Stream Insects and Crustaceans for Healthy Water

The sampling of aquatic macroinvertebrates provides a convenient and cost-efficient method for determining the water quality of a stream.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are water animals that have no backbone and can be seen without magnification.  Aquatic macroinvertebrates include such animals as crayfish, clams, aquatic snails, aquatic worms, and the aquatic larvae of winged insects.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates can be classified into three groups based on their ability to tolerate water pollution:

Pollution Sensitive: This group of macroinvertebrates are very sensitive to water pollution.  They are generally only found in water of good quality.

Stonefly Nymph
Caddisfly Larva
Water Penny
Riffle Beetle
Mayfly Nymph
Gilled Snail
Dobsonfly Larva
Water Flea
Planarian

 Somewhat Sensitive: This group of macroinvertebrates can tolerate low levels of water pollution.  They can be found in water of good or fair quality.

Crayfish
Sowbug
Scud
Alderfly Nymph
Fishfly Nymph
Damselfly Nymph
Watersnipe Fly Larva
Crane Fly Larva
Whirligig Beetle Larva
Dragonfly Nymph
Clam
Diving Beetle Larva

Pendragon Theatre’s Announces Winners of First Annual Young Playwrights’ Festival

Pendragon is pleased to announce that Witter Swanson, a student at Saranac Lake High School, will receive a full production of his play “Elmer.” The runner-up receiving a reading of her piece is Amber Baker, a student at Beekmantown, for her play "The Esteemed Institute."  Pendragon would like to thank all of the young playwrights who submitted their work and making this festival a success.

Please join Witter, Amber, and the Pendragon crew at the theatre on April 5 for a full day of festival activities:

From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pendragon invites children in grades 1-6 to join Jessica Deeb and Executive Artistic Director Karen Lordi-Kirkham for a workshop entitled “Playwriting on Your Feet.”

Adirondack Family Time™ Weekend Calendar of Events for March 28-30, 2014

It is the last of the New York State Maple Weekends, but don't worry the weather in the Adirondacks is finally warming up making the sap run. There will be maple making long past the NYS Maple Weekends. Have fun and enjoy the snow!

Click below for a full weekend of activities for the Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and High Peaks region.


Click below for other regional calendars for the southern Adirondacks (Lake George), Central Adirondacks (Old Forge to Long Lake) and the Champlain Valley (Plattsburgh to Ticonderoga) Enjoy!

Three Adirondack Owl Prowl Events

For those of us not fortunate to have wildlife come to us, we need to go to the experts. This winter Adirondack raptor experts are offering opportunities to come across such majestic creatures as the snowy owl, or at the very least learn how to sight them on your own.

A Winter Cross-Country Ski to St. Regis Pond

I’m not sure how it happened, but I didn’t get to ski as I much as I would have liked this winter. My snowshoes got plenty of use as did my Microspikes, but my skis have been completely neglected. To make up for lost time, we head for a quick ski along the Fish Pond trail to St. Regis Pond in Lake Clear.

Accessing ponds and lakes in summer is sometimes a bit easier than finding a safe pullover to access the same trail in winter. With that in mind, we enter the trail just east of Kempton Rd on Route 30 in Lake Clear. As there is no dedicated parking on Rt. 30, we pull the car over, put on our gear and follow the ski tracks through the woods. We find that there is plenty of snow and the trails are well used.