The Spring Chicks are Here

Buttonwood Farm's first spring chicks hatched in late March and are growing fast.  Be sure to stop by the barn on your next visit to say hello.

There are two types of automotive idling; voluntary and in traffic.  The only way to reduce idling in traffic is to purchase a hybrid vehicle which automatically shuts of the gasoline engine when stopped in traffic, but voluntary idling is something we can all do something about today.    

Each year, Americans waste approximately 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline and emit 13 million tons of carbon dioxide by voluntarily idling their cars.  Individually, estimates range from 5 to 10 minutes of voluntary idling per car. In just 5 minutes of idling we can burn between a half and a whole cup of gasoline, depending on engine size.  This may not seem like much, but can add up to 10 to 20 gallons of gas a year. 

Idling is not only detrimental to your wallet and the planet, but to your car as well.  While idling, your engine is not running at its optimum operating temperature and condition which results in incomplete combustion of gasoline.  This leaves fuel residues on spark plugs, the cylinder walls and other engine parts which can shorten the life of your fuel system and impair fuel efficiency as much as 4 to 5%.    

So, how can you decrease your idling time?

·         Park the car and turn your engine off if you're going to be stopped for more than ten seconds while running errands or picking up the kids. Idling your engine for more than ten seconds uses more gas than turning your engine off and starting it again.

·         Put on your seat belt, adjust your mirrors, pick out a CD, and roll the windows up or down before you start your car.

·         In the winter, your car's engine only needs 30 seconds to warm up.  Scrape the snow and frost off before you start your car and warm other car components like wheel bearings, transmission and tires with gentle driving.

·         Park the car and walk into the fast-food restaurant or bank instead of using the drive-thru. It's better for you, it's better for your mileage, and it's better for the planet.

• August 4 - 8      The Animal Kingdom
• August 11 - 15   You Belong in a Zoo
• August 18 - 22   The Big Blue Ocean

Have you ever stood in front of the salt marsh exhibit in the Aquatics Environment Center and been startled by moving sand?  That sand and rocks swimming by is actually one of our many summer flounder, a flatfish found in East Coast estuaries and coastal waters from Nova Scotia to Florida but most abundantly from Cape Cod, MA to Cape Fear, NC. 

Adult summer flounder spend most of their lives on or close to the bottom of the ocean floor.  They are masters of camouflage and use their flattened shape and ability to change coloration and pattern on the eyed side of their bodies to partially burrow in the sediment.  Here, they lie in ambush and wait for their prey of other small fish, shrimp, crabs, squid, sea stars and mollusks.  They are voracious predators and will often leap out of the water in pursuit of small schools of fish. 

While adult flounders are flattened fish with both eyes situated on one side of the head, they are not born this way.  Eggs hatch within 72 to 75 hours of being laid and larvae migrate inshore to the protection of salt marshes.  Larval flounder more closely resemble the larvae of other fish than adult flounder, with symmetrical bodies and eyes on both sides of their head.  In the safety of the salt marsh they undergo metamorphosis, their body flattening and the right eye slowly moving to the left side of its body.