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Archives for 2010

Red Sky at Night

December 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

Have you ever wondered just what makes the sunset red?  You may be surprised to find out that the red color is always there just like the red in a Maple leaf  but we just don’t see the reds and oranges of the color spectrum because there’s another color overwhelming it most of the day.  In order to see the colors of  the light spectrum ( blue, green, yellow and red) there has to be gasses in the air to absorb their color and dust particles to reflect that color outward.  Blue is the most easily absorbed color because it has a shorter wavelength.  The shorter the wave length of a color easier it is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere also the less distance light has to travel also affects what color of the light spectrum you will see.

As the sun sets behind the horizon light has to travel further to reach your eyes. The shorter wavelength (blues) can’t travel as far as the longer wavelength (reds)  and we begin to see the reds and oranges of the color spectrum. As the sun sets the red colors that were absorbed by gasses in the atmosphere during the day are now reflecting from the suspended particles in the atmosphere.  The more particles suspended in the atmosphere the more brilliant the sunset will be.

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Black Friday Sale

November 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I doubt anyone will be sleeping at our doorstep but we wanted to have our own Black Friday Sale to celebrate Thanksgiving. Between now and midnight on Friday the 26th our Animal Track and Tree Guide Apps will be on sale for 50% of the regular price.  That’s a great deal on two of the best rated Nature apps available!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

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The Hand of Time

November 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Here’s a little tip that  has always come in handy for me (no pun intended) when I didn’t have a watch on.  I never wear a watch anyway so I’ve used this method to get an idea of the time on numerous occasions.
The first thing you need to know is what time the sun usually sets, once you know that you can consistently  get to within 15 minutes of the actual current time and from that figure out how long you have until the sunsets. The first thing you want to do is hold your fingers straight out in front of you, tuck your thumb into your palm and move your hand up into the sky until the top finger just blocks out the sun.  Take your other hand and  place it directly under the first and continue walking your hands down to the horizon line. Keep track of how many hands it took starting at the sun all the way down to the horizon. If you end up with a partial hand at the horizon then keep track of how many fingers you used.   Now it’s time for a little math, don’t worry it’s easy!! 

Each finger on your hand represents 15 minutes, your whole hand then is equal to one hour. Once you have counted how many hands and fingers it took you to go from the sun to the horizon just add them up and subtract that total from the known time of the sunset and you will have the current time.  In the picture below it will be 2 hours until the sunsets.

Here’s an example to make it a little easier. The sun sets here at 5:00 pm.  I’m standing at the edge of a clearing and can see the sun will be setting behind the mountain in front of me.  I hold my hand up in front of me and block the sun out with my top finger. It takes me 4 hands and 3 fingers to go from the sun to just blocking out the top of the horizon line on that mountain in front of me. I know that 4 hands equals 4 hours and 3 fingers equal 45 minutes.  If I want to know what the time is now I take 4 hours and 45 minutes and subtract it from 5 pm, that would leave me the current time of  12:15 pm.  You can usually come to within 15 minutes of the actual time if you do it correctly.  Give it a shot sometime, it’s useful to know if your in the backwoods or fishing a lake without a time piece and need to no how much longer you can stay out and still get back to camp or the car before dark.
Happy Hiking!!

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Sunrise in the Adirondacks

October 23, 2010 by 3 Comments

If there’s one thing I love about living in the Adirondacks it’s the first snow of the season.  Not that I love snow and the cold anymore but the first of the season is always magical  to me. This morning was no exception, when  I awoke there was a gorgeous landscape outside the window just waiting for me to discover.

Sunrise on an Adirondack Morning

Adirondack Sunrise on the First Snow

The one thing about snow that has always gotten me excited was the animal sign that just screams out at you….. FOLLOW ME !!!

There’s nothing to me more satisfying than finding and following animal tracks in the snow,  see where they went, where their headed, what they stopped to nibble on, where a predator crossed their trail and took up pursuit or decided to go his own way.

The first snow for me is like Christmas,  my birthday and everything good that has ever happened in my life rolled up into one moment of discovery,  a moment of newness in the world,  a moment of perfect solitude.   Now if I could just get the other 200 days of an Adirondack winter to feel the same way it would be one hell of a life!

Happy Hiking !!

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iTune Gift Card Giveaway

October 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We’ll be giving away $15 gift cards to the iTunes Store over the next several months. For every 1000 followers who follow @MyNatureapps on Twitter we’ll draw one name to be the winner of the current contest. The next drawing is at the 8000 followers. To enter just tweet the statement below.  Good Luck !!

Awesome! @mynatureapps is giving away a $15 iTunes Gift Card! #mynat #iTunes Enter here -> http://tinyurl.com/22uoqsp

Add New

We have our first winner in the iTunes Gift Card Give away…. Congratulations to Faith Hershiser !!! Thanks for following us on Twitter Faith.

Our latest winner at the 7000 mark was @canoeman44 on 2/2/11  Congratulation!!

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Maple Leaves

October 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year, cold nights, frosty mornings and leaves crunching under your feet.  It’s the perfect time to spend in the woods viewing the brilliant colors of Mother Nature. There are three colorful trees here in the Northeast that dominate the landscape and if you know their distinguishing characteristics are easily identified.  One of the most popular maples in the Northeast is Sugar Maple.

Sugar Maple Fall Colors

Fall Colors, Sugar Maple

Sugar Maples show off their brilliant red, orange and yellow leaves in the Fall. These leaves are five lobed with a smooth margin, a margin is the outermost edge of the leaf. Most maple leaves are about as long as they are wide and the Sugar Maple measures approximately 3 to 5 inches across. By far the easiest way to identify this maple is by the five pointed lobes.

Fall Color Red Maple

Red Maple Leaf

Red Maple in the Fall also has it’s breath taking hues of red, orange and yellow. Unlike the five lobes of Sugar Maple, Red Maple typically has only three distinct lobes and the margin is toothed. Red Maple is comparative in size to Sugar Maple measuring approximately 3 to 6 inches long. In the summer months the leaf stalk and winged seeds (samaras) have a red tinged color to them.

Striped Maple Fall Leaf

Striped Maple

Striped Maple, also a commonly found tree in the Northeast  does not reach the height or width as other maples do. The biggest distinguishing characteristic of  Striped Maple is the sheer size of it’s leaf.  The leaves may measure as much as eight inches across and as wide.  Like Red Maple the Striped Maple has three lobed leaves with a toothed margin.  The overall appearance of the leaf is somewhat droopy as the leaf edges tend to roll downward and are not as stiff as other maple leaves.  The fall color of this maple is limited to yellow. Another easily identified characteristic is it’s bark, the bark of Striped Maple is smooth,  green in color with white vertical stripes.

Once you learn what to look for in a leaf, identification can be pretty simple.  Enjoy your Fall hike all the beautiful colors that surround you and make sure you take lots of pictures.    Happy Hiking !!

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50% Off Autumn App Sale !!

October 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment

 

Red Maple

Red Maple Leaf App Advertisement

 

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MyNature State Tree Quiz

September 27, 2010 by 3 Comments
This review was written by my friends over at http://www.cooliphoneipadapps.com
It was so well written that I had to make good use of it and place it on the MyNature Site!!!
Developer Quote: “Test your knowledge with the MyNature State Tree Quiz. 50 multiple choice questions will tell you more than each official state tree.”

– COST: 99 cents     – RATING: 5 Stars
– Categories: Education, Entertainment, Games, Native, Reference, Trivia, Universal

*PROMOS are available on this app, and are valid for 3 weeks after this date. E-mail us at cooliphoneapps1@gmail.com if you wish one.*

Calling all nature worshipers, teachers, students and game lovers! If you enjoy an educated game that actually has a purpose to teach you new and interesting facts (instead of the mindless finger tapping-to-zap ’em stuff), then you’ve found a worthy game in MyNature State Tree Quiz. This is a game that is made mainly with the purpose of teaching you the native tree in each State. Wait one minute though…notice I said mainly! That’s because if you delve deeper into this app, you’re going to find a wealth of information on trees including background, biology, appearance, location, etc.

In explanation, let me say that in MyNature State Tree Quizz, you will learn about trees and their identifying features. You are able to view a close up and clear, color image of each tree’s fruit, leaf or needle, bark, profile or map of location. This app is not just about guessing 50 state trees! It is an education that is subtly hidden in the multiple-choice gameplay. So how do you get to find the intriguing details lurking under the game mode in MyNature State Tree Quizz? Let’s go on a tour!

When you open the app you will see a dial loaded with every state’s name. Pick whichever state interests you, or start from the very beginning which is Alabama. You will see the the question: State tree for Alabama is? Below that is listed the multiple choices. Tap one and Submit. You will either be told you were wrong and given the correct answer (no leaving you in the dark here), or you will be told you are correct and that answer will be displayed. Here’s where the fun begins. Tap the answer, and you will be taken to a screen where all possible facets of the tree are provided for you to learn in a handy slider tool at the top of your display. Tap Illustrations and a sketched drawing of the tree is shown, tap Needle and a lovely close up photo will display the needles of that type tree, tap cone and bark and you will see photos of those. Next you will see a button for Profile which gives the background information on the tree, as well as Range showing the general vicinity in which the tree is found. There is also a handy Ruler to help you measure leaf size, bark thickness or whatever portion of that tree interests you!

And you thought you were just getting a game! This is a great family activity to sit around with on evenings, or even to use in the car on a road trip to identify trees as you drive along. There are a couple states where the buttons are not arranged in the right order to co-ordinate with the information contained within. Nonetheless, that minor fix does not detract from the wealth of data that is part of this educational game. This is the sort of game you want to see your kids playing because you know they are benefiting from it. Additionally, a teacher outside on a nature walk with her class could well use MyNature State Tree Quizz to stop and identify the native state tree which is learned so much better from a hands-on approach than from a book. MyNature State Tree Quizz is a simple, but useful, practical and educational app that certainly deserves your notice and intellect.

–Date/Version: Released 9/21/10 – Version 1.0
–iOS/Age Rating: This app requires iOS 3.0 or later. Rated 4+.
–Device: (+ Universal: For iPhone/iPad), iPod Touch
–Languages: English
–Developer Link: MyNature, Inc.
–Twitter Link: @mynatureapps
–Facebook Link: Nature Guides

Visit the iTunes App Store for more details, and to download:
MYNATURE STATE TREE QUIZ

* NOTE: Visit Cool iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Apps often to check for the latest FREE PROMO CODES (top red button-right sidebar).

Cool iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Apps is updated often. Subscribe by selecting either: E-mail or RSS Reader, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Developers and Advertisers-please contact us to post your reviews, press releases, contest news, graphics and more at: cooliphoneapps1@gmail.com

Read more: http://www.cooliphoneipadapps.com/2010/09/mynature-state-tree-quiz.html#ixzz10gpUqrC9

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Wild Hogs

September 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many animals have similar tracks,  Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope to name a few.  Distinguishing between them can be difficult if your not aware of the size difference in their tracks or other minor differences. One track that greatly resembles those of the deer family is that of the Wild Hog. Wild Hogs are known by many names including, Feral Pig, Feral Swine, Wild Boars, Wild Pigs, Razorbacks and Javelina.   Javelina and Wild Pigs although similar are of  two separate families.

This track on the left is from a Wild Hog. Wild Hog tracks tracks measure approximately 2 to 2 1/2 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide. They have a broad track and much more rounded than a typical deer track you would find.  Many times you may find the tracks with the dewclaws showing. The dewclaws are set back and further out to the side than those of deer.

This image below shows a good example of the position dewclaws  on a Wild Hog.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

It’s always a good idea to find what  animals are in the area you’ll be spending time  in.  If your interested in identifying their tracks once you know this information you can greatly narrow down which animals tracks you may have found.

Happy Tracking!

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Tree App Giveaway!!

September 6, 2010 by 1 Comment

In celebration of all your hard work over the year we’re having a Labor Day App Giveaway. Just follow us on Twitter @mynatureapps or join our Facebook Group @ www.facebook.com/natureguides  and tell us you want to rate the MyNature Tree App and we’ll send you out a free promo code.

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