Metro naturalist James Davis lead a Family Nature Explorers outing at
Mt. Talbert. He's the author of
The Northwest Nature Guide: Where to Go and What to See Month by Month in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
and has extensive knowledge about all things nature related in our area, but rarely does nature education for young children. (The marvelous Painted Turtle Walks he does at
Smith and Bybee are exceptions). These monthly excursions are planned for kids 4 and older. I told my homeschool group about it, and naturally, a good number of them signed up. He probably thinks I somehow masterminded a takeover, but really, it's just that homeschoolers around here tend to prioritize this sort of thing. (The last time I told them all about a cow pie bingo event, for some reason, none of them went!) The very best part of the whole event was when we all gathered in a clearing and took a while for kids with bug jars in hand to simply look around for wonders. With that many pairs of eyes, and plenty of time, the results were amazing! One really quick boy managed to catch the prize of the day- an alligator lizard! I rarely see lizards in Oregon and was really amazed to get a look at this large, well camouflaged critter. The vast majority of my pictures were of cute kids mostly holding their amazing finds, but I'll share a few others! My dear friend Sharon also blogged about it
here.
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| Trout lillies or adder's tongue. |
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| The alligator lizard! |
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| Feralia februalis, a really cool green moth |
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