Curious By Nature Events for 2024

During 2024, I will once again conduct a series of nature walks in-synch with each of the four seasons.  Each walk will occur on a Saturday in hopes of encouraging your participation.

The series will begin with a winter walk on February 24 at Town Park in the Town of Halfmoon to identify plants – particularly forbs – in a winter landscape. This inaugural session will engage participants through the use of a digital guide that I prepared for trailside use on their personal mobile device during our outing that will highlight several winter plant identification tips for each of the flagged plants that we encounter along our route.  This interactive group activity has been well received as a fun outing by past participants!

Common Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum)

The series will continue through spring and summer to view blooming wildflowers up close at Town Park. For the first time, I will also offer a bog walk this summer at the Dyken Pond Environmental Center in the Town of Grafton.

Photo Credit: https://www.wideopenspaces.com/cattails-ultimate-survival-plant-pics/

In addition, there will also be a couple of guided walks (featuring a trailside digital guide for each participant) at Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve in the Town of Clifton Park about foraging for wild edibles as well as a couple of online events featuring foraging for wild edible plants.

The series will conclude on October 12 at Garnsey Park in the Town of Clifton Park with a guided walk to view the fall fruits on display. Similar to the winter plant ID walk, participants will use a digital guide that I prepared for trailside use on their personal mobile device during our outing to learn about the wide variety of fruits that plants harbor each fall along with several identification tips for each of the flagged plants that we encounter along our route.

Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) fruit and seeds

The series of walks will offer those who join me with the opportunity to view plants in each of our four seasons and to do so in a variety of ways:  winter plant identification, wildflower identification, foraging for wild edible plants, and learning about the fall fruits exhibited by our wildflowers.

For more information about all of my scheduled events, please view the Events page.

I hope you’ll join me.

Happy trails!

Curious By Nature Events for 2023: Saturday Strolls through Four Seasons

During 2023, I will be conducting a series of nature walks in-synch with each of the four seasons.  Each walk will occur on a Saturday in hopes of encouraging your participation.

This series will begin with a winter walk on February 25 at Anchor Diamond Park at Hawkwood in the Town of Ballston to identify plants – particularly forbs – in a winter landscape.  We’ll continue through spring and summer to view blooming wildflowers up close and then conclude on October 7 at Veterans Memorial Park in the Town of Clifton Park to view the vibrant palette of fall colors of forbs on display (as well as the last wildflower to begin blooming each year).  Each walk will offer those who join me with the opportunity to view plants in each of our four seasons and to do so in a variety of ways.  To illustrate my point, the inaugural session will engage participants through the use of a digital guide that I prepared for trailside use during our outing that will highlight several winter plant identification tips for each of the flagged plants that we encounter along our route.  Building off the self-guided winter plant ID walks that I offered last winter, I will lead a group walk on this outing and will assist participants in the use of my digital guide on their personal mobile device.  I think this interactive group activity will be a fun outing!

Common Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

For more information about all of my scheduled events, please view the Events page.

I hope you’ll join me.

Happy trails!

Full slate of 2021 events available – mark your calendar now and join me in the New Year!

In 2021, I’ll be offering thirteen events covering several topics associated with wildflowers, including foraging for wild edibles and winter plant ID.

Read “A look at nature in the winter” about my upcoming series of events!

And, for the first time, I’ll offer self-guided hikes that I have paired with most of my online events.  I hope you’ll join me online and then use the trailside packets I’ve compiled for your use to follow along the designated route at select destinations to find numbered flags on targeted plants and then find the corresponding flag number in the index to reveal the identity of the plant standing before you.

Together, these online presentations will provide you with information on how to find and identify the targeted species and the self-guided hike will offer you the opportunity to apply those newly acquired skills.  And, since you won’t be restricted to a particular date/time for what would have otherwise been a scheduled in-person walk, you may instead visit (and revisit!) the featured destination at your convenience.

Please view the Events page for logon instructions for each online event and also to find out how to download each respective Self-guided Hike trailside info packet.

Please join me in the New Year.  Happy trails!

Fall…into Winter

Fall…into Winter

Welcome to winter!

The winter solstice will occur on December 21.

Read about how snowflakes form.  View the science of snowflakes.  View a slideshow of photographs of snowflakes.

L-to-R: Black-capped Chickadee; Northern Cardinal; Tufted Titmouse

Winter is a great time for birdwatching from the comfort of your own home.  Consider putting up a few bird feeders.  For more info about winter bird feeding, please view my prior post.  Winter is also an excellent time to learn about animal tracks.  View this guide to winter tracks.

The arrival of this new season will mark the return of the shortest days of the entire year.  How do you want to enjoy the outdoors with those few hours of daylight?

Here is a list of winter outdoor and online activities to consider:

• The Great Conjunction (live streaming event about the Christmas Star beginning @ 7pm)
• Discover the Night (daily online event through 12/31)
• Guided Snowshoe Hike (12/26 @ 10am)
• Quadrantid Meteor Showers (nightly 12/27 through 1/10 with peak on 1/2)
• Luminary Full Moon Walk (12/29 @ 5pm)
• First Day Hike:
  • Moreau Lake State Park (1/1 @ 10am and 1pm)
  • Saratoga Spa State Park (1/1 @ 10am and 1pm)
  • Grafton Lakes State Park (1/1 @ 11am and 1pm)
• First Day Hike:
  • Saratoga Spa State Park (1/2 @ 10am and 1pm)
• First Day Hike:
  • Saratoga Spa State Park (1/3 @ 10am and 1pm)
• Winter Discovery Walk (1/17 @ 1pm)
• Winter Discovery Walk (1/18 @ 1pm)
• Forensic Botanizing:  Winter Plant ID – Trees and Shrubs (online event 1/20 @ 7pm)
• The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook (online event 1/21 @ 6pm – registration required)
• Forensic Botanizing:  Winter Plant ID – Vines and Forbs (online event 1/27 @ 7pm)
• Animal Tracking Hike (2/7 @ 1pm)
• Forensic Botanizing:  Winter Plant ID – Invasive Species (online event 2/22 @ 7pm)

Happy trails!

First Snow!

Saturday delivered a light blanket of snow to our area.

Read about how snowflakes form.  View the science of snowflakes.  View a slideshow of photographs of snowflakes.

Speaking of snow, here are some recipes and other ideas for you to consider:

• Snow Ice Cream
• 4 Simple Recipes using Snow for the Cold Season
• Cooking with Snow:  The Best Desserts
• 7 Genius Things You Never Thought to Make with Snow

It now looks wintery.  View the countdown to the winter solstice 2017.

I visited Shenantaha Creek Park in the Town of Malta.  The nature trail along Ballston Creek (also named Shenantaha by the Iroqouis, meaning “deer water”) offers several scenic views from the trail atop the bluff along portions of this creek.

View of Ballston Creek from trail atop cliff

Trail through woodland along stone wall

View of Ballston Creek from trail atop cliff

Shale bedrock-lined ravine

Looking upstream along Ballston Creek from where trail descends into flooplain forest

View of floodplain forest (Zim Smith Trail along top of high ridge in distant background)

Panoramic view of Ballston Creek from trail through floodplain forest

In addition to enjoying the beautiful woodland scenes along this trail, I also took the opportunity to do a little winter botanizing, which is more like forensic botanizing in that you look for plant features (such as seed pods or branching patterns) that help distinguish a particular species.

See what I found –

Maple-leaved Viburnum

Shagbark Hickory

Hairy White Old-field Aster

Thimbleweed

Selfheal

Common Mullein

Hawthorn

Christmas Fern

Which reminds me…it’s beginning to look a lot like…(listen)!

Happy trails!

Forensic Botanizing: Woodland Forbs

On this Christmas Day, I visited the Woodcock Preserve in the Town of Clifton Park.  I was rewarded by spotting this Barred Owl (not a great image, but you can find it near the middle of this photo).

Barred Owl

I had also viewed this owl in practically the same spot during my hike here on New Year’s Day to begin 2016.

As I continued my hike, I chose to wander along the Blue Trail since this portion of the preserve is open at this time of year.

Blue Trail trailhead – Woodcock Preserve

My hike inspired me to offer you a winter plant ID quiz.  To identify each plant, simply click on “Answer” beneath each image.  Have fun!

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Wishing all a very Merry Christmas!  Here’s hoping everyone enjoys happy trails in the New Year.

Christmas Fern