By Margaux Escutin

Thursday, February 10, 2011

This semester, the wildlife conservation interns will work on a variety of hands-on, engaging projects, including working on a box turtle connection research project, creating a wildlife-friendly pond, constructing wildlife gardens, and participating in a biological inventory program.  Despite all the projects going on, we still have the opportunity to explore the woods and learn field natural history.  Today, we took a turn from more widely traveled trails on Leigh Farm Park and opted to take the less-traveled Merganser Trail, making observations and asking questions about the natural world and learning, always learning, from our environment.

The Merganser Trail’s namesake is that of a large diving duck found in the Northern Hemisphere, but we were not on the lookout for species of the billed variety.  Our goal was to clip branches in bud in order to be able to identify wintertime trees denuded of leaves.  PWC emphasizes that its interns find the time they spend here enriching and that interns work on projects that challenge and interest them, as well as build knowledge in areas where we are deficient.

What I love about these woodsy rambles is that Sarah, PWC’s Education Coordinator, addresses the random questions I have or that we are allowed to stop when we observe something of interest and ask a question.  We also have to opportunity to delve into topics we want to explore more.  These enrichment walks allow participants to shape this time into something relevant and meaningful for them.

Nature is in constant flux, and the woods are a teacher with an ever-changing syllabus.  We stop to look at the various trees we observe and find a variety of tracks in the woods, a good deal of which I can identify.  I know I probably would not been able to before I started my internship at Piedmont Wildlife Center.

We admire the pale gold leaves that cling to the branches of the Southern Sugar Maple.  We marvel at a gall in a tree that an insect created as she laid her eggs.  We see rows of holes created by the yellow-bellied sapsucker and learn how the bird revisits the sap wells for trapped insects.  We see what might be the native crossvine and learn about how it sometimes has a purple underside as a field marker.  We examine trees with opposite branching and learn a pneumonic device to remember their names: MAD CAP HORSE, which stand for maple, ash, dogwood, Caprifoliaceae, horse chestnut, followed by Paulownia and Catalpa.  We find vernal pools inside the forest, prime real estate if you are an egg-laying amphibian, and the less desirable ephemeral pools, which can evaporate, beyond its edge.

It’s amazing how much you can learn just by keeping your eyes and ears open during a pleasant stroll in the park.