It's been a productive 3 months here at the Nature Center learning how to become a naturalist. Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by the outdoors and have loved being outside exploring nature. I would climb any tree I saw, look under rocks, and count the roly-polys I found. I would head down to my local creek to catch tadpoles and crawdads and watch those tadpoles turn into frogs. Little did child me know, but I would become a Naturalist and help inspire and educate people to be as passionate about the environment as I am. I have had to tap into my childhood wonderment since starting here at Warner Parks and I can't imagine ever going back!
My first month at Warner was a huge whirlwind. Everything was new to me and I tried to soak up as much information as I could from the wonderful knowledgeable staff that is here. I had fun exploring the park and finding interesting things. My first day I found some intriguing insects I had never seen before. They were a complete mystery to me and my fellow naturalists. I took note of their features, took some pictures and I finally was able to identify them as bark lice (or tree cattle). With a name like that you'd think they are pests when in fact they perform a very necessary function, cleaning the bark of trees by eating fungus, lichen, dead cells, etc. It was so fun having such a huge mystery to solve on my first day and it was just the beginning of many more.
After starting, the staff here had me jump right into my duties! Here at WPNC my main focus will be providing public programing and it felt fitting that my first public program would be one of the more involved programs we hold, Vulture Feeding.
The Program was lots of fun and I had to learn so much about vultures to prepare. For example, did you know that vulture's poop on their legs to keep cool? Pretty gross, but pretty cool, right? It was just so much fun getting to share these facts while watching the vultures feast on the roadkill we had next to the Learning Center.
I also got to help with many other programs such as ones supporting bird banding, looking for spiders, fall leaves, and looking at soil. Preparing for all these topics meant I had to become an expert quickly. I've learned so many new fun facts and information about so much of our local ecosystem. One of them being harvestmen spiders aren't actually spiders, and thus do not spin webs or have venom!
Not only did I get thrown right into public programming I also got to do my first school field trips! I love getting to work with children of all ages and I hope that I can inspire them to all find their own inner naturalist. My favorite lab we did with students was the water quality lab. In this lab we took students over to the Little Harpeth, tested the water to detect pollutants and searched for macro invertebrates. We even caught some fish and a snake in the water!
One of my favorite things about being a Naturalist is getting to go roving through the park. I love getting to find neat things throughout the park, and I know each time I go out I will find something interesting or something I can't identify. Late summer was a great time finding caterpillars, and butterflies. In fall I was constantly on the hunt for different mushrooms, and I was able to find some species I had never seen in the wild before such as lion's mane, chicken of the woods, and giant puffball.
I am so excited to be on the WPNC staff and I am really excited to get started on all the programing ideas I have for next year! My goal is to bring some more programs in around sustainability. I hope I can inspire wonder into people about the natural environment around them for many years to come!
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