Crazy Year, Big Changes

This summer my family and I took an epic road trip through 18 states! We left Austin, TX and zig-zagged our way to the Maine coast and back. It was three weeks of exploring, hiking and visiting friends/family we never get to see. That was several months ago, and I'm finally getting around to looking at the SD cards to upload the observations we made!

It's been an intense year for us, both good and bad. Without warning, my dad passed away in February, then we were dealing with illnesses and surgery, finishing my Masters program, and everything else that comes with raising kids, commuting, etc. Our high hopes for 2016 were crushed so early in the year that our heads are still spinning. We've done a lot of thinking and decided to quit our jobs, sell the house, and move to New Hampshire. There are so many reasons to go, but a bonus is getting to explore all new terrain. I don't know the names of the trees, birds, plants, etc. We have so much to learn! I can't wait to get back to using iNat all the time again, as we learn more about our new home. <3

If anyone has any favorite New England spots to share... please do! As Texans, we have no problem driving 5 hours to see something. lol. I still can't get over how close everything is up there!

Posted on 30 de outubro de 2016, 08:31 PM by becca_nh becca_nh

Comentários

Wow! Changes indeed. Wishing you the best, Rebecca -- looking forward to seeing your observations from up north. Does it get cold there? ;)

There's a super active iNat community in the New England area: @charlie @erikamitchell @susanelliott @kpmcfarland are some of the iNat legends of the north. :)

Publicado por sambiology mais de 7 anos antes

New england is wonderful! Vermont has a huge and amazing iNat community, but New Hampshire is totally undersampled! Please do send me an @ for plant IDs if you want to, because i don't always follow NH, Vermont keeps my hands full.

Publicado por charlie mais de 7 anos antes

@sambiology Thanks! Yeah, I hear it gets chilly... but I'll believe it when I see it! ;)

@charlie That's awesome! Thank you so much! I'm anxious to explore Vermont & Maine also. Are there regular meet-ups or everyone just talks online? I was hoping there was a group similar to Texas Master Naturalists up there, but so far I haven't found anything for citizen science. Know anything about that??

Publicado por becca_nh mais de 7 anos antes

Don't know what NH Facebook pages are available, but Vermont has several (Vermont Birding, Vermont Butterflies, etc.). Native Plants of New England on FB is a great for getting help with ID and learning about native plants and also, Moths of the Eastern United States to name a couple.

Publicado por susanelliott mais de 7 anos antes

@susanelliott Thanks for the tip! I just added myself to a few nature groups through Facebook. :)

Publicado por becca_nh mais de 7 anos antes

yeah! It seems like Texas has regular meetups, which we don't do. (it sounds awesome but with a new baby i'd probably miss a lot of them anyway). A lot of stuff centers around Marsh-Billings national park parcel (historical national park?) and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. I don't know of anything similar in NH but you could start something, or at least a project. Maine is more active than NH and I think has some projects too.

Are you in the northern or southern part of the state? The southern part, at least at low elevations, is where most people live and that is much 'warmer' than most of Vermont, but the northern part is just as cold as the cold parts of Vermont. We get below zero several times a year and sometimes for extended periods, and most years in Montpelier, VT we get near or below -20 at least a few times. Last winter was weird and 'mild' and icy, i think this winter will be snowier. The snow is so fun!

Publicado por charlie mais de 7 anos antes

Southern NH (anything south of Concord) is firmly in the oak zone, unlike here in the Montpelier, VT area, where we're on the outer edges of where the oaks grow. If you wander in the woods of southern NH, you may get lucky and find some American chestnuts here and there. It seems there isn't much iNaturalist activity at all in NH--I have a few observations that I've made on weekends visiting my parents there in the summers. But iNaturalist really hasn't caught on yet amongst year-round resident naturalists. You could be the lead!

Publicado por erikamitchell mais de 7 anos antes

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