Mine Kill State Park

This weekend, June 5th and 6th, the disc golf course will be closed to the public from 9AM to 5PM for the annual Professional Disc Golf Association disc golf tournament.

It's the end of spring bird migration season! Check out how climate can impact the birds we might see in our area in the future!

If you're looking for something fun this weekend, join Ian for a long guided hike along the Long Path! Email [email protected] to reserve a spot.

This Sunday! Email [email protected] to sign up!

Thank you to our office manager Katrina Vance for snapping this photo of the snowy sunrise over our park this morning!

Great Horned Owls start roosting this month! Keep your ears and eyes peeled for signs of these feathered friends around forest edges. https://blog.nature.org//the-hooting-season-enjoying-grea/

Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone who joined our First Day hikes today! It was a lot of fun learning about and exploring the Blenheim-Gilboa Reservoir, our forests, the falls, and the bluffs along the Long Path. We will continue to offer self-guided options throughout this weekend.

There are still spots available for the group trekking along the reservoir! If you can't make it, feel free to do a self-guided hike. Just email Jessica at [email protected] to sign up.

This Saturday! Email [email protected] to sign up!

Today there is one thing on everyone’s mind food! More than 60% of the food that is eaten around the world today is originally from North, Central, and South America. Some foods that might be on your table this afternoon are the three sisters: corn (onëö), beans (osae’da’), and squash (o:nyöhsa’). These plants are important to the culture and diet of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people, including the Mohawk who widely inhabited our area before European colonization. Together th...ese foods provide the essentials of a complete diet. Corn is full of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, and protein. Beans provide the protein and amino acid that corn lacks as well as fiber and B vitamins. The crops have an interdependent relationship. Corn provides a place for beans to grow, beans give nitrogen to the soil and protect corn stalks from heavy winds, and squash acts as an insulating layer that holds in soil moisture and prevents weeds from taking over. Haudenosaunee communities still grow white corn from heirloom seeds that date back 1400 years. Before colonization, Mohawk settlements would move every twenty to thirty years to prevent soil erosion and exhaustion from agricultural use. Once the soil recovered at a former site, they would return. Five types of corn were cultivated by the Mohawk in the area before colonization: starch or bread corns, flint or hominy corns that ranged in color and were extensively grown, popcorn, starchy sweet corn, and sweet corn. Corn cultivation begins in April. Seeds are soaked for a week to start germination and then planted in the ground as soon as the ground thaws. Corn is dependent on wind pollination, so multiple are planted at a time. After a couple of weeks, beans are planted. Beans are self-pollinating so one plant is grown beside a corn stalk at a time to prevent crowding. Then, a few days after beans have emerged, squash plants are planted along the outskirts of the beans and corn. Since squash needs to be visited by pollinators to produce a vegetable, multiple plants are grown to draw in visitors. Click here read the story of the three sisters: https://ganondagan.org/learn/legend-of-the-three-sisters ******************* sources: Native Seeds Search https://www.nativeseeds.org//how-to-grow-a-three-sisters-g Ganondagan State Historic Site Daniel K. Onion. (1964). Corn in the Culture of the Mohawk Iroquois. Economic Botany, 18(1), 60-66. Retrieved November 24, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4252477 Sunmin Park, Nobuko Hongu, James W. Daily. (2016). Native American foods: History, culture, and influence on modern diets. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 3(3), 171-177,

This past summer our Student Conservation Association members and park ranger interns raised monarch caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars can be found munching on milkweed plants throughout the summer and very early fall. Though seemingly sweet, these young bugs are highly competitive and even aggressive when it comes to sharing their food as recent research shows. https://www.nytimes.com//sc/hungry-caterpillars-angry.html

We still have spots available for Halloween night! email Ian at [email protected] or call (518)827-8685 to make a reservation!

Thank you to our small group who came out to our winter photo walk on Saturday! It was a lot of fun to go out and take a close look at nature together! If you went on our walk, feel free to post your photos in the comments or send them to us.

You don't have to wander too deep into the park to spot some awesome wildlife! Check out this Red-tailed Hawk flying over the park office! According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, if you see a Red-tailed Hawks flying with their legs out and swooping after one another, they are most likely courting!

We still have spots available for our Haunted Hikes on October 30 and 31! email [email protected] or call (518)827-8685 to book your spot.

Beautiful October morning at Mine Kill!

We are still in need of some scarers for our Haunted Hike! Masks and social distancing will be maintained throughout the event, and volunteers will be receiving pizza and candy! Have some fun scaring your friends and community members and email [email protected] to sign up! (P.S. if you'd rather be the one being scared we still have spots available for both the 30 and 31 - just email [email protected] to reserve your place!)

There are still a few openings for the forest mythology hike being held at Max V. Shaul State Park this Saturday! Email to reserve a spot on the hike and learn about some of the myths and legends that surround forests!

WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO DRESS UP AND SCARE HIKERS! Volunteers will be kept at a social distance slightly off-trail. Email [email protected] to sign up!

After today, the boat launch will be closed until spring!

There's still plenty of room on our Patterns in Nature Hike at Max V. Shaul State Park October 17th! All ages are welcome and as always, masks and reservation are required! Email [email protected] to reserve.

Tis the season to be spooky! Join us on October 30 and 31 for a guided haunted hike! It will be a Mine Killer time! Email [email protected] or call (518)827-8685 to book your spot.

It's a hazy, rainy autumn day. So, today we will cozy-up with a poem by John Burroughs that celebrates the colors of fall. "In October" by John Burroughs Now comes the sunset of the verdant year,... Chemic fires, still and slow, Burn in the leaves, till trees and groves appear Dipped in the sunset's glow. Through many-stained windows of the wood The day sends down its beams, Till all the acorn-punctured solitude Of sunshine softly dreams. I take my way where sentry cedars stand Along the bushy lane, And whitethroats stir and call on every hand, Or lift their wavering strain; The hazel-bush holds up its crinkled gold And scents the loit'ring breeze-- A nuptial wreath amid its leafage old That laughs at frost's decrees. A purple bloom is creeping o'er the ash-- Dull wine against the day, While dusky cedars wear a crimson sash Of woodbine's kindled spray. I see the stolid oak tree's smould'ring fire Sullen against emerald rye; And yonder sugar maple's wild desire To match the sunset sky. On hedge and tree the bittersweet has hung Its fruit that looks a flower; While alder spray with coral berries strung Is part of autumn's dower. The plaintive calls of bluebirds fill the air, Wand'ring voices in the morn; The ruby kinglet, flitting here and there, Winds again his elfin horn. Now Downy shyly drills his winter cell, His white chips strew the ground; While squirrels bark from hill or acorned dell-- A true autumnal sound. I hear the feathered thunder of the grouse Soft rolling through the wood, Or pause to note where hurrying mole or mouse Just stirs the solitude. Anon the furtive flock-call of the quail Comes up from weedy fields; Afar the mellow thud of lonely flail Its homely music yields. Behold the orchards piled with painted spheres New plucked from bending trees; And bronzèd huskers tossing golden ears In genial sun and breeze. Once more the tranquil days brood o'er the hills, And soothe earth's toiling breast; A benediction all the landscape fills That breathes of peace and rest.

*** VOLUNTEERS NEEDED*** Email Katlynn at [email protected] or call (518)827-8685 to sign up!

Ever wonder how some of nature's beautiful patterns arise? Reserve a spot on our Patterns in Nature Hike on October 17th! The hike will take place along Max V. Shaul State Park's Red Trail. Don't forget water, sturdy footwear, and a mask! Email [email protected] to reserve.