Ok, I'll be back from Glacier when you read this, but I am still preposting one more rerun. I'm typing this before I leave, but I know how much recovery time I'll need after spending a week in the tent with two little boys. You know there is an inordinate amount of laundry. I'll be back live in the next post, but this is a good one!

This is the first in a series of posts on macroinvertebrate activities.

Who doesn't like to crouch on the edge of a stream, or stand knee deep in crystal clear water, looking under rocks? First the water rushes by and chills your fingers, then you feel the smooth texture of a well-weathered stone as you pull it from the streambed.

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Trail report

It’s springtime and the birds are chirping. Take a walk—or look out your window—to discover who your avian friends are and what they are up to.

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I guess it is time for me to admit that spring is here. Or at least almost here. I hate to say goodbye to winter, but the time has come.

So now we turn our thoughts from playing in the snow to playing in water.

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This is one of those "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" kind of activities.

Since puddles are magnetic to kids anyway, dress them up and let them go crazy. With the right clothes and frame of mind, puddle pouncing can be a great way to burn off energy, have fun and very directly connect with the natural world.

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This post is part of a series on macroinvertebrates. Scroll down to find the other activities.

Macroinvertebrates can be divided into groups by species, where they live or how they eat. In this activity we use the latter. A little background:

Shredders have specially adapted anatomy, such as pinchers, to tear apart and eat fibrous leaves. Examples of shredders are cranefly larvae, case-building caddisfly larva, stonefly nymphs, scuds, and sowbugs.

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This post is part of a series on macroinvertebrates. Scroll down to find the other activities.

Looking under stones for macroinvertebrates is pretty fun in of itself, but the species you find--and the proportion of each species--says a lot about the quality of the stream or creek you are checking out.

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