25 Years of Wonder in Warner Park
October 27, 2021
Shared by Kim Bailey
Naturalist
Twenty-five years ago I began a life-changing career as a naturalist at Warner Park. It was truly a dream come true to find work that allowed me to study, protect and educate others about nature, since it is my avocation as well. Over these 25 years I have worked with some of the best educators in the field, led thousands of curious students on field trips, and met countless people who are drawn to the beauty and wonder of Warner Park.
Two of my favorite aspects of my job: kids and insects! These students were enthralled to see a cave cricket up close.
To illustrate the park’s impact on my life, I’ll share a few of my favorite stories.
In the spring of 2003 I led a field trip for Spring Hill Elementary. When we came to the small pond on campus, I mentioned to the students how lucky they were to see the pond because soon it would be filled in to make way for a sidewalk. We proceeded to catch leeches and snails and search for frogs among the lily pads. The children were sad to hear that this life-filled habitat would soon be gone.
Within a week of their visit, a package of letters arrived. “Dear (the powers that be at Warner Park), Please save the little pond! You wouldn’t want to kill the snails, leeches, frogs, lily pads and mosquito larvae. When I come back I want to hear the frogs croak.” (Clearly my message of inter-connectedness had been taken to heart!) Other letters took a more challenging tone. “If you are a good person why would you put a sidewalk through the pond?” and “How would you feel if the snails and leeches destroyed your habitat?”
An emergency meeting was convened to discuss the “radical protest” and the pond was rerouted. After all, how can you deny earnest third graders who are taking their first steps as environmental stewards?
The sidewalk would now hug the barn, but alas, the redbud would have to come down. I conveyed the news to the teacher. Her class had saved the pond! But now the redbud was in danger.
A week passed. A new packet of letters arrived. “Please oh please, don’t cut the redbud down!” It was a lesson in the impassioned logic of children not bogged down by adult practicalities. If a pond could be saved, surely a redbud could also be rescued! One child argued, “The redbud tree gives animals homes and us oxygen. It’s your choice, make it the right one.” Another wrote, “Without a redbud, what would spring do?”
If you have any doubt as to the power of children’s voices, stop by and visit the little pond and redbud tree still thriving near the barn.
~~~
Some of my favorite memories involve the community center kids attending Pen Pals camp. Many of them began a night hike with fear and trepidation. I remember a new-moon night when we began our walk in pitch darkness. We formed a snake-like chain as we took tentative steps into the unknown. The child behind me had an iron grip on my arm, who was gripped by the next child who was gripped by the next. And so we inched along the trail like a massive caterpillar, as I felt our way forward with my foot, reaching out with my hand to make sure I didn’t smack into a tree. I don’t know why it felt important to do this hike without flashlights, but I wanted to give them a sense of accomplishment, especially given the fact that most had never stepped foot in a forest, much less at night! The voices behind me held a mixture of fear and excitement but we made it all the way up to the road. The pride in their voices was unmistakable as we settled down to talk about nocturnal animals and listen for owls.
As we emerged from the forest and headed back to the lodge, one of the girls who had been completely terrified at the hike’s beginning said “It’s over already? I’m not ready to go back!” This pre-teen now knew how to imitate a barred owl and find spider eyes with a flashlight. Her words were music to my ears!
~~~
A veteran suffering from PTSD came with a group for a nature center tour. He was absolutely terrified of snakes. When he heard there was a snake at the pond, he initially refused to go see it. After assuring him we would keep a safe distance, he finally agreed to cross the rocks. A 6-year old boy ran up and began excitedly telling him that it was a midland watersnake and proceeded to tell him why it was so cool! As the man listened, his tensed body slowly relaxed and he drew a little closer, beginning to watch the snake with interest. At the end of the program he pulled me aside and said with tears in his eyes that the experience had transformed his life. After witnessing this young boy’s enthusiasm for snakes, he had been able to release much of his fear. He was now eager to teach his grandkids to be curious, not afraid, of snakes.
Observing a Midland Water Snake sunning by the pond had a huge impact on a park visitor, thanks to a young snake enthusiast.
~~~
Ever wonder how the Burch Reserve’s Pickerel Pond got its name? It involves a mystery sound heard one night while Melissa Donahue, her daughter Casey and I were conducting amphibian research in the park. We call it “froglogging” when we go into the park at night and listen for frogs calling during breeding season. As we climbed the hill toward the large pond we heard an odd sound that was reminiscent of a low snore.
Memories of frogs whose calls sounded like snoring came to mind - maybe a Pickerel or Crawfish Frog? It turned out to be a Pickerel frog, which was not only a park record but a county record. The news gained attention in the press and Channel 4 did a story -even the AP picked it up!
~~~
Another night while froglogging, I heard a splash as I stood by Willow Pond. I shone my flashlight toward the water and saw a young squirrel crawling out of the water. It made a beeline for me and before I could react, it climbed my jeans and perched on my shoulder! The little guy had fallen from a willow that hung over the pond. I felt I had no choice but to take it home for the night. When I returned the next morning, we could find no sign of a nest or any other squirrels. So my new buddy went to Walden's Puddle until he was big enough to be released.
Photo by Bert Bailey
~~~
One of the bravest things I have ever done happened one beautiful day when someone noticed a swarm of honeybees on the dogwood tree outside the library. The staff gathered in awe and excitement. Then it was decided that Bob Parrish, the most experienced beekeeper, would stick his hand in the ball of bees. Say what?! He insisted that bees aren’t aggressive when they swarm and if you are calm you can safely do this. Vera Roberts, the other beekeeper at the time, followed suit. Suddenly I HAD to do it! I remember climbing the ladder with my heart pounding in my chest and sticking my hand in that pulsating mass of bees. Bees were buzzing all around my head and I felt heat in the center of the ball from all that throbbing. I alternated between exhilaration and terror in the short time (surely an hour..) that I was immersed in bees!
~~~
One of the biggest gifts of my work was Time, as year after year I had the opportunity to witness the Park’s seasonal rhythms unfold. The knowledge that the first bloodroot blooms in early March and a yellow-bellied sapsucker’s odd “mew” is heard in winter has seeped into my bones over the years.
This photo from March 2015 shows the joy I feel when I see bloodroot!
This awareness of nature's cycles has enriched my life and contributes to my anticipation of each coming season. I no longer dislike winter’s cold and dreary days – that’s when a tree’s “architecture” is revealed. The heat and humidity of summer not only brings out the mosquitoes, but the steady drum of cicadas. Spring wildflowers pop up each year like old friends and autumn's luminous display of color never ceases to inspire me. I have learned that the Park offers something new – dare I say magical – every single day, when you are paying attention.
This red bat looked like a kiwi hanging in a tulip poplar along the Warner Woods trail. Closer inspection (without touching the bat), revealed it was one of our resident bat species who prefers roosting in trees, not caves.
This male Eastern newt undulated his fin-like tail over a female in hopes of wooing her.
A box turtle found the perfect spot in front of the nature center to lay her eggs.
Graham Gerdeman captured the moment she laid an egg.
A crayfish carries its eggs tucked neatly under its tail.
A few years ago the staff discovered leeches in the nature center pond carrying their young underneath them! Who knew leeches provided childcare?!
Mockingbird nestlings hidden deep within a vine were a treat to find.
Is there anything cuter than a tiny snapping turtle?!
Occasionally we’d find a young bat that didn’t make it back to its roost. We always left it alone so that it could find its way home after dark.
Of course, not all sightings were warm and fuzzy! Competition and predation can be seen in the park as well.
It’s not easy being a large caterpillar. Turns out there are a number of insects that will lay their eggs on you. This sphinx moth caterpillar is the victim of a parasitoid wasp.
It’s a bug eat bug world out there. Robber flies are ferocious hunters and bees are often unlucky prey.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the impact of working at a nature center that studies and bands birds. When I arrived on the job I was into mammals, insects and trees, but now I am absolutely crazy about birds – just ask my family! I went from not knowing a chickadee from a titmouse, to banding them along with many other species. The expertise and patience of the banders was invaluable.
Photo by Sandy Bivens
My stories could go on and on. But suffice it to say that I have known countless moments of wonder and discovery over the last 25 years. I am deeply grateful to have been a student of Nature herself, but I can't forget all the people that have brought joy my way.
I am grateful...
For all of the beautiful, inquisitive children that took to nature like a duck to water…
For volunteers that lit up my days with their smiles…
Kaaren May and Linda Cohen are two of the volunteers that made field trips flow smoothly.
For home school families whose children grew up in front of my eyes…
Liz, Wynonna and Cody Koontz, Amy, Benjamin and Hannah Pardo and Lauren and Della Hoffman are some of the families that have made time at work special.
For fellow educators throughout Middle Tennessee that helped with special events and programming...
Steve Murphree's station at Insects of the Night was always a hit.
or shared their students with us...
Rick Stanley of Hume-Fogg was one of the exceptional teachers whose students participated in our programs.
For those high school students that delved into ecosystems, water quality, forest ecology and more...
MLK students taking measurements for a Succession lab.
I was honored to co-chair the Tennessee Environmental Literacy Plan Task Force. The plan was accepted by TDEC in 2012 and still awaits adoption.
For the many seasonals that brightened up summers.
Above all, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with each staff person that has graced the nature center during my tenure. Although nature was clearly the star over the years, my life is inextricably linked with my co-workers. I could write a book about what they have taught me. We have become the ad hoc kind of family you see on tv; all of us unique, all of us bonded by love of a park and its mission to educate, conserve and recreate responsibly. Oh the stories we can tell! Like the one about a certain staff retreat that began with a casserole dish of bean dip and ended with a box of bean dip "chocolates" in a valentines box gifted anonymously in a mailbox… just one of many jokes we played on each other!
We have shared laughter and wonder, pondered questions about nature and the world, celebrated the good times and supported each other through the hard times, and come out the better because of it. Thank you doesn’t begin to reveal the depth of my gratitude.
A quote hangs on my bulletin board: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our life.”
It’s a reminder that our daily choices add up. In a flash, years go by.
How lucky am I that so many of my days were spent with such dedicated people in this most beautiful of places, Warner Park.
~Kim Bailey retired in September after 25 years as a Naturalist at Warner Park Nature Center.
All photos by Kim Bailey except staff photos from Warner Park Archives or where noted.
