Junior Master Naturalists at Berry Springs! [Service Project 2019]

The adventure of life is to learn. 

The purpose of life is to grow. 

The nature of life is to change. 

The challenge of life is to overcome. 

The essence of life is to care. 

The opportunity of like is to serve. 

The secret of life is to dare. 

The spice of life is to befriend. 

The beauty of life is to give.

~ William Arthur Ward

What can I say about these young naturalists? They are smart and curious - hardworking and efficient. They don't mess around.

This is the second year I have known some of them and their families.* It is the second year I have attended their service project - getting the scum and such off the ponds at Berry Springs Park.  And once again I am so inspired by these young people.

After working like maniacs for two hours, they picked up their tools (rakes, rope, gloves) and headed home with another service project under their belts. They navigated a fire ant attack and kept working -- taking time out to "observe" some Blanchard's Cricket Frogs that were calling nearby and to take a "bird break" to welcome the Yellow-crowned Night Heron back to the park.**

Berry Springs is one of "my" parks. I love it. I come here to be in the wild, alone and with friends. It's a park full of wonder. So here are a couple of photos of the naturalists and more of the nature.

Find your park.

So, you throw the rake out into the muck. A rope is tied on the rake and you hang on to the other end so you can pull the rake with the attached yucky stuff to shore. The scum and such is then hauled away leaving a much clearer pond surface for the creatures that live there and the park patrons who fish.

Families* get in on the act...you are never to young to volunteer.

Bird Break! See that Night Heron across the pond? [Don't worry. You know I have more photos!]

The heron was perched on a limb.

Was it asleep?

I don't know if it was sleeping, but it was balanced on one leg - unipedal resting.***

They are odd birds - somewhat like a Great Blue Heron. There is often one at these ponds during the spring and summer.

Come take a walk with me along the paths and trails and see what we could see...


I. What other birds were in the park on Saturday? Well, besides the YCNH there were cardinals, White-crowned Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Great-tailed Grackles, Northern Mocking Birds, vultures, Red-winged Blackbirds, Blue Jays, Eastern Bluebirds and more. Here are a few photos snagged before and after the pond cleaning:

Northern Cardinal. This is the male. The female was there too, but she avoided the camera.

Field sparrow.

Really bad shot of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Carolina Wren on top of a dead tree sing loud and proud!

Singing and singing.

White-crowned Sparrow.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

One of the Northern Mockingbirds refused to turn around.

This mockingbird was making his presence and territory known.

Another mockingbird flew in.

And as I prepared to leave the park, a Great Blue Heron flew over. There is often a GBH at the ponds.

II. What flowers did we see? It is the beginning of the bloom and lovely. Here are some of the wildflowers and other plants just getting started:

The park was covered in blooming dewberry vines.

Wild onions

Wine cup (this is a special one that doesn't bloom just anywhere).

Fleabane (a tiny multi-petaled daisy-looking thing)

Creeping Buttercup

Rusty Blackhaw

Watercress

Dakota Mock Vervain

Texas Bluebonnets

Texas Paintbrushes

Blue Water-Speedwell. It's a lovely delicate flower blooming all around the water-ways.

Buffalo Gourd - Okay, it's not blooming, but it will. It's a stinky gourd...very interesting.

This is a Prickly Poppy I suspect. Whatever it is, I'll fall in it and be stung when the flower comes. DO NOT PICK!

Texas Baby Blue Eyes (with some vetch growing among the blooms).

Closeup of Texas Baby Blue Eyes bloom.

Ten Petal Anemone (white flower).

Ten Petal Anemone (pink flower).

False Dayflower between two Baby Blue Eyes blooms.

This is sort of cheating. I only saw these blooming on the road just outside of the park, but they are lovely. It's the Texas Star.

III. There were insects too. Here are a couple that posed (I made them extra large so you can see them better):

Pearl Crescent

Rambur's Forktail (It is a damsel fly/dragonfly type insect).

IV. Amphibians? We saw and heard Blanchard's Cricket Frogs.

This is a "good-sized" cricket frog. They are difficult to catch. Well done!

 V. What about mammals? One can always depend on a squirrel to show up!

Fox Squirrel

NOTES:

*This is an incredible group - parents as well as older and younger siblings pitch in. Good Water Master Naturalist volunteers assist. And park employees are there to provide guidance and some muscle as well as hauling the piles of green stuff away.

**I am easily distracted. Most of the JMNs saw the heron (One young volunteer declined a bird break - "I'm here to work," she said.). One young naturalist recognized the bird. And I never did get the recording of the cricket frogs. They stopped calling about the time the project was complete.

*** https://www.birdnote.org/show/why-birds-stand-one-leg
https://goodmorninggloucester.org/2013/12/28/why-do-herons-stand-on-one-leg/