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Restore and Explore pictures

Removing a large invasive at the memorial trail.

Restore and Explore Weekend

November 7-9, 2014 is Restore and Explore Weekend at Camp Birch. Packs, Troops and Crews can enjoy a free weekend of camping at Camp Birch and work on projects to improve camp. A list of projects is available by clicking the title of this article. Contact Rob Sparks at rsparks@bsamail.org with questions or to sign up for a project

TOKENS- IMAGES FROM THE MEMORIAL TRAILS OF CAMP BIRCH

Fall Leaves On A Hike

mystic lake, camp birch, early morning... sorry you missed it

Fall Colors at Camp

Camp Birch woodlands will provide a beautiful backdrop for hikers and scouts of all ages this month as dynamic oranges and yellows will dominate landscapes with near peak fall foliage condition. Get out to camp and enjoy the October events as well as the natural beauty.

Check out more about Fall Color in Ohio through ODNR.

ECOLOGY - CONSERVATION AT CAMP HUGH TAYLOR BIRCH

Saying the name camp Birch will bring to mind many different things for different people. Countless youth have been served the outdoor program at this facility since the nineteen twenties. And many other programs have been experienced here in our great outdoor setting. The "outdoors" is basic to the scouting movement. We are fortunate to have a reservation any BSA council would want. Many don't have any. We are also blessed with a multitude of eco-systems. There are open fields at camp Birch, hardwood forest, springs and several streams, a ten acre lake, and an area of wet woods that attracts migratory waterfowl. Our varied habitats serve a wide variety of animals, birds, plants, insects and fish. It is blessed by being in a rural setting, having the variety of habitats, and by being close to other preserves with their areas of forest, streams, fields and river. All this makes camp central for the presence of many species, and attractive to many that pass through.

Basic to having and keeping our beloved camp is understanding and applying methods of conservation. Scouts have been conservation minded since their beginning. Here at camp Birch there is a two- fold need regarding conservation. One is to preserve what we have for future generations to use for their varied outdoor programs. The other need is to apply restoration efforts to bring back what we have lost to non native invasive flora.

Our four hundred plus acres are nestled in a larger plot of land, over two thousand acres, that is made up of the private nature preserve Glen Helen, John Bryan State Park and the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve. In our efforts to be wise caretakers of camp we are responsible to our neighbors as much as we are to our heirs and our present users. All agencies throughout the state face the same issues of restoration and wise management of natural resources. I like to think scouts have something extra going for them when it comes to conservation. That would be the twelfth point of the Scout Law, a scout is reverent. Some say other points of the scout law would also apply, but reverence goes to the heart of everything. Knowledge is basic. Conservation is basic. And reverence, which includes respect, is even more so and should be a part of what we are as scouts and scout leaders.

This site is dedicated to providing information and knowledge relative to all things about camp Birch dealing with ecology, conservation and natural history. A part of our offerings will be photographs showing what great nature stuff occurs right here at camp Birch.

Hope to see you on the trail.

Jim Sage

Monarch Butterfly Way-station at Camp Birch

Camp Birch has a student Master Gardener working on establishing a monarch butterfly way-station at camp. This butterfly garden will be behind the Turner Building. The benefits of having this are many. First, we will be helping to save the Monarch butterfly, whose numbers have declined rapidly in recent years. The garden will also be of benefit to all native pollinators. It will be a place where some items of ranks/badges could be earned. It is an opportunity for performing conservation projects.
Robin Houch, the lady behind the project has asked for donations of certain flowers from other peoples gardens - black eyed Susans, purple cone flowers, asters, Joe Pye weed, bee balm, yarrow, mallow and milkweed. Robin works strictly by donations. Please help this lady, and in turn, help Camp Birch.
For more information on Monarchs to to www.monarchwatch.org.

Robin Houch
937-554-9748
rsclifford2002@yahoo.com

Click Here for the Tecumseh Council BSA Website

STROLL

The word for today is stroll, meaning a leisurely walk. Go slow. Take time to look about. Look up, look down and all around. Take time to listen to the sounds. Take time to deeply inhale a fragrance, or just the fresh air. Touch the branch of a tree or a shrub. Turn over a leaf. Don't just look at a tree. Examine it. Things live there, in it, on it, around it. The tree itself is a thing of beauty. The big green caterpillar crawling on it is a thing of beauty. The wood thrush singing in it is a thing of beauty. But if you see their relationships you will see a greater beauty. Then, if you slow down, and understand their relationships, this understanding may take you so much farther than will the thrill of seeing things. Strolling is a big help in getting understanding. It is also good for our spirits, for our "inner" selves. Taking time to smell the roses means a whole lot more than enjoying a fragrance. Strolling isn't a chore. It isn't hard to do.  It is a trail you can wander even while sitting on a log or a bench. How cool is that? Take a stroll. Let your leisurely walk take you to seeing, to understanding, to relating.

NATIVE PLANTS & ANIMALS

 

"Native plants evolved in our area for thousands of years, and are well suited to the local climate, rainfall, and soil chemistry. They have established relationships with predators, pollinators and other plants and animals which allow each to survive. For this reason, native plants do not require inputs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides or additional water. They are truly a low energy landscape option."

                                Marianist environmental education center

TREES OF CAMP BIRCH

TREES OF CAMP BIRCH

AMERICAN HOLLY

ASH                       

AUSTRIAN PINE                           

AUTUMN OLIVE                           

BEECH                                            

BLACK ALDER                                

BLACK OAK                                    

BLACK WALNUT                            

BUCKEYE                                        

BURR OAK                                       

BOX ELDER                                     

CATALPA                                         

CHERRY                                           

COTTONWOOD                               

DOGWOOD                                     

ELM

HICKORY

IRONWOOD

NORWAY SPRUCE

REDBUD

RED ELM

RED OAK

RED MAPLE

RIVER BIRCH

SASSAFRAS

SWEET GUM

SYCAMORE

YELLOW POPLAR

WHITE OAK

WHITE PINE

BIRD SIGHTINGS AT CAMP BIRCH

BIRD SIGHTINGS  CAMP BIRCH

BALTIMORE ORIOLE                          BARRED OWL

BLUEBIRD                                               BLUEJAY

BROWN CREEPER                                CANADA GOOSE

CARDINAL                                              CAROLINA CHICKADEE

CHIPPING SPARROW                          COOPER'S HAWK

CROW                                                       DARK EYED JUNCO

DOWNEY WOODPECKER                   EASTERN PEWEE

EASTERN PHOEBE                               EASTERN TOWHEE

FIELD SPARROW                                  FLICKER

GOLDFINCH                                           GRAY CATBIRD

GREAT BLUE HERON                         GREAT HORNED OWL

GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER    HAIRY WOODPECKER

KINGFISHER                                          LITTLE GREEN HERON

MALLARD                                               NIGHT HAWK

PILEATED WODPECKER                    RED TAIL HAWK

RED BELLIED WOODPECKER          ROBIN

RUBY CROWNED KINGLET               SCREECH OWL

THRASHER, BROWN                             TITMOUSE

TURKEY                                                    WARBLERS

WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCH         WOOD THRUSH

WHITE THROATED SPARROW           WOOD DUCK

WREN, HOUSE

ANIMAL SIGHTINGS AT CAMP BIRCH

SIGHTINGS AT CAMP  BIRCH

RAVINE SALAMANDER                                     SKUNK

AMERICAN TOAD                                               FERREL CATS

GREEN FROG

GRAY TREE FROG                                             RACCOON

BULL FROG                                                          RED SQUIRREL

SPRING PEEPERS                                                GRAY SQUIRREL

LEOPARD FROG                                                   FOX SQUIRREL

GARTER SNAKE                                                   GROUND HOG

COMMON WATER SNAKE                                 COTTONTAIL RABBIT

BOX TURTLE                                                          SHREW

PAINTED TURTLE                                                VIRGINIA POSSOM

SNAPPING TURTLE                                              WHITETAIL DEER

BLACK RAT SNAKE                                              COYOTE

CHIPMUNK                                                               LITTLE BROWN BAT

WHITE FOOTED MOUSE                                       VOLE