OCVN Killdeer Plains workshop

I have learned by blogging that there are lots of folks out there who are interested in the natural world, and that they engage themselves with the natural world in many different ways.  Some do it through art (painting, writing, photography, etc.), some do it through their day job (paid naturalists, wildlife rehabbers, etc.), some do it on the side as a hobby (bird watching, butterfly watching, vernal pool monitoring, etc.).  Regardless of how we each choose to connect with nature, it inevitably leads to us learn more about our particular interests.  Usually one little tidbit of knowledge hooks us, and we feel the need to keep the learning going and going.

This past weekend I kept up my end of that bargain by surrounding myself with 35 other Ohio Certified Volunteer Natruralists and 4 expert guides at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area in Wyandot and Marion Counties.  We split our time between presentations and field work, spending 2 hours in the field to each hour of classroom-style background presentations.  The topics covered were plants, birds, beetles and butterflies.



Out in the field learning about plants from expert David Brandenburg (2nd from right).
Here in Ohio we are very lucky to have wonderful and talented experts in a wide variety of natural history topics who are willing to share what they know with those of us who still have a lot to learn.  David Brandenburg is the staff botanist at the Dawes Arboretum, and previously worked as a field botanist for the ODNR Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.  In April of this year his book, National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America, was published.  The layout is unique in that plants are grouped by family rather than by color, and range maps are included along with color plates and descriptions.  I find the grouping by family to be especially helpful since I am finally getting a grasp on what types of flowers belong to what families - I would prefer to narrow a flower down to a particular family right off the bat rather than flipping through endless white flower color plates, for example.  Needless to say, I was very excited to purchase my own autographed copy directly from David himself.

Bob Placier lives in my neck of the woods and is an instructor of various natural science courses at nearby Hocking College.  He talked to us about birds, but he also he also teaches about ecology, conservation biology and environmental science.  Bob is a licensed bird bander and is a board member of the Ohio Ornithological society.  I hope to spend some of my volunteer hours in October and November working with Bob and his team when they conduct banding and research on Northern Saw-Whet Owls.

George Keeney opened up the world of beetles to many of us.  He manages the Insectary at Ohio State University, and is a research associate at the Department of Entomology at the university.  He has played an important role in the recent reintroduction of the federally endangered American burying beetle in such southeast Ohio forests as Wayne National Forest, Zaleski State Forest and Waterloo Wildlife Area and Research Station.  He told us a number of anecdotes that illustrated that researching and collecting beetles is not a glamorous job, but definitely one that is never boring (one such story involved exploding fermented raw chicken!).

Jim Davidson was our butterfly expert, and he went "old school" on us by using a slide projector to illustrate his presentation.  In this age of PowerPoint talks, it was a bit refreshing to see the slides.  Jim is a retired pathologist, and is the current vice president of the Ohio Lepidopterists.  We learned that the Franklin County Metroparks now owns one of his former properties and that this site is specifically protected as a butterfly preserve, one of few sites like it anywhere.  Jim sure knows his butterflies, and is able to identify many of them by sight from quite a distance.  (I will admit, though, to being distracted greatly by the birds during our butterfly walk... no disrespect to Jim.)

Jim McCormac, with whom many of you are probably already familiar, talked to us about a successful wetland restoration project that is located just a bit northwest of Killdeer Plains. The wetland has seen a dramatic increase in biological diversity since it was completed in 2005, and he showed us how many of the species that either breed or migrate through this wetland connect a small 500-acre portion of Ohio to points north in Canada and to locations almost to the southern tip of South America.  Jim also took us out for a night walk and helped us make some sense of all the singing insects.


When you attend workshops like this, you don't have to worry about looking silly when you tuck your pants into your socks in an effort to keep ticks at bay because everyone else is doing it, too.  And you don't feel at all odd for foraging for deer dung or a raccoon carcass in search of beetles because that's what you're there for!  Only the most hardy (or foolish) nature lovers would offer themselves to the mosquitoes and deer flies (because you can't possibly douse every square inch with enough bug spray to deter them) in order to attend a night "prowl" to bear witness to the vast array of night-singing insects and frogs.  We were all in it together, and I must admit the the sense of community that was present at this event was just as wonderful as all the knowledge gleaned.  I had a chance to see some friends from the blogosphere as well as a number of my classmates from the Hocking Hills region OCVN.

I should also mention that Rae Johnson and the Licking County OCVN were amazing hosts to us all, and I have to thank them for putting on such an amazing weekend!  Next up I'll show you how we went from classroom to field with plants.

Is nature drawing this turtle out of her shell?

During the summer I shared some facts about myself (see all 7 random things about moi), one item which surprised some of you: I am an introvert. In addition to that, I can be quite shy, especially around people I don't know. So I surprised myself a few years ago when I attended a weekend-long overnight camp for grown-ups known as Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW for short). I had been aware of the existence of such activities for a few years prior to that, but I had to really work up my courage to sign up for and actually attend this event. There would be lots of ladies there I didn't know. We would have to share sleeping quarters. I would be there by myself, with no "buddy" to lean on. =gulp!=

The driving reason that got me out the door and to the event was being close to nature, and perhaps more importantly, learning new things about nature (and about myself). And you know what? This introvert survived, and had a lot of fun in the process. So much so that I attended a similar event the following year (this one hosted by the National Wild Turkey Federation). More fun and learning ensued. Another great benefit: an increased sense of self-confidence and independence. I've never found myself to necessarily be lacking in these two areas, but I have found that I am stronger than I had first thought. And both events were held in great outdoors locations, which made me feel quite at home.



Ladies gathering prizes after skits at the BOW event in September 2006.


Some ladies refining their canoeing skills at the Women in the Outdoors (WITO) event in September 2007.

This time last year I was still reeling from my first visit to the Wilds, where I attended their first-ever Photography Camp (a program that was so successful that they offered it on 2 separate weekends this year!). It was an incredible experience on many levels. Due to the nature of the program, we got a slightly closer look at the animals than one might on a normal "public" excursion at the Wilds. We got to spend more time with the animals than I think is the norm, and the buses stopped whenever we asked them to (photo ops are unpredictable with wild animals, you know). I was truly moved by the majesty and beauty of all the different animals we got to experience and photograph. On top of that, I learned quite a few things about photography. Nothing earth-shattering, I will admit, but enough to make me more comfortable with my camera and to give me more "shooting" confidence in general. Oh, and I was around more people I didn't know. But by this point, I didn't care. I didn't have to think twice about signing up for this camp. I had finally gotten the "being with strangers" jitters out of my system. Thank goodness!


Herd of bison ambling along in front of our bus at the Wilds, September 2008.

Close encounter with a bison. (Julie, if you're reading, these pictures are for you.)
In an effort to continue my outdoors education, I attended the Birding by Ear camp at the Wilds in May of this year. Yet again it was information and sensory overload, but in the best way. We were a MUCH smaller group at this camp (10 plus the group leaders), so it was harder for me to keep to myself as I have learned I can do in larger groups, but that was okay. We were all there for a common purpose, so that made it a little more comfortable.

Our group of like-minded birders, trying to find who is singing in the trees (the Wilds, May 2009).
There was a new element to this outing though - I would be meeting a fellow nature/bird blogger for the very first time (Jim McCormac was one of our group leaders for the weekend). So, in a very small sense, there was someone there I knew, albeit it only via the miracles of the interwebs. Jim (and Al Parker, our other group leader) made sure we all left there entertained and with lots of facts in our brains.

My most recent nature-loving/nature-learning experience, as you may have guessed, was the Midwest Birding Symposium held up at Lakeside, OH several weeks ago. This is the first time Dave has accompanied me on one of these trips, and I was delighted that he had such a good time. There was so much to see, and more bloggers to meet, and lots of really nice birding folks to be around.

A packed house in Hoover Auditorium at the 2009 Midwest Birding Symposium.

So to answer the question posed via the title of this post, I guess nature is slowly pulling me out of my shell. It is the common theme for all of these outings, and I have been so glad that I attended each and every one of them. Who knows where my love and nature and pursuit of knowledge will take me next!

What has your own love of nature inspired YOU to do that you might not have thought possible?

Wonder, wisdom

"Wisdom begins with wonder" - Socrates

I came across this quote the other day, and it made me pause and reflect on its truth. It also made me decide to share with you the "why" behind my trip to the Wilds. Of course, one of the most obvious reasons for going was to see all of the animals, and because I've been wanting to check the place out for several years now. But the combination of seeing the animals AND learning more about photography (not to mention a steal of a price for the program) sealed the deal. I had met Barb and Jerry Jividen this spring at the Shoot the Hills photo contest in the Hocking Hills. I knew they were good people and excellent photographers, and that they have been leading photography workshops for many years, so I jumped at the chance to go learn from them. And learn I did, both about photography and about the animals there.

I kind of felt like a human sponge that weekend, soaking up all the info they could throw at us. I had one ear directed at Barb, and the other directed at our bus drivers/tour guides, all of them throwing out interesting details and facts about everything I came to see and do that weekend. I do feel like I came home with more confidence with my camera and my ever-developing photographic eye, and with a great appreciation for and knowledge of the beautiful animals I saw. I went there full of wonder, and came away with some wisdom (and still more wonder).

This trip was the third "adult learning" (as I call it) camp that I've been to in the last 3 years, and I am now officially establishing it as a tradition. The previous two years I attended camps oriented toward giving women more confidence and familiarity with the outdoors, so this year's "theme" was obviously different, but the purpose has been the same every year: Get out there and learn stuff, new stuff... expand my horizons... develop my self-confidence... get out of my comfort zone. It was also a good chance for me to recharge myself and get close to nature in new ways.

I really felt like I was going out on a limb with the first camp I went to (the Ohio DNR's Becoming an Outdoors Woman program), but after that I was hooked. Last year I attended the Ohio state weekend event of the Women in the Outdoors (an outreach program of the National Wild Turkey Federation). It was at that event that I paddled solo in a kayak for the first time, and loved it so much that I decided I HAD to buy a kayak for myself! (Dave bought one, too, and we have had great fun this year paddling on different lakes close to home.) And this year... well, you've already seen evidence of my trip to the Wilds.




I cannot stress enough how important I think it is that we continue learning throughout our lifetime. Learning doesn't have to end, and should not end, after graduating from high school, college, grad school. But make sure you have fun while you're doing it. I think the knowledge will be more likely to stick with you if you have fun while you're learning.




And ladies, if you are at all interested in women in the outdoors type programs, check out the Women in the Outdoors link above for events in your state, or just Google "women outdoors" or something similar and see what you can find. I think this type of thing is a wonderful opportunity for women. There's a great video on the ODNR website that was shot during the year I went to BOW, and seeing everyone having so much fun makes me want to go back next year and learn something I know nothing about - how to shoot a gun! Not to mention trying out the Alpine Tower!

** All photos were taken at the WITO event that I attended last fall.