Happy Holidays From HHNM Executive Director Tom Bregman

Dear Friends,

As I pen this note the season’s first snowflakes are visible through my office window, drifting sideways on the wind and settling gently onto the stubble of our east field. Soon the ground beneath will harden, the last leaves will be blown from their branches, the grass will turn the color of straw, and our ponds will freeze over with a skin of black ice.

Later in December the winter solstice will arrive. That day will be shorter than all others, but on next morning a six month cycle of steadily increasing sunlight will lead to the summer solstice and longest day of the year. Darkness to light. That is the way of the seasons, the way of nature and the way of the Nature Museum.

Now it is once again the time of year when I ask you to consider making a donation to our Year End Appeal. Every single contribution will go towards supporting our programs and the children we serve. Please take a moment to watch this short video showing how we used your past donations to support education and play over the past twelve months. Then, if you're able, make a donation in support of nature education and play today.

Click here to view our Annual Report

Click here to view a list of our Donors & Supporters

Season’s greetings and thanks from our staff and trustees.

Tom Bregman
Executive Director

Leaf Art

This is one our favorite Fall time art projects. Once the leaves are on the ground, most of the time they are not given a second look. But this activity allows for you to look for the beauty in what is seen as an ordinary abundance of fallen leaves. Leaf Art lets creativity flow because you can create whatever your mind can think of. It helps with both fine and gross motor skills- when hunting for leaves, and when making your creations. The leaves in their various shapes and colors makes for an incredible canvas. For this a activity, all you will need are some leaves and other natural maters if you so choose, a piece a recycled paper, glue or tape, scissors, and markers and paint if you so choose. After taking a walk to collet your natural items, lay them out on the paper to start creating. Once you are happy with your layout- secure them with your adhesives. Some people like to glue as they go which is fine too! #TogetherOutside

ODC Receives TLC

The ODC has been buzzing with activity lately, and this time we’re not talking about insects! Several improvement projects were put in motion this Summer, finishing just in time for the new School Year! We are so thankful to have such a generous community working hard to help us make sure we are putting our best foot forward.

The work began with some much needed arboreal cleanup on Maple Lane where we host part of our popular Maple Sugar Tours. New York Tree Masters cut down the dead and dying trees, ground the stumps, and then donated and delivered woodchips and logs for other projects. On that same wonderful note, the amazing crew at Beckley Trees, in addition to helping with some emergency tree work, also kindly donated wood chips and logs for our many projects!

Speaking of wood, the decks located behind the Stillman Barn were both in dire need of repair. Smith Painting and Contracting completely replaced the deck above the Dino Pit and re-secured the two story deck behind the Learning Center Classroom/Admin Offices. They also painted the back exterior barn wall and replaced its broken window. It addition to all of that, HHNM Trustee Dave Work, his son Braden, Erik Denega, and Dean DeGennaro did and amazing job in constructing and rehanging the gorgeous rebuilt barn doors, the results of which are truly stunning.

The next time you visit Grasshopper Grove (maybe this weekend !?) you will be greeted by a lovely sight --with hard work from Foley Landscaping, the entirety of the fencing and interior areas of GG have been weeded, leaving behind only native plants! In addition, the roof of the Stillman Pavilion was repaired, along with the beloved Grasshopper Grove gate by Gabe Carella. In addition, Simon Gruber replaced the foot bridges, and circular bench. Outside of the Grove, he also helped re-do the Mud Kitchen behind the Farmhouse, painted the Learning Center back wall, and repaired the propane tank fencing.

Staff members worked hard to clean out old and unusable items from the barn that had long taken up valuable space. County Waste donated a roll off dumpster, and then provided a second roll off dumpster for the construction debris from our other improvements at a very discounted rate.

The projects were certainly bolstered with help from staff members including Director of Operations Robert Lipkin, and his wonderful crew made up of Al Perotti and Mike Heubach. The work was completed during normal nature museum operations, and there was no interruption to our programs and exhibitions during the course of renovation. We hope you can come check out all of the wonderful improvement projects around HHNM for yourself soon!

-By Joanna Marvel with information provided by Robert Lipkin

A Rare Visit from a Moon Moth

When I walked out of my house early this morning, I was thrilled to see something that I had never seen in real life before…a Luna Moth! Luna Moths are not rare, but are rarely seen by humans. This is due to their very brief (7–10 day) adult lives and nocturnal flying time. As with all giant silk moths, the adults only have vestigial mouthparts and no digestive system and therefore do not eat in their adult form, instead relying on energy they stored up as caterpillars.

Found only in North America, Luna Moth caterpillars constantly munch on the leaves of walnut, hickory, sweet gum, and paper birch trees. After about a month of filling up, the caterpillar builds a cocoon and approx. 3 weeks later emerges as a moth.

Luna Moths are a favorite snack for bats, so as a defense mechanism they spin the “tails” on the wingtips of their impressive 3-4.5 inches wingspans in circles, which disorients the bats so much that the moths are often able to make a getaway. It is actually thought that it confuses bat’s finely tuned echolocation detection!

In speaking to our wonderful Education Staff, they informed me that the reason it was sitting on the side of the house during the day is likely because it was at the end of its life cycle and had was running out of energy to fly. It was gone when I checked back a little later so either it made it back to the woods, or was picked up by a hungry bird.

I was curious what the Luna Moth represents or symbolize and found that most commonly across cultures, they symbolizes rebirth, change, transformation, resurrection, and power of regeneration. I was also glad to read that in some cultures, If you see one when the sun is still up, you should consider yourself lucky as spotting one during day time is believed to be an indicator of luck- hopefully the good kind! #NationalMothWeek

-By Joanna Marvel