Nature Camp Review & Learnings

 

I had a fantastic time at Nature Camp, especially with meeting Gucci (gyrfalcon) and Nono (barn owl), which you saw in the last two posts. At $350 for 4 nights, including delicious food and interesting sessions, I would say that is a great deal! 

I found the workshop leaders to be passionate and well informed on the content of their workshops. I appreciated how interactive many of the sessions were, and was impressed by the overall professionalism of the organization. 

While most of the people attending had some history with the camp, either attending as kids or sending their own kids to the camp, the people made an effort to welcome me as a first time participant. 

It was definitely a camp experience, sleeping in twin bunk beds in a cabin and having to venture to a different building for shower and toilet facilities, but you also have the option to bring a tent and camp. Their museum/lab/library was really neat and the library was a dream - I wish I could have stayed for a weekend alone just to read! 

Here are a few more highlights from my session:

First time seeing a wood duck! 

Photo credit: All About Birds

 I learned you should never touch a fluffy white caterpillar in case it is a flannel moth caterpillar, which has a nasty sting!

Photo credit: Haysop Hill Photography

I saw my first ever wild owl - a barred owl, which has the call that sounds like "who cooks for you."

Photo Credit: Denise Machado

Some of the other sessions I enjoyed:

• Environmental Ethics & Ideologies - bringing up questions like:
• Why do we value nature? 
• Do non-human animals have intrinsic worth or are they resources for human use (whether that be for nourishment, aesthetics, or scientific use)?
• How do different organizations see this issue, and what impact does it have on how they approach conservation?
• What are the differences between conservationists, preservationists, and transformational ideologies like Ecofeminism & Deep Ecology? 
• Where do I stand? 
• Watercolor prints using leaves

• Crepuscular Sounds (Sounds from animals appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects)
• We got to hear the calls of the following animals:
• Great Horned Owl - classic "who who" sound (listen here)
• Barred Owl - "who cooks for you" (listen here)
• Screech Owl - sounds like horse's whinny (listen here) 
• Whippoorwill - sounds like its name (listen here)
• And a few others
• Book sharing - many people brought a few books to share about and then left out on a table for perusing, this added a few to my list for upcoming reads. 
• Nature journaling - writing down or drawing what you see, hear, smell, feel and taste to help be more present in nature and observe surroundings more closely. 

There was also a great presentation by Vibe Tribe Adventures, a non-profit that offers outdoor recreation and adventure sports for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Allies. They brought a young man who is working on climbing all of the mountains in Colorado over 14,000ft (you can check out his Instagram here). Hopefully they will develop some kind of partnership with Nature Camp; they were on site to see the facilities and start a partnership conversation. They are looking for donations and volunteers. 

If you love nature, miss summer camp, or want to go for the first time as an adult, I would definitely recommend checking out the adult session at Nature Camp. 

For the parents reading this, please consider sending your child there if they share your passion for animals or the outdoors. I would have absolutely LOVED to go to something like that as a kid! Learn more about their sessions for kids or adults here: https://naturecamp.net/

Sources:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/

https://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/biting-stinging/others/ent-3010/

Update: Up-close with a Barn Owl

 This post is an update on an earlier post about a book titled Wesley the Owl. 

I was very excited to learn that licensed falconer Corey Basham (see my previous article about him and his falcon Gucci) also brought a barn owl to Nature Camp. After reading about Wesley, it was extremely interesting to get to witness and observe a barn owl in real life, and to hear about Corey's experiences  with this gorgeous animal. 

Corey told us the owl, which he named Nono, was raised by another falconer after being found when it was too young to care for itself. The name comes from a behavior that Barn Owls do called "Toe Dusting" in which they lower their head and sway back and forth - which can look quite creepy - and sometimes they will shake their head back and forth like they are signaling no, no, no. It is a defensive behavior barn owls and other birds do to express displeasure or to intimidate predators.

Nono is extremely light, weighing only 500 grams. She eats about 3 mice or baby chicks per day, which Corey defrosts before feeding to her. Like all owls, she can eat her prey whole and then produce a pellet that contains the skeleton and fur! Corey invited me to help feed Nono, which was a great honor, but I had absolutely no idea he was about to let me hold her! You can watch my reaction below. 

It was incredible being so close to Nono, getting an up-close look at the beautiful pattern on her wings, the unique ridge of feathers on her face above her beak, and getting to look into her black eyes. Stacey O'Brien wrote about how she saw the universe in Wesley's eyes and felt awe, and after holding Nono, I could better understand what she meant.

Corey will hopefully be releasing Nono back into the wild this fall, either by hacking her or via full release. Hacking is a way to gradually release a captive bird by placing the bird in a hacking box and feeding her there, encouraging her to return to the box for food and rest while she acclimates to living in the wild again. First, Corey says, she must demonstrate the ability to hunt live prey. 

If you want to help barn owls like Nono you can donate or volunteer at the Owl Moon Raptor Center, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Boyd's Maryland.

I encourage you also to read Stacey O'Brien's book, Wesley the Owl. 

Sources:

Corey Basham

https://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/barn-owl-facts/

https://centerofthewest.org/2017/05/27/hacking-what-it-is-how-its-done/

Interview with Corey Basham (Licensed Falconer)

At Nature Camp, I had the immense pleasure to meet Gucci, a 19 week-old falcon and his owner/handler, Corey Basham. Corey purchased Gucci for use in falconry, which is an ancient method of hunting using a trained bird-of-prey such as a falcon or hawk. 

Early evidence of falconry has been found in Mongolia, Iran and elsewhere in the middle east between 4,000 and 6,000 BC. Some experts claim the practice is even older, but by 2,000 BC it was a well established hunting method. Thousands of people in the United States continue this practice today. 

As part of this year's adult session at Nature Camp, Corey offered several demonstrations and educational sessions with Gucci and was very generous in answering questions for this blog. (Thank you Corey!)

Q: What kind of Falcon is Gucci?

A: Gucci is a captive born hybrid mix of gyrfalcon and saker falcon, mostly Gyrfalcon. The saker falcon hybridization is to give her more tolerance of hot weather, as the faker falcon comes from the middle east. Gyrfalcons can be found in much of Canada and the northern US. She is fertile and able to reproduce. 

Here are a few fun facts about Gyrfalcons, Falco rusticolus:

• Gyr falcons are the largest true falcon in the world.
• They can fly up to 68 miles per hour!
• In captivity, Gyrfalcons can live over 20 years. 
• Falcons roost on cliffs and make a low-effort nest called a scrape, because it is usually just scraping rocks together. They may also use abandoned nests built by other species. 

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about Gucci?

A: Falcons are primarily bird predators, so I will use her to hunt ducks once she is fully trained. She can see a duck over a mile away, and reach speeds of 100 miles per hour when attacking. If she strikes the duck, she will close her feet to make fists that will stun the duck. She may also bind to a duck in flight and bring it down to the ground. Hunts happen in the winter, during the summer I do educational programming with Gucci. I feed her quail, chicks, and mice. 

She currently weighs around 1200 grams, just over 2.5lbs. 

When traveling, she wears a hood (pictured below) which helps her feel calm. During the day, Gucci is tethered to her perch outside, unhooded, and is subject to the elements. It’s important that she gets sun and rain to maintain her health and hygiene.

Q: How will you train her to hunt ducks?

A: I am working with her now to strike a baited lure on a rope called a creance. After she has good reaction time and consistently returns immediately, she will be trained to fly high up using a drone, so she can gain speed and have an advantage over the ducks when they are flushed. 

Once she is fully trained she will be able to fly off-leash. Falconers have to keep a close control of the weight of the falcon to maintain the working relationship. She will be fitted with a telemetry device that will track her and aid in recovering her if she is lost.

Q: Have you had other birds?  

A: Right now I have a barn owl that was raised by another falconer after being found when it was too young to care for itself. I plan to release the owl to the wild after it has proven that it is able to hunt on its own. In the past I have had red tailed hawks, a harris hawk, and American kestrels. Licensed falconers are allowed to capture up to 2 birds-of-prey per year from the wild, although there are rules about what species are allowed to be captured and it is rare that falconers take more than 1 bird a year from the wild, if that many. If a wild bird is captured for falconry it must be less than a year old or it is released immediately as required by law. I released a red tailed hawk after working with her for 3 years, and I’ve had others for only 1 year. 

Q: How do you feel about her, and do you ever struggle with the ethics of the activity? 

A: I see her as a working animal, not as a pet. I will keep her and work with her until she is no longer able to work, and then she will go to a propagation center to take part in a breeding program or she will be donated to an educational organization that can care for her. She is not releasable because she is a captive born falcon. 

Falcons can work for over 10 years. I do consider the ethics of keeping a bird-of-prey captive and consistently ask myself if what I’m doing with these birds is sustainable for the species involved and if it seems enjoyable in the long run for the individual bird as well. 

Gyrfalcons are not a social species, and generally after she eats she is content to just sit and enjoy the day. She does not display any signs of distress or exhibit any self-destructive behaviors and usually seems quite relaxed and content. When a falcon is comfortable it will display behaviors such as rousing, which is when they fluff up all their feathers and shake them into place (it is quite cute). 

Gucci, after rousing

She is safe from predators, she is fed consistently, she gets regular exercise and once fully trained she will be able to hunt as she would in the wild. It's better than the zoo - it would be like taking a lion to the savannah 3-5 times per week so they could hunt. Falconry has taught me that some things cannot be learned from books - you need patience and experience working with an animal like this. 

Q: How can people interested in this topic learn more? 

A:  Folks interested in falconry should contact their state falconry association and research the many texts regarding falconry in general. I recommend As The Falcon Her Bells by Phillip Glasier for an enjoyable read overall that contains some technical details and an overall good description of training and hunting with these birds.

If you are interested in becoming a falconer, by law you need to do a 2-year apprenticeship and get a license before you can own a bird-of-prey. This website has more information for people interested in becoming a falconer. 

Sources:

Corey Basham

https://www.n-a-f-a.com/page/What_is_Falconry

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/raptor-force-history-of-falconry/

http://www.themodernapprentice.com/glossary.htm

Nature Camp in Vesuvius, VA

I loved going to camp as a kid. This year, I am beyond excited to go the adult version in the George Washington National Forest of Virginia this Friday, August 20, 2021 until Tuesday, August 24, 2021. The camp was created by the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs in 1942 to foster interest in nature and conservation in young people. 

Luckily for me, they have also created a session for adults. https://naturecamp.net/adult-session/

Their website describes it as: 

The five-day session features classroom lectures, field studies and craft projects. Classes are typically one or two hours in duration with most of the time spent outdoors or in hands-on activities. Structure is informal, with questions and input from other instructors and attendees encouraged. Our volunteer instructors include several former campers who are now professionals in the sciences. Field investigations will be complemented by discussions, workshops, and several craft activities.

It looks to be in a beautiful location, which I expect will be home to exciting new and intriguing critters. I will be sure to bring along my field guides so I can report back on what I find. 

I have to thank my good friend and mentor, Arlington Master Naturalist Michelle Nolan for inviting me. Here is a photo from our recent camping trip in Shenandoah River State Park.

I will report on my learnings in the next few posts.

Book Review: Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien is a fantastic and fascinating read about a woman who adopts and lives with an unreleasable captive wild owl, a barn owl, in her own apartment for 19 years. The story is charming and describes the entire life of Wesley, who Stacey took in at only a few days old. 

Her descriptions of the young owl learning to fly are adorable and easy to envision. So many parts of this story were fascinating and educational - I had no idea how emotional and communicative owls can be. 

A few scenes stick out in my mind - the first time she allowed young Wesley to kill his own mouse, but instead he cowered from it, terrified. The time she got the help of some punky teens to throw mice up to a nesting barn owl family. The descriptions of Wesley in the bath tub - despite this species of owl lacking waterproof feathers(!) and then having to subsequently blow dry him dry. The hilarious scene in which she had to recount to a group of scientists, despite her great embarrassment, about the mating behavior of Wesley - who had bonded with her as his mate... 

I deeply enjoyed learning more about this species through the intimate account of Stacey O'Brien and highly recommend this book. You can buy Wesley the Owl here or try your local library. 

A bit more about the animal that starred in this story:

The Barn Owl, Tyto alba, is a gorgeous white and golden species of owl that lives across most of the US.  These birds are nocturnal, like many owls, feeding on a diet of mostly mice and occasionally a few songbirds. They eat the mice whole and later cough up a pellet that contains an entire mouse skeleton. Barn owls don't hoot, rather they screech, chirp, click, hiss, and make other sounds.

 Owls are amazing animals with incredible hearing - they can hear the heartbeat of a mouse that isn't even moving and use that sound to locate its prey. An owl's ears are not symmetrical on their head, one is higher than the other, this allows them to triangulate on sound with incredible accuracy. 

Owls are the only bird that flies completely silently. This is a cool video that demonstrates how silently barn owls can fly compared to a hawk and a pigeon. 

Another kind of funny fact - owls actually have long legs under all of those feathers! Here is a photo (this one is a Great Horned Owl) as evidence: 

If you want to help owls and other raptors, you can volunteer at the Owl Moon Raptor Center, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Boyd's Maryland. They are looking for volunteers. Click here for more info. 

Sources:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/overview

https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/owls-1

Giant Pangolin

The Giant Pangolin, Manis gigantea, is an animal that has intrigued me for years. Pronounced pang-a-lin, not pan-go-lin, this scaled mammal is perhaps other worldly the first time you see it, since it is the only mammal in the world with scales.https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/facts-about-pangolins/ Unfortunately, more people know about this creature now because it is the most trafficked animal in the world, and claims that it may have been the source or a transmitter of the COVID-19 virus. 

The word pangolin is derived from the Malay word 'pengguling' which means roller. When they feel threatened they roll up into a ball. Their scales are made of the same material as our fingernails, but they have evolved to withstand an incredible amount of pressure. Watch below as lions are frustrated and outmatched by the defenses of a pangolin. 

The Giant Pangolin can weigh up to 70lbs! They eat ants with a long tongue that attaches to their pelvis. While they may appear similar to anteaters, they are not actually closely related to them. They are actually more closely related to the order Carnivora (dogs, cats, bears, etc.) than to the superorder Xenarthra (anteaters, armadillos, sloths). Their tongue is a case of convergent evolution - which is when unrelated species appear similar because they have both evolved separately to fill the same ecological niche. 

Another cool fact about pangolins is that they are bipedal, meaning they can walk on two legs. They can also close their ears and nostrils to protect themselves from ants as they are eating. 

There are eight species of pangolin in the world, all of which live in Africa or Asia. 

Macken Murphy is the creator of my favorite Podcast - Species. He did a great podcast about the pangolin. All of his podcasts are extremely well researched, I highly recommend listening to them all. 

I am a dabbler in the arts, and for my whole life I have always wanted to draw and paint animals. Here is my rendition of a pangolin in acrylic: 

If you have kids, check out the book Roly Poly Pangolin next time you are at the library or you can order it online here. This animal is critically endangered but efforts are underway to protect them and stop poaching/trafficking. Save Pangolins is one organization working on conservation and education about this animal. You can donate or access teaching materials here. 

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/giant-pangolin

https://www.pangolinsg.org/pangolins/

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/facts-about-pangolins/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2

Red Spotted Purple Admiral Butterfly

Until today, I have never seen a butterfly before that is blue on the top side (dorsal side) and brown & orange spotted on the bottom side (ventral side), so I paused on my walk to take a closer look at this neat little guy. At about 3" across, his wingspan is a bit smaller than a monarch butterfly.

So naturally, I stopped to look up the name of this type of butterfly. I would say it is more so orange spotted and blue, but it's official name is the red spotted purple (RSP) admiral butterfly, and it's scientific name is Limentis arthemis astyanax (Fabricus). 

It used to be considered its own species, but recently has been combined with the (mostly Canadian) White Admiral Limenitis arthemis arthemis (Drury) into one species because they can interbreed and hybridize. This video explains why they combined the two species.

So after a bit of research and then falling into a butterfly shaped internet hole, I realized immediately how little I know about butterflies in general, like...

• They have four wings, not two, and can move all four wings independently, and only need the fore-wings (top two) to fly. The hind wings help with maneuverability to evade predators. 
• Caterpillars look different depending on how many times they have molted, each stage is called an "instar."
• Most butterflies have muted colors on the ventral side of their wings, so they blend in to their surroundings while they rest.

Anyways, a few cool facts about this butterfly in particular - the red spotted purple admiral butterfly (the official State Butterfly of New York) is a Batesian mimic of a poisonous species called the pipevine swallowtail Battus philenor (Linnaeus), which protects them by warding off predators.

Here is a photo of the pipevine swallowtail:

Even as caterpillars, these animals are great at mimicry and disguise themselves as bird droppings to avoid predators.

Their eggs are also pretty unusual looking and remind me of bubble wrap.

This butterfly can be found in semi-sunny situations like stream and forest edges, woodland paths, and forest openings. In those habitats, adult RSPs feed on sap, rotting fruit, animal dung, and carrion, but they rarely visit flowers. They are seen from around the start of June through the middle of August. Males are very territorial, and they sit sentinel on vegetation, awaiting the appearance of females. 

You can attract this and other butterflies to your yard by planting native plants and talking to your local garden shop about what is best. Also make sure to include some good sized rocks in your garden for them to sit on in the sun. Learn more about planting a butterfly garden here, and about making your yard welcoming to other forms of wildlife (without breaking the bank) here.

Sources:
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/red-spotted_purple.htm
https://uwm.edu/field-station/red-spotted-purple/
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2018.00068
http://indroid.squarespace.com/red-spotted-purple/
https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Red-Spotted-Purple-Admiral
https://www.americanscientist.org/article/whats-all-the-flap-about
https://dailygazette.com/2008/01/08/0108_butterfly_update/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karner_blue