This Week at Hilton Pond

Bill Hilton Jr.

Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
York, South Carolina 29745 USA

Hilton Pond Field Trips: Cosmic Coincidence? (1-7 October 2006)

Do natural history field trips belong in the public or private school curriculum? For folks interested in birds and bugs or flowers and trees the answer is pretty obvious. This particular photo essay is devoted to one school's Guided Field Trips at Hilton Pond and some of the benefits they derived. To view the installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" for 1-7 October 2006, please visit http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek061001.html

Figure 1. There’s nothing quite like a close-up view of a male House Finch during a field trip to stimulate the curiosity of a future naturalist. (Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.)

Common Grape fern: Safe Haven On A Tip-Up Mound (8-14 October 2006)

Although ferns are few and far between on old farms in the Carolina Piedmont, we did manage to find one growing on a tip-up mound "This Week at Hilton Pond." A Common Grape Fern sprouting from an old pile of red clay looked very healthy and was producing plenty of spores for a future generation. For some unusual close-up views of the fern's reproductive structures and a discussion of fern lifestyles, please visit our photo essay for 8-14 October 2006 at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek061008.html

Figure 2. The compound leaf of the Common Grape fern is dissected into three main leaflets that are, in turn, comprised of sub leaflets with serrated edges.  (Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.)

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