Nature Study for the Whole Family

Salamander Sign

2011-03-31T18:29:00.001-07:00

The vernal pools continue to fill with life. This egg mass was recently laid--most likely by a spotted salamander or a blue-spotted salamander. Note the thick envelope of "jelly" surrounding the eggs. The wood frog egg mass is all eggs from surface to center. It is "bumpy" with them while a salamander egg mass is smooth on the outside.

Early spring is the time to search the vernal pools for life. Put your boots on and head to the woods.

Vernal Pools Spring to Life

2011-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Woodfrog eggs as viewed from the surface of the water.

It's that time of year in the northeast! The snow has receded and the spring rains have come. The slightly warmer temps and the rainfall filtering through the earth awakens the wood frogs. These curious masked amphibians seek out the temporary woodland pools formed by meltwater and rain, the vernal pools.

You should be out searching for vernal pools too. If you are quiet, you may come across one filled with woodfrogs. These frogs have a comical song that sounds like ducks quarreling. They will stop singing if they detect your presence, but if you stay still long enough, they may begin again.

A Vernal Pool

The males are the ones doing all the singing. They sing to define their territories and attract mates. The egg laying takes place in the vernal pools where the eggs will be safe from fish. You may see large rafts of eggs floating just beneath the surface. Often the woodfrogs will lay the eggs all in the same area, sometimes around submerged branches.

If you find woodfrog eggs, return every few days to keep track of their development. If there are vernal pools in your area you are in for a full spring of nature study.

The Grand Surprise

2011-03-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

The gift of a warm, sunny day in winter can be twofold. While enjoying a woodland walk in January, February, March or April you may just chance upon the flight of one of our overwintering butterflies. Warm temperatures awaken these creatures from their winter hideouts beneath loose bark or in tree cavities. These early butterflies take flight, surprising many a hiker! Who expects to see butterflies in winter?

The mourning cloak and the tortoiseshell are two types of butterflies that spend the winter as adults. Awakening early in the year, they are ready to take advantage of the first spring flowers and of the flowing sap from sapsucker sap wells or from tapped maple trees.

These unexpected beauties may make you catch your breath with wonder. I've already had the pleasure of spotting a tortoiseshell cavorting on a hillside during my Kentucky trip last week. I will keep my eyes open for a flutter in the trees on all my walks coming up. You do the same.

Belated Valentine

2011-02-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

A Valentine Fit for a Squirrel!

It may be a few days late, but this Valentine is all natural! I noticed the sun striking this heart-shaped tree cavity while on a nature walk. Inside the hollow are the shells of hickory nuts. If you look closely you can see the characteristic sign of squirrel feeding, some of the nuts have been chewed open and emptied. Squirrels cache nuts and seeds to help them get through the winter. This cache was definitely put to use before Valentine's Day. Watch for signs of feeding on your nature walks, they may not be quite so attractively packaged for the holidays, but still give you some clue as to which wild neighbors have been out celebrating.

Leftovers

2011-02-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Hackberries

It is the end of February and with all the snow on the ground, you'd think that berries of all kinds (although these are technically "drupes" not berries) would be in short supply. Yet the birds and squirrels seem to save these for last. Thus you can recognize the hackberry tree in winter more easily than summer when it blends in with other broad-leaved shrubs and trees. Look for it along roadsides, covered with berries, well into winter.

Tarzan Would Not Approve of This Vine

2011-02-18T15:45:00.001-08:00

Tarzan Would Not Approve of this Vine!

Even in the winter we have to watch out for poison ivy. See the large vine in the center of this tree and the smaller vines to the upper right? They are poison ivy vines. They can be recognized by the hairy appearance of their arial roots. Some are thickly covered with these roots, others have just a few. Stems of poison ivy can project from the vine as well. Even though there are no leaves-of-three, you may contract a rash from contact with the vine. So remember to point them out to the kids!

Work of the Woodpecker

2011-02-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

Somebody's making short work of this snag.

You can see the work of Pileated woodpeckers on this dead tree. These birds use their incredibly strong beaks to excavate large holes in tree trunks to find insects beneath the bark and wood. They work their way along the trunk creating oval or square holes, leaving a pile of chipped wood behind. Mice have been known to move into the cavities left behind by woodpecker's work.

Whitetail Winter

2011-02-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

The whitetail deer are active all around our neighborhood this winter. We spotted this one in the brambles on some conservation land near our home. We usually don't have to set foot outside to see whitetail deer, they come to us. A group of females that I call "The Matriarchy" wander through our backyard every morning like clockwork. They browse on shrubbery, luckily my landscaping is "all natural" so I don't mind, but some neighbor's find their eating habits expensive drains on the pocketbook. The kids love to watch the deer, especially when they "raise the white flag" (lift their tails as a signal to the other deer) and leap off into the woods. My only reservation about these magestic animals is that with such a large whitetail population, there are fewer and fewer spring wildflowers in our area and many forests have lost their young trees and shrubs to the deer's ravenous appetites.

Sign of the Sapsucker

2011-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

The work of a sharpshooter or a sapsucker?

On a winter walk, I came across this living tree shot full of holes. Curiously, the holes are quite regular and occur in horizontal lines here and there on the bark. Though it looks like the work of a gun-toting miscreant, in fact a bird is responsible for these holes. The guilty party is a sapsucker, a type of woodpecker.

The holes were pecked in the bark, not to find insects like other woodpeckers, but to access the flowing sap. The holes "bleed" sap which the sapsuckers (hence their names) consume. They'll also eat any insects that happen to be feeding on the sap. The sapsuckers return to the trees to check on their "sap wells." When the tree heals, they drill new holes when the sap ceases to run from the old ones.

On your winter walks, keep your eyes open and scan tree trunks for the sign of the sapsucker.

At the Boundary Between Earth and Sky

2011-02-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

The sun has melted the snow over these mosses, bringing a festive green to the otherwise white blanket of the forest floor. Moss are slow-growing plants that live close to the ground. In this boundary layer between the earth and sky, the climate is just right for mosses. It is warmer and wetter and there is less wind to dry them out. Mosses stop photosynthesis when dry.

There are many species of moss to investigate in the woods. My kid's favorite is the cushion moss that grows in pillow-like clumps. It often covers large areas of ground. My favorite is a ostrich plume moss whose tiny leaves resemble ferns. These often grow on rocks.

Mosses send up spore capsules in warmer weather. These tend to differ by species and the shape may help with identification. When they are dry and brown, the spore capsules are ripe. Tap or brush them and you may release smoky clouds of spores.

Unpacking the Nature Basket IV

2011-02-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

Not all nurseries are painted pink or blue.

Well, I'm almost done unpacking the Nature Basket. These are the last three items I'm bringing out for discussion. Because I found these so very close to home, they are a good reminder to keep a sharp eye out when working around your house. I found the specimen on the upper left under my porch railing, the one on the upper right above my garage door, and the one on the bottom in my front garden.

Even though they look very different, they all have the same function. All three are nurseries for the eggs and larvae of insect species. The two on the top are wasp nests, each made by a different species of wasp. The one on the bottom is a goldenrod gall, formed when a goldenrod gall fly lays its egg in a goldenrod stem.

Wasps were the very first paper-makers. Wasps fly about to find sources of wood and chew off the wood fibers. I have watched one wasp, probably the one that made the nest in the photo, as it chewed the wood off clothespins on my clothesline. It was so quiet that day I could hear it chewing! The wasp then took the wood, mixed it with wasp spit to form pulp, and then spread it into the thin layers to form the nest. If you look closely at a paper wasp's nest, you may see that the paper is often arranged in multicolored bands. The differently colored bands originated with different sources of wood! After completing a paper nests, the mother wasps lay their eggs in the chambered cells. Wasps guard their nests, so don't collect any wasp nests until the deep-freeze of winter, when you can be sure they are abandoned.

The tiny goldenrod gall fly, which is very common but rarely seen, does not guard her young. She inserts her egg into the stem of a goldenrod and flies off. The goldenrod reacts to this intrusion by swelling into the gall shape you see in the photo above. In this particular sample, you can see two galls, one above the other. The uppermost gall is almost always smaller than the lower. The gall acts as a nursery where the young overwinter. Inside, the egg hatches and the larva excavate a tunnel to the outside, leaving the thinnest flap of tissue. Then they pupate and change into an adult gallfly. The gallfly is able to leave the gall only because the larvae excavated an escape hatch before metamorphosis. If you look closely you can see the tiny hole through which the gall fly escaped. It is directly above the letter "t" in "painted" and is on the lower third of the gall.

Unpacking the Nature Basket III

2011-02-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Who made these paths and pits?

I pulled these dissimilar items out of our nature basket (see Friday's entry) in order to demonstrate "animal signs." Like an animal track, an animal sign provides evidence that an animal has been present after it is long gone.

The piece of wood on the left has been stripped of its bark revealing signs of past occupation by insects. See the straight, thin, dark trails and the curved, wider, pale trails? Each type of trail was made by different species of bark beetles or their larvae. The adults excavate a nursery in which to lay their eggs. The larvae excavate tunnels as they eat and to escape to the outside world.

See the circular pits on the surface of the bracket fungi on the right? These holes are evidence of feeding mollusks. Slugs love mushrooms, and as they rasp away at the surface with their mouthparts they leave behind these characteristic circles.

Keep your eyes open for animal signs. Its a good way to keep track of the hidden lives of our insect (and mollusk) friends!

Unpacking the Nature Basket II

2011-01-30T08:55:00.000-08:00

Bladdernut Seed Pod

Sweetgum Seed Pod

Milkweed Seed Pod

Today, I pull out three more specimens, bladdernut, sweetgum, and milkweed, from our Nature Basket. What do these radically different specimens have in common? All three are containers for holding seeds, pods that protect the embryonic plants from predators and the elements until they are ripe and ready to be distributed.

I chose to contrast these three seed containers because they have radically different forms. In fact, seed pods are so variable and species specific that they can clinch a plant or tree identification. Like the mushrooms in the post below, they are also incredibly beautiful.

The bladdernut pod is lightweight and probably waterproof. The bladdernut tree that makes them prefers the moist environs of wetlands to live, and it is possible that the seed pods that fall into the water float to new locations far from their parent plant. A dried bladdernut pod is great fun for children to find. Hold it by the stem and shake, shake, shake! It's a rattle!

The sweet gum pod is more of a salt-shaker than a rattle. It makes no noise when shaken, but the small seeds fall from the many openings in its spiny sides. The seeds inside may not travel as far as those of the milkweed, below, but they end up some distance from the parent tree, reducing competition between parent and offspring for water and nutrients. Children love to collect sweet gum pods because of their odd looks and spherical shape.

Talk about long distance distribution! The protective milkweed pods burst open along their seams when the seeds ripen. Each seed is fitted with a fiberous parachute, on a dry and breezy day, these flying seeds are lifted out of the seed pod and take to the wind. Because of their lightness, they can travel great distances and establish new milkweed colonies in far off places. Milkweed is a great plant for children to explore. They can have fun releasing the seeds to the wind. The silken parachutes are lovely to touch, and the dried pods are useful for craft projects and decoration.

Unpacking the Nature Basket

2011-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

Blushing Bracket
(Daedaleopsis confragosa)

Birch Polypore
(Piptoporus betulinus)

Gilled Bracket
(Lenzites betulina)

I am going to unpack the nature basket I referred to in Friday's post to let you see how the items inside lend themselves to close-up investigation. You can see that each one of these bracket fungi is a work of art in its own right (especially that lovely gilled bracket), and they are not even upright in the photos! I've turned them upside down to contrast the spore-producing undersides.

All the bracket fungi make spores in tubes on their undersides. The spores emerge from the tubes through pores. The pores are of four types: circular, angular, elongate, or maze-like.

Unfortunately I don't have an example of each in my basket right now, but you look at the first one, a blushing bracket, you can see it's pores do resemble a maze, with all its twists and turns and blocked passages.

The birch polypore has a smooth looking underside. Its pores are so small you'd need a magnifying glass to see them. They are most likely circular. The gilled bracket is called gilled, because it resembles the underside of many gilled mushrooms that grow on the forest floor. However, it had pores like the other bracket fungi. The walls between the pores aged and broke down. What's left looks much like gills.

You may have noticed that two of our mushrooms have similar words in their scientific names: betulina and betulinus. Betulina refers to birch trees, and both birch polypore and gilled bracket are found growing on birch trees. In fact, my specimen of a gilled bracket still has remnants of birch bark on its stalk.

Even if you don't know the terms for what you find, identifying the differences between otherwise similar species is the first step to understanding. Take a close look at the specimens you bring indoors as you while away the worst of winter with nature study.

The Nature Basket

2011-01-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Our Nature Basket

When the temperatures are bitter and the snow too deep to slog through, how do you keep up with nature study? Our family gets through the worst days of winter by exploring our collection of natural objects. I like to bring out a Nature Basket filled with natural items of varying shape and texture. Coming up with a novel and interesting mixture is part of the fun. Sometimes I cover the basket with fabric to add an element of surprise to the beginning of our exploration. Over the years I've collected non-perishable, specimens such as bracket fungi, seed pods, wasp's nests, lichen, nuts, milkweed pods, goldenrod galls, sensitive fern fronds, pine cones, and wood with carved beetle galleries.

Most of these items were taken only when they had fallen from the plant or were abandoned after a season of use. Be aware that it is technically illegal to collect bird nests, eggs, or feathers. These laws came about at a time when people were routinely shooting birds to put their feathers on hats, collecting living eggs, and disrupting nesting birds by stealing their nests. As these activities are no longer fashionable, the laws seem ridiculous when applied to, say, collecting a abandoned bird's nest that has fallen on the ground or a molted feather, but they are still on the books. Enjoy your bird related specimens outdoors! There are plenty of perfectly legal plant and insect materials to investigate inside.

One of the most interesting lines of investigation is to compare and contrast similar items. Seed pods are incredibly variable as are wasp's nests. You may also find that some dried seed pods make excellent instruments when the seeds are rattled around inside. Look for evidence of insect damage. Smell the items (if you are asthma free). Open some of the seed pods and compare the seeds.

Taken out of context, natural objects can be appreciated as forms of art. Comment on their subtle colors, patterns, and shapes. Get out the markers and watercolors and try your hand at natural history illustration. Savor the time to look closely.

What on earth is an ootheca?

2011-01-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

Ootheca

You may come across an ootheca on a winter ramble through the fields and forest, but will you know what it is? This well-camouflaged structure may be found glued to grasses, shrubbery, weedy stems and even tree branches (pines seem to be particularly popular with their makers). When you are on your walk scan these plants for the telltale "bump" of an ootheca.

If you find one, know you have discovered the egg case of a praying mantis. Next year's mantids overwinter as eggs inside the ootheca. In the spring the eggs will hatch, and hundreds of minute baby mantids will emerge from the foam-like case. It may be interesting to keep track of how many you find in a single field. Remember their locations and check them when you happen by in warmer weather. If you are lucky and arrive on their birthday, you may find the tiniest praying mantids you've ever seen.

Outrunning Time

2011-01-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

Staghorn Clubmoss

Found a bit of greenery in the midst of the frost! This hardy fellow is evergreen through the winter. Like other clubmosses, the staghorn clubmoss is a nonflowering plant. It makes spores instead of seeds.

Clubmosses have a habit of spreading along a horizontal stem that lies prostrate on the ground. An individual plant may be yards long. Along the way, it periodically sends down roots and sends up new stems. The past year's growth dies off, and so the new growth appears to "outrun" death.

Staghorn's branching habit seems to resemble antlers, thus its name. It's attractiveness has been its downfall, however, as people gather it for holiday greenery. Many populations have been wiped out. Look for the remaining clubmosses on the forest floor especially in acidic soil as found in northern coniferous forests.

Footprints in the Snow

2011-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

Who walked this way?

Let's see, four long skinny toes indicating these are bird tracks, but let's look closer.

Not two toes in front and two in back (zygodactyl), so not a woodpecker or cuckoo. Not webbed (palmate or totipalmate), so not a duck or goose. What we see is three toes in the front and one in back. This toe pattern is called anisodactyl. It is the most common pattern, and so not that much help. The tracks were about two inches long and quite deep. The tracks are regularly spaced, so the bird was walking, not hopping.

Luckily all I had to do was look across the road into the farm field to clinch the identification. American crows flock together by the hundreds in the winter, and there they were, covering the ground, whirling in groups through the air, and decorating the trees. Crows make a boisterous crowd. They will take off together to mob an owl or a hawk harassing it until it is driven away. Despite their boldness toward predators, they took flight whenever I got near, even when they were in the trees. I enjoy watching their antics now, because in the spring I won't be seeing this gathering any longer. The group will break up as small family groups (including last year's young) go off to nest and care for the hatchlings.

Winter's Best

2011-01-20T08:21:00.000-08:00

Don't tell me this isn't as beautiful as a sunny summer day.

No, the photo hasn't been altered. That's the deep blue sky we woke up to one morning after a snowstorm. Appreciating the stark beauty of winter is a aesthetic all its own. To cultivate it in your children, you will have to introduce them to it. Don't hide inside. Take them out in the cold and the snow. Show them the bare bones of the land in late fall when all the leaves have fallen and the stone, hills, and soil are laid bare. Walk with them when the snow flurries swirl. Catch the flakes with your tongue. Catch some on a black piece of construction paper. It's no joke; no two are alike.

When the snow piles up, listen to the crunch underfoot as your boots break the crust. Follow animal tracks. Pause to watch the water drip from the ends of icicles. Go out at night. The vault of stars above you will never be clearer or more beautiful. On the nights around the full moon look for the moonshadows cast across the snow by leafless trees. Listen for owls. They are very active on winter nights.

Don't miss a third of the year! Bundle up and go outside today!

Winter Mushroom Hunt

2011-01-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

Turkey Tail Fungi

Although we usually think of traditional parasol-shaped mushrooms when we envision the Kingdom Fungi, the bracket fungi (also called shelf fungi) are interesting targets for nature study in all seasons. The fruiting bodies of bracket fungi can be found on dead or dying trees, stumps, and fallen logs and branches. Unlike "mushrooms," they are woody in texture and many species persist through the winter. The main portion of the fungi is comprised of threadlike hyphae hidden inside the tree where it absorbs the nutrients it needs for survival. Their role in the ecosystem is as decomposers breaking down wood into soil.

The Turkey Tail Fungi above is extraordinarily beautiful example of a bracket fungi. They are typically of varied brown shades, this one may have been colonized by algae, resulting in the green tint of the center rings. Bracket fungi, like this one, shed their spores from pores under their surface. So, on your winter walks, have some fun and scan the trees and logs for these hardy examples of Kingdom Fungi. Unlike lichen, they are not highly sensitive to pollution and are found in all regions even urban parks.

A good reference to the mushrooms if you live in the northeast: Mushrooms of Northeast North America by George Barron Lone Pine Publishing

Likin' Lichens

2011-01-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

Greensheild Lichen

Winter is a great time to focus our botanical eye on the lichens. Unlike herbaceous plants, these algae-fungi symbiotes do not die back in winter. As a result, they can be found on the ground, rocks, and trees year round. The greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) is very common in northeast North America. While other lichens are indicator species that die out in areas of high air pollution, it is comparatively pollution tolerant and so can still be found in many suburban regions.

Look for greenshield lichen on the bark of many kinds of trees. It has a foliose (leafy) appearance and a circular or oval growth pattern. Greenshield is one of the faster growing lichens. Your family can calculate the approximate age of any greenshield they find in the woods. These lichens grow about 5 millimeters per year. Bring a ruler with millimeter marks with you to the woods and measure from the center of the lichen to the furthest edge. Divide the total millimeters by five and you have the lichen's approximate age. If there are many greenshield lichens on the trees try to calculate the ages of the smallest and largest you find.

A good field guide to the lichens of northeastern North America is Lichens of the North Woods by Joe Walewski. In northwestern North America try Mosses, Lichens & Ferns by Dale H. Vitt, Janet E. Marsh and Robin B. Bovey.

Wintertime Opportunity

2011-01-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

Winter ice creates an inviting path.

At least once in January or February we take advantage of the deep freeze to explore the typically inaccessible depths of this red maple swamp. Sometimes we see the tracks of others, especially the red fox and coyote, demonstrating that our wild neighbors find the path appealing as well. See all the brown bumps above the ice? Those are hummocks covered by the frostbitten foliage of a wetland sedge.

It is wonderful to walk amongst the red maples without sinking to your hips in swampy mud. I find this place intriguing because it is mere yards from a well-traveled trail, yet probably never explored by anyone but us. It is truly a place we have made our own. Look for special places your family can make their own. You might be surprised to find untrammeled gems right beside the trail.

The Cat's Meow

2011-01-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

In nature study today we had help from an unexpected source. Our tiger cat sat in the window and made his characteristic hunting noise. This is what he does when he sees a particularly tasty bird he'd like to eat. It generally alerts us to the presence of a wild neighbor. However, this time his eyes were definitely bigger than his stomach! There was no way he could take down this birdie! When my son looked out the window to identify the object of the cat's attention, he found not a dainty songbird but a turkey vulture perched on a nearby branch. He advised the cat to look for smaller prey and called the rest of us up to view his find.

Note the turkey vulture's featherless head. Since vultures are scavengers and cannot preen their own heads, this adaptation helps them keep clean when feeding on carcasses. Though not at all appealing to humans, the vulture is adapted in many ways to its diet of dead flesh. It has much stronger stomach acids than other animals enabling it to avoid sickness from the bacteria present there. Vultures and other scavengers comprise the clean-up crew of the neighborhood helping recycle nutrients and removing putrefying remains from the environment.

Call Me Spike

2011-01-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

Winter weeds offer interesting subjects for nature study. Often all that remain are the stalks and seed capsules. This well-defended species is jimsonweed, or thorn-apple. Note the thorn-covered, four-part, open seed capsule. It is very impressive to look at. Jimsonweed is not native to the United States, and it is toxic to humans and livestock.

Take a winter walk and see what winter weeds persist through the seasons. They can be starkly beautiful against the snow. For those of you who live in northeast North America, and relish the challenge of identifying weeds in winter, you may want to check out June Carver Robert's field guide, Season of Promise: Wild Plants in Winter from Ohio University Press.

Night Visitor

2011-01-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

This is the sharpshin hawk I mentioned in a previous post.
It has been spending the nights in a cedar tree by my driveway.
I got close enough to take a photo tonight!
Note the banded tail feathers; the fluffed out, striped
breast feathers; and the dark patch at the top of the head.
Pretty amazing for something that most people would have just driven by!

Unusual Things in Small Packages

2011-01-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

What is in this mysterious package?

Yes it looks like something the cat coughed up, but it wasn't a cat
that left behind this animal sign. Let's look inside for some clues.

The kids and I used a stick to open up the package. What did we find inside? A rodent jaw, skull, scapula, leg bones, ribs, and backbone--the complete skeleton of a small mammal such as a mouse or vole--shrouded in its own hair. All the indigestible parts of the rodent are here in one tidy package.

Whatever ate this tasty morsel ate it whole. It's digestive system did the work of separating the good stuff from the bad. The indigestible bits were mushed together and coughed up. We found them where they fell on the ground under an oak tree. Who's stomach is so skillful? Why, this mysterious package is the digestive product of a great hunter of the wild, an owl. Owls eat their meals whole and expel the bones and hair soon after.

The package we found on the ground is called an "owl pellet." They are interesting to dissect. You can even assemble the bones of the mouse or vole in rough skeletal order, though I suggest using tweezers or disinfecting them first. Owl pellets are a delightful find. They give us information about the presence of owls in our neighborhood and about their preferred perches. So when you are scanning the ground on your next nature walk, keep an eye out for owl pellets!

Story in the Snow

2011-01-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

This is a perfect example of how we can practice nature study at any time and in any place. Even a short stroll down your street can reveal wonders. On this day, I found evidence of a wild neighbor's feeding behavior which revealed details of the food chain as well.

This photo was taken on the side of the road less than a quarter mile from my home. See the deep prints? Those were made by a gray squirrel. See the feathery prints on either side of them? Those were made by the wings of a hawk as he or she swooped down, talons extended, upon the squirrel. That there are no more squirrel tracks after this impact imply that the hawk was successful in its attack.

So no excuses, make nature walks part of your daily routine. You never know what you might find.

Welcome

2011-01-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Look for promethea moth cocoons dangling
from shrubs in winter. Promethea caterpillars
use their silk to wrap themselves in a leaf before they pupate.
These cocoons are often found on spicebush!

Welcome to the Nature Study for the Whole Family Blog. Along with my book Nature Study for the Whole Family, I hope this will be a resource for you and your family as you venture outdoors to meet your wild neighbors.

Nature Study is one of the most enriching pursuits you can share with your child. No other activity is so variable, so personal, or so endlessly interesting as discovering the living world around us. Though nature study has been practiced for thousands of years, you can start today and make it your own just by heading out the door and beginning to investigate all the myriad life forms that make their homes in your backyard or local park.

Here in northeastern North America, we are experiencing typical winter weather including snow and ice. This poses a challenge to the nature explorer. Many of my favorite preserves do not have the financial resources to plow the parking areas and so these are inaccessible for a while. Because of this, our family tends to rely on the backyard for nature study in bad weather.

You might be surprised to find how many interesting creatures have taken up residence on your land. Driving out of our driveway the other night, my headlights picked up a whitish blob in a cedar tree. As it looked out of place, I popped the car in reverse and aimed the headlights precisely where I wanted to look. After a moment, I got out of the car and crossed the crusted snow. There on a branch ten feet above the ground was --not the blob of snow I expected-- but a sharpshin hawk, sound asleep! The hawk used this roost for three nights in a row. I took the kids out each night and we tiptoed across the snow to see him. The white chest, fluffy white and tan feathers near the wings and the striped tail were all visible from where we stood about five feet away. The hawk was undisturbed by our presence and we were able to get a close up of one of our resident raptors. And to think, we would have missed it had I not stopped to investigate a mysterious white blob instead of passing it by as I rushed out on my errands!

Starting Your Own Family Nature Study Club

2008-05-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

Nature Strollers
Orange County Audubon Society NY

What is Nature Strollers?
Nature Strollers is a program of the Orange County Audubon Society (Audubon NY) that was developed by Laurel Dodge and Kathleen Diamond for families with young children. The Nature Strollers program offers weekly nature walks on child-friendly trails. The format is unstructured and socializing is encouraged. Nature study is modeled by the leaders and families are instructed in search techniques and encouraged to make their own discoveries. Nature Strollers differs from common naturalist-led programs in that the objective is not a traditional guided walk, but an opportunity for families to discover what interests them.

Mission Statement
The mission of the Nature Strollers is to support parents and grandparents in their role as primary interpreters of nature for their families; to provide opportunities for families to enjoy unstructured time outdoors; to familiarize families with local trails, refuges, sanctuaries, and preserves; and to develop networks among families with a common interest in nature.

Getting Started
To start a Nature Strollers Club you need:
* Audubon Chapter or other Environmental Organization Support
* Child-friendly Trails
* Parent Leaders
* Flexible Scheduling

Audubon Chapter (Other Organization) Support
We recommend volunteering to lead your family nature study walks under the umbrella of an established organization such as your local Audubon Society Chapter, Sierra Club Chapter, or a local Nature Center or local not-for profit environmental group. This is for your protection, as these organizations often will insure you (be sure to ask appropriate questions to be sure the organization’s insurance will cover your walks and activities, and if there are any stipulations placed on them by their insurance company).

The National Audubon Society supports many local and state chapters which present talks and lead walks for the public. The Orange County Audubon Society has member-leaders in charge of all its walks. The Chapter provides liability insurance covering the leaders provided that the walks are advertised in the newsletter or online. To cover our weekly and impromptu walks, we put a description of Nature Strollers on the website that includes the fact that we offer weekly walks throughout the year in addition to the scheduled walks listed.

Parent Leaders desiring to volunteer through Audubon should become member of their local Audubon Chapter and keep their membership current. Members interested in starting a Nature Strollers Club should introduce themselves to the president or education director of their local chapter. Express your interest in starting a Nature Strollers Club like that the Orange County Audubon Society developed. Provide our materials and website for support.

You may choose to lead a family nature study club without the support of an organization, but we recommend contacting your insurance company to see if you need to purchase any additional insurance to do so. If doing it on your own, ask families to sign a waiver, and emphasize that parents are responsible for their own children.

Child Friendly Trails
We classify a trail as child friendly if it is smooth enough for a three year old to walk or a parent to push a jogging stroller. There should be no drop off edges on the trail, nor many exposed rocks or roots to trip or injure a child.

Parent Leaders
Identify someone already actively hiking with their children who can be recruited to help you lead. Ideally there should be two leaders to share duties and cover one another in the case of illness, accident or lateness. The second leader may be found amongst the participants in your initial hikes, suggesting themselves by their reliability, availability, curiosity and interest.

I must emphasize that parent leaders need not be experts or trained naturalists. They are modeling a process of learning—the search techniques that help find wildlife, the observational techniques that help discern the creature or plant’s structure, the identification techniques (use of field guide), and most importantly, the infectious enthusiasm that comes from finding something new or revisiting old wildlife friends, year after year.

Organizational Skills of the Parent Leader
A) Keep records of the Nature Strollers members (names of adults and children, addresses, emails and phone)
B) Check weather in advance
C) Hike all trails prior to leading a walk
D) Email upcoming trip descriptions (Date, time, location, directions, description of trail conditions, admission fees if any). A Yahoo Group is useful for this.
E) Keep records of hikes (take notes of wildlife seen) and numbers of participants
F) Possibly maintain a Nature Strollers blog with photos and field notes
G) If possible report back to Laurel and Kathleen about your successes

Flexible Scheduling
Besides the feeling of safety in numbers, I believe that this feature is the number one reason Nature Strollers has attracted so many families. Other scheduling concerns, work, school enrichment activities often conflict with nature programs when just one day and time is chosen for walks. For example, if Nature Strollers was only held on Tuesdays at 10:30 am, no one with a child in Tues-Thurs preschool could ever come even if they were interested. Making an effort to offer walks many days of the week and at different times accommodates the most members.

A) Weekends: Good for working parents, school children
B) Mornings: Good for families with little ones who nap in the afternoon
C) Afternoons: Good for those in morning preschool
D) After school: Good for elementary to high school kids

Our weekend walks are often scheduled a few months in advance. We try to plan them to coincide with a wildflower bloom or natural phenomenon we observed the year before (toads mating in April, Northern Cricket frogs in May, Fireflies in July etc.) The advanced scheduling coupled with advertising in the Chapter newsletter and in local newspaper events columns provides long term planning for those who need it and often helps us pick up new members.

Weekly walks are usually planned and emailed to members on the weekend before. We check the weekly forecast and plan accordingly. We cancel if the weather changes for the worse as many of our members have infants and are not often convinced to come out in the rain or freezing cold, but via email can reschedule easily.

Impromptu walks are spur-of-the-moment decisions on the part of the parent leaders. Particularly good weather, a wildlife sighting, or just a desire to get out there may inspire the leader to phone the “regulars” who come on many walks to see if any are available to walk on the same day.

Preparing for Your First Hike
Your initial hikes will be scouting trips. Walk possible trails with your children to look for any impassible or dangerous areas. Choose a couple of trails that are the easiest and most interesting in terms of habitat (a rail trail that runs between businesses and parking lots is not the most productive for nature study). Note a few particularly interesting features you want to point out on the hike, but don’t go overboard, the objective is to allow families to discover nature on their own while on the hike, not to script the experience.

Write up a description of your Family Hiking Club for the your advertising (organization newsletter, website, handouts, fliers). Follow the description with two or three scheduled hikes. It is best to start with weekend hikes. Always include date, time, place, directions, and trail description. Include the fact that they are for the whole family and are stroller friendly. Hikes should be about one hour in length.

Advertise the hikes in the local events section of the newspaper. Talk them up and pass out fliers amongst any groups you belong to PTA, moms’ clubs, brownies or cub scouts, etc. Ask if you can hang a flier at the local library.

The Day of the Hike
On the day of the hike, arrive early, bring field guides to common plants and animals of your area (lightweight beginners guides are best), bug repellent, sunblock, and water (enough to share if necessary). As people arrive have them fill out index cards with their names and contact information, and sign liability waivers if necessary. Begin the walk ten minutes after scheduled arrival time. Often participants with small children are late, but at the same time, punctual families will hate to wait in the parking lot for stragglers.

Introduce yourself and your Audubon chapter or organizational affiliation. Pass out any information you have created about your Nature Strollers Club and membership brochures for your local Audubon Chapter or organization. Lay out the ground rules—no picking wildflowers, that children must always be able to see their parents, and that parents must keep track of their own children. Mention that socializing is great, but to keep their eyes out for any interesting plant or animal along the trail. Invite families to call out when they see something to share it with all the others and that you have field guides so you can try and find out what it is together.

Remember the first walk will be the hardest because you will be simultaneously scanning the trailsides for interesting bugs, flowers, trees, birds, and other animals and moving through the group to engaging the new Nature Strollers in conversation to make each one feel welcome and included.

Respond with enthusiasm to every new discovery and demonstrate how to look things up in the field guide. Hand the guides over to those who appear able to use them. The objective is to get the parents to do these things themselves when they take their families out on nature walks on their own.

Let the parents talk amongst themselves. Let the kids play If the kids start to climb trees or wade in the brook, stop the group to supervise, but keep up the conversation and search the area for interesting plants and animals. Often you will find more when you stop moving.

At the end of the walk thank everyone for coming, tell them the date, time, and location of your next walk, and remind them to check everyone for ticks, if you live in a tick-infested region.

Go home exhausted and recognize that each time you lead a walk it gets easier and easier. Over time you will be so familiar with the trails that you will do absolutely no preparation and just take sightings as they come. As families come on more and more hikes, they too will take on much of the burden of looking for wildlife and will come to have favorite places to stop and explore.

If there are unanswered questions from a hike, take some time to look up the answers at home and email the information to the hike participants. They appreciate your follow-up, and if you share your sources (book, website) they will realize that they too can find the answers to their questions about nature with just a little investigation.
Hints and Tips.

I have been known to pass by obvious plants or animals of interest, trusting that one of the children or adults with me will see it and get much more out of the excitement of discovery than they would having me point it out.

Pause the group when parents are having trouble with a hungry, fussy, or hurt child. Do not focus the attention of the group on the child, but encourage them to examine the surroundings for wildlife clues.

Showing the families that you don’t know everything is a gift to them. In fact, NOBODY knows everything about the wildlife in a given area (even if they act like they do), and if you demonstrate how you learned what you do know (through example, anecdotes, etc.) it will give them a model to follow as they do more and more nature study on their own.

Allow parents with hysterical children to turn back. If the trail is straight and obvious (and by this I mean there are no side trails) let them go on their own. If there is any chance of confusion, have your co-leader or see if another family will volunteer to go back with them.