children should come with a lunch, snack, water bottle, and weather-appropriate clothing to stay comfortable and happy outside. Discovery Southeast can also help outfit your child with rubber boots or raingear if needed - please ask in advance.

Transportation: We'll shuttle kids in the Discovery Southeast van, with pickup and dropoff locations at Riverbend Elementary in the valley or Harborview Elementary downtown. For Monday's program, the dropoff/pickup times are:

Harborview: 8:30am/4:00pm

Riverbend: 9:00am/3:30pm

Call 463-1500 or email us to sign up.

Need a registration form? Download one here, fill it out, and bring it with you on Monday. We'll also have blank forms on hand for you at the van.

Check the Discovery Days webpage for more information.

Discovery Southeast is excited to thank our supportive members for all that they do. Our first meeting will include refreshments and a wonderful slideshow put together by Rick Bellagh, one of Discovery Southeast's naturalists.

Nature studies in Juneau would be impossible without our members. We encourage all members to join and celebrate Discovery Southeast's mission. Rick will be discussing his experiences running Wabi Sabi Organic Wilderness Farm on Shelter Island. This should be fantastic presentation!

Where: Juneau-Douglas City Museum

When: Monday, October 17th, from 7-8:30

What a wonderful way to learn about the amazing farming that is happening so close by!

Membership lapsed? Browse to our Get Involved tab on the right side of the website. You may also call 907-463-1500 for more information.

Discovery Southeast is offering two separate Discovery Days for children age 7-12 on Monday, October 17th and Tuesday, October 18th. (Those are both days off from school!)

On Monday: We will head out the road with naturalist Kevin O'Malley to explore autumn in the Amalga Meadows area and use the Eagle Valley Center lodge as a base.

On Tuesday: We strike out to Eaglecrest with naturalist Cathleen Balantic to enjoy a day discovering it's wild spaces at a time of year most people don't usually experience them, using the lodge as a warm-up spot. 

What to bring: Children should come with a lunch, snack, water bottle, and weather-appropriate clothing to stay comfortable and happy outside. Discovery Southeast can also help outfit your child with rubber boots or raingear if needed -- just ask.

Prices: $35 per day for Discovery Southeast members, $40 per day for non-members. Scholarships available -- call 463-1500 to inquire.

Transportation: We'll shuttle kids in the Discovery Southeast van, with pickup and dropoff locations at Riverbend Elementary in the valley or Harborview Elementary downtown.

Call 463-1500 to register, and visit the Discovery Days page for more information about pickup and dropoff times!

Community members are encouraged to come and support the need for children to be outdoors more.  Missions like these are extremely dependent on the support of our community, so even just stopping by to see what’s happening is great! The coalition started a couple of years ago with the idea that locals can promote getting youth outside for a variety of fun, recreational, and educational activities. There are a number of organizations and community members that participate, but we are trying to expand the coalition to include many more folks.

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