EarthBeat - Spring 2016

G.L.O.B.E. Program Ebersole Center is now enrolled in eScrip to assist with fundraising for items outside of our regular operating budget.

The eScrip program is a system that rewards customer loyalty by contributing a percentage of purchases made by participating families to school or youth based groups. Parents, teachers, friends and families are encouraged to register their grocery club cards, and existing credit and debit cards as supporters.

A percentage of all purchases made at eScrip merchants will be given back to our designated, registered group, Ebersole Center. Participating merchants then contribute each time our registered friends makes a purchase using their registered cards. There are no receipts to collect, no vouchers or certificates to buy, no hassles for you and every purchase counts.

Through a partnership with the Lansing School District bi-lingual department and the City of Lansing’s Refugee Development Center, Ebersole Center is again hosting the G.L.O.B.E. program (Gaining Learning Opportunities through Better English) this summer—for the seventh year in a row!

During four weeks each summer, up to 80 students attend the GLOBE program. Three weeks are spent in Lansing in a day camp setting, and one week is spent in residence at Ebersole Center. While here at the Center, students participate in all sorts of fun classes and exciting activities. Classes include pond study, team building, forest ecology and exploration, healthy snacking and drinking, how to properly address letters and post cards, as well as working on language and communication skills. Students also participate in activities including canoeing, archery, fishing and crafts.

Evening activities include a campfire cookout, a dance and a talent show.

One of the many highlights of the program is a day trip to Lake Michigan.

Most of these students have never had the opportunity to see a Great Lake in person, so this is a very exciting time. At the Lake, students take a long hike and study dune ecology. The afternoon is spent enjoying some free time playing on the beach, building sand castles, swimming and playing frisbee and football. We are honored to be able to continue this incredible program, and all of us here on staff look forward to it every year.

Visit eScrip.com to register.

Enter our Group I.D. #500824600 or find us listed as Ebersole Environmental Education Center. You can also register your credit and debit cards for online purchases at eScrip merchants and a percentage of your purchases will be automatically contributed to the Center by the participating merchant.

You and your family shop, and Ebersole Center earns dollars.

It’s that easy!

Funds will be used to provide much needed supplies and materials for our students and visiting groups.

For more information, merchant lists, or to sign up for eScrip, please visit www.escrip.com.

V E R N O N D . E B E R S O L E E N V I R O N M E N TA L E D U C AT I O N A N D C O N F E R E N C E C E N T E R

SPRING 2016

�During their week at the Ebersole Center, GLOBE program students participate in activities including canoeing, archery, fishing and crafts.

Evening activities include a campfire cookout, a dance and a talent show. One of the many highlights of the program is a day trip to Lake Michigan. Most of these students have never had the opportunity to see a Great Lake in person, so this is a very exciting time!�

Naturalist’s Corner Technicolor Wonder—the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) Male Scarlet Tanagers are among the most blindingly gorgeous birds in an eastern forest in summer, with blood-red bodies set off by jet-black wings and tail. They’re also one of the most frustratingly hard to find as they stay high in the forest canopy singing rich, burry songs. The yellowish-green, dark-winged females can be even harder to spot until you key in on this bird’s chick-burr call note. In fall, males trade red feathers for yellow-green and the birds take off for northern South America.

HABITAT

SIZE & SHAPE Scarlet Tanagers are medium-sized songbirds with fairly stocky proportions. They have thick, rounded bills suitable both for catching insects and eating fruit. The head is fairly large and the tail is somewhat short and broad.

COLOR PATTERN In spring and summer, adult males are an unmistakable, brilliant red with black wings and tails. Females and fall immatures are olive-yellow with darker olive wings and tails. After breeding, adult males molt to female-like plumage, but with black wings and tail.

BEHAVIOR Primarily insectivorous during the summer, Scarlet Tanagers also eat fruit during migration and on the wintering grounds. They spend much of their time skulking among the wide leaves of deciduous trees in the forest can-

opy, where they are hard to see. They sing a burry, rambling song and give a distinctive, harsh chick-burr call. Scarlet Tanagers are strong fliers, making swift, direct flights and migrating long distances in fall and spring. Males arrive early on their breeding grounds to defend loose territories that include mating, nesting, and foraging areas.

Territorial singing battles sometimes can escalate to confrontations, where one or both males spread and droop their wings and raise their tail in threat. If neither backs down, the standoff culminates in one male chasing another. Scarlet Tanagers are monogamous within each breeding season but switch mates from year to year. Parents feed their young for up to two weeks after the birds fledge, and then the family disperses before migrating. On wintering grounds Scarlet Tanagers join up with other species in foraging flocks.

Scarlet Tanagers breed in deciduous and mixed deciduous-evergreen forests in eastern North America. They are somewhat sensitive to habitat fragmentation, so look for them in large, undisturbed tracts of forest. During migration, they move through a broader variety of forest and shrubby habitats, as well as backyards. They nest in oak, pine-oak, oak-hickory, beech, hemlock-hardwood, and occasionally pure eastern hemlock forests.

In Canada they sometimes extend into boreal forests in stands of aspen, balsam poplar, and birch. Breeding Scarlet Tanagers prefer large forest tracts with large trees. During spring and fall they use similar forest habitats as well as open spaces such as parks and gardens.

When they arrive in the southern United States coast in early spring they feed in shrubby vegetation, grassy fields, and on the ground. Scarlet Tanagers winter in mature forests and forest edges in northern and western South America, mostly on hills and mountains. They range south as far as the Bolivian lowlands.

MEASUREMENTS (BOTH SEXES) Length 6.3–6.7 in 16–17 cm Wingspan 9.8–11.4 in 25–29 cm Weight 0.8–1.3 oz 23–38 g

FOOD

NEST PLACEMENT

Scarlet Tanagers eat mainly insects along with some fruit and tender buds.

Their invertebrate diet includes ants, sawflies, moths, butterflies, beetles, flies, cicadas, leafhoppers, spittlebugs, treehoppers, plant lice, scale insects, termites, grasshoppers, locusts, dragonflies, dobsonflies, snails, earthworms, and spiders. While searching for these tidbits they walk along branches high in the canopy or (rarely) along the ground, or vertically on tree trunks to probe the bark. Scarlet Tanagers perch or hover with fast wingbeats to grab insects from leaves, bark, and flowers, and they catch flying insects like bees, wasps, and hornets from the air. They swallow small larvae whole, but they kill larger prey by pressing it into a branch. In the winter, they forage in mixed-species flocks with woodcreepers, flycatchers, barbets, and tropical tanagers.

The female chooses the nest site, usually selecting a shaded spot within a cluster of leaves at a juncture of small branches. Nests are often fairly high (50 feet or more from the ground) on a nearly horizontal branch well away from the trunk. The site usually has an unobstructed view of the ground and open flyways from nearby trees.

Scarlet Tanagers tend to nest in mature deciduous trees such as maple, beech, and oak, but they also nest in eastern hemlock.

NEST DESCRIPTION The female gathers nesting material from the forest floor and builds a flimsy nest in 3–4 days, spending relatively little time on it each day. She drops material onto the nest, hops in, and molds it into shape by pressing her body against the sides and bottom, then getting out and weaving in loose ends. The nest is a loosely woven saucer of twigs, grasses, plant stalks, bark strips, rootlets, and pine needles. It has a shallow and asymmetrical interior space, lined with grass, fine rootlets, fine plant fibers, vine tendrils, and pine needles.

SONGS The male Scarlet Tanager sings a burry series of 4–5 chirruping phrases with a hurried quality. Many people liken it to the sound of a robin with a sore throat. He sings from an exposed perch to defend his territory, getting into singing wars with his neighbors. Females sing a similar song but more softly and with fewer syllables. Mates often sing together while foraging or while the female is gathering nesting material.

CALLS Both the male and female Scarlet Tanager give an energetic and very distinctive chick-burr. They also give a descending screech call when attacking intruders, a soft call that rises in pitch during courtship and nesting, a twittering call when feeding or flying together, and a nasal whistle when arriving at the nest with food.

N

ow is the time to watch for Scarlet Tanager. The bird typically starts departing its winter grounds in Panama and north- western South America in mid-to late February and makes its first appearance on the Gulf coast in late March. First arrivals at locations farther north follow apace: in southern Ohio around April 20-25, along Lake Erie the first week of May, in Ontario in early to mid-May, and in Minnesota in late May. The tanager migrates alone or in small flocks of warblers, thrushes, vireos, and other Neotropical migrants.

—BirdWatching magazine, April 2016, page 28

REFERENCES: Unless indicated otherwise, all content for this article was directly copied and pasted from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ScarletTanager

More Cool Scarlet Tanager Facts • During spring and summer, watch and listen for the Scarlet Tanager in mature deciduous forests in the East. If you can learn this bird’s distinctive chick-burr call note, it’s very useful for finding both males and females.

• Scarlet Tanagers visit many kinds of berry plants, including blackberries, raspberries, huckleberries, strawberries, and chokeberries.

• Scarlet Tanagers often play host to eggs of the Brown-headed Cowbird, particularly where the forest habitat has been fragmented. When a pair of tanagers notices a female cowbird approaching, they aggressively drive her away. If they don’t notice, the cowbird gets rid of a tanager egg and replaces it with one of her own. The tanagers apparently can’t tell the difference, either before or after the egg hatches, and they raise the imposter along with the rest of their brood.

• The oldest Scarlet Tanager on record was a male, and at least 11 years, 11 months old. He was banded in Pennsylvania in 1990, and found in Texas in 2001.

2ND ANNUAL

Ebersole Classic Saturday, August 20, 2016 Timber Ridge Golf Club 1 6 3 3 9 PA R K L A K E R D , E A S T L A N S I N G , M I 4 8 8 2 3

Shotgun Start - 9 a.m. $75 per player Fee includes: Golf, Cart, Range, Lunch, Best Ball Scramble, Men’s & Women’s Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin, and Door Prizes.

First Place Team wins four 18-hole passes to Timber Ridge.

Proceeds will provide scholarships to Lansing School District students attending the Ebersole Environmental Education Center.

For reservations or to become a sponsor, please contact: Donna Old at 517-349-0833 or Ken Jones at 517-575-7818

E B E R S O L E F O U N DAT I O N | P. O. B O X 4 8 0 2 , E A S T L A N S I N G , M I 4 8 8 2 3

C O N N E C T:

Backyard Science for Kids Kids bored? Nothing to do? Here are a few ideas you and your child can enjoy— and maybe even learn from—in your own backyard:

Plant something from a seed, water it, provide sunlight. As the plant grows, measure it, and record its growth. Sketch its development once a week. Talk about it.

Build a bird feeder, buy seed, borrow a field guide from the library to identify your birds. Record how many different birds visit your feeder. There are many websites that offer plans for easy do-it-yourself bird feeders that kids can make from recycled materials. Talk about it.

Give your child a magnifying glass or hand lens to more closely observe an insect, flower, or leaf. He/she will automatically use the magnifier to view other things – pine cones, rocks, feathers, tree bark.

Start a collection of these things. Identify, and label them. Talk about it.

Use your imaginations to build a fort. Use an old blanket, a sheet, a cardboard box, a few boards, whatever. Pack a lunch for your child and his/her friends or you and your child to share in the fort. Make plans for activities and games that can take place in and around the fort.

Talk about it.

Camp out overnight in your own backyard. Roast hotdogs and toast marshmallows for s’mores over a campfire or a small grill. Observe the stars, the moon, lightning bugs, listen to the night sounds. Talk about it.

Without a doubt, your child will develop an interest in nature and the outdoors. But what your child will remember MOST is the time spent with you and the talking about it.

What’s Cookin’?

German Breakfast Pancake This pancake grows up the sides of the pan and forms an amazing, thick, crepe-y pancake just yearning to be filled with all of your favorite ingredients. You will be amazed at how it looks when it comes out of the oven. Be sure to use a hot, large pan and the magic will happen.

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

2/3 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cup whole milk 3 large eggs 2 T granulated sugar Pinch of salt 4 T unsalted butter (room temp) ¾ cup blueberries (optional) ¾ cup apples (optional) ¾ cup raspberries (optional) Toasted almonds (optional) Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400˚. Heat a 10” cast-iron skillet in the oven.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the milk, eggs, granulated sugar and salt. Remove the skillet from the oven. Add the butter and swirl to melt, then pour in the batter. Return the skillet to the oven and bake the pancake until set and the edges are golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Top with berries and almonds, or apples and cinnamon, and dust with powdered sugar.

Serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

Lansing School District Summer School This year, the Lansing School District will provide extended learning programs to students during the summer months. Students in 4th-6th grades will have opportunities to enroll in these project based learning experiences which will include a 3 day, 2 night stay at the Ebersole Center. The purpose of the program is to engage Lansing School District students during the summer months with enriching educational opportunities. We are very excited about this new program and are looking forward to hosting students and teachers this summer!

Scholarship winners Thanks to the generosity of the Ebersole Center Foundation, we were once again able to offer scholarships to Lansing School District Schools. This spring, eight classes were awarded funds to assist with their trips to Ebersole Center. The winning schools included Lansing STEM Academy, Kendon Elementary, Mt. Hope STEAM, Gardner Academy, Wexford Montessori, and Sheridan Road STEM.

Congratulations to all of our scholarship winners! We look forward to seeing you and your students here at Ebersole this spring!

Amazon.com wish list Ebersole Center has a wish list on the popular Amazon.com site. You can view the wish list at http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist.

Once on the site, locate ‘‘Find a List or Registry’’ and type in Ebersole Environmental Education Center in the box beneath it. Make sure to spell it all out correctly or you won’t get to the right page. On the wish list you will find all sorts of items, big and small; everything from life jackets to bags of birdseed to washers and dryers. Check it out and see if there are any wishes you would like to fulfill. Thanks in advance for any and all support!

Make your reservations for next year now!

Ebersole 2016-17 program dates fill up fast! Join the elite group of educators that have found the value of an outdoor environmental education program at the Ebersole Center.

If you haven’t gotten your reservation for next year, give us a call or send us an email, we still have dates available. If you have never experienced an environmental education program with your class or school and would like to learn more, please visit our website at http:/ ebersole.lansingschools.net or contact us at (517) 755-5000, (269) 792-6294 or ebersole@ lansingschools.net.

Please LIKE Ebersole at www.facebook.com/EbersoleCenter.

It’s a great way to stay in touch and be alerted to the many upcoming programs and special events at the Center!