The Alexauken Creek Wildlife Management Area biological survey was launched with the first scheduled field visit on January 19. However, many of the sixteen volunteers who signed up for the project got an introductory tour of the snow-covered WMA on December 8. Nearby resident Hal Shute of the West Amwell Open Space Advisory Committee was an eager impromptu guide for the tour, leading us over the single shaky plank bridging the break in the dam, guiding us along the invisible streamside "trails" and across the cold, clear stream hopping from one slippery rock to another. On the way back, some of us got an unexpected tour of the 18th-century house that was once a miller's home. The woods had been still and silent but we were rewarded near the end of our walk with a burst of late afternoon feeding activity in a field amply provisioned with goldenrod, thistle and other wildflower seeds. Rich are the delights in a field left unmowed, whether by design or benign neglect.

Still undecided about joining the survey team? Uncertain about the time commitment? Not available til spring? We can find a job for you, even if you can't come out for every field visit, just so we know when we can count on you. E-mail Pat Sziber at conservation@washingtoncrossingaudubon.org or phone 609-737-1189.