Peak leaf season has begun in Vermont, coloring our forests red, orange, and yellow. The temperature is slowly cooling down, but is still quite enjoyable. This week’s animal-to-find was the gray squirrel; an animal that is currently gathering lots of nuts to store for the winter. hey were tricky hiding in trees and blending in with the leaves too. We found all 24 and enjoyed some time playing in the leaves before morning meeting. 

Wednesday our morning meeting leader wanted to go back to Peeper Pond and play there! The sun was out and shining, a perfect day for the Peeper Pond. We had snack in the garden and then began our journey down to the pond. At the pond we played hide and seek in the sumac, we spread milkweed seeds in the wind and ran playing tag too. We had so much fun playing in the tall grass and finding some cool nature things. We noticed a round part on a goldenrod and we learned that it is from an insect laying legs in the stem and the larvae growing. Once it has grown it will eat its way out and live outside, this is called a gall. We hiked back up for lunch and stories and finished our day playing in the garden and having thank you circle. 

Friday’s group had another one of our Audubon members, Emily Calder, swap in for Emily Kaplita for the day. Emily C was so excited to sub in and see some familiar faces and meet new friends too. The group went to Mossy Rocks to free-play where we also collected different colored leaves and flipped logs in search of salamanders and other small animals that live underneath. To finish the week off, the class formed a gigantic pile of leaves and took turns diving inside. No better way to end a week!