Robinson Nature Center - Inside

Last week, I was at Robinson Nature Center for my usual Sunday afternoon volunteering for the saltwater Touch Tank. It was a relatively busy day; there seemed to be more people in the room that usual when I started (I had one of the older children help me set up) and families seemed to just keep stopping by to see and touch the sea critters. The animals were tolerant enough of my handling and the children’s gentle (one finger) touches to still show off when they were on their own: the milk conch eating algae from the sand and the chocolate chip sea star holding firmly to the glass side.

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In the only lull of the afternoon, I took a few pictures of the new extension to the wall painting in the Discovery Room. My favorite is the sycamore trees in winter.

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The tulip poplar seed pods are in the scene too.

And then there are critters!

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There are some people sketched into the scene…maybe the painting will be further along next time I am at Robinson.

Horseshoe Crab Shedding

The big excitement when I volunteered at the Robinson Nature Center Touch Tank last week was watching a horseshoe crab shed it’s outer shell. When I first came in, I was surprised that one of the horseshoe crabs was on the top of the sand rather than buried underneath like they usually are. Then – over the course of about an hour the crab shed….moving relatively quickly in the last 15 minutes. The first place the process is visible is at the top front edge. I took pictures along the way from two perspectives so that it’s possible to see the upper shell separating and the legs/body underneath.

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Finally, the main part of the crab was free of the shed although the shed was still resting on its tail

I took a sequence that shows that the tail is very flexible when the crab is newly shed. Its shell is soft as well. We don’t pick up or touch the horseshoe crabs that are shedding or newly shed.

We moved a nearby rock and the shed floated a short distance away. The horseshoe crab was still on the surface of the sand and its shell was probably beginning to harden. This would be a vulnerable time for the horseshoe crab in the wild. The shed was upside down in the tank, showing part that had covered the legs and body of the crab. The shed is almost clear…with some brownish highlights.

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It was an interesting sight to everyone that was in the Discovery Room at the time….doesn’t happen all that often.

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2020

2020 has started out with more activity than I anticipated….more volunteering, more classes, more events…and some travel at the end of the month.

Bluebird passing through: We don’t see bluebirds around that much….so it’s a special day when we do see one.

47th wedding anniversary: It doesn’t seem like such a long time…compared to my parents celebrating 67 years. I’m going to think of something special for our 50th coming up in 3 years!

Children enjoying the Touch Tank: There are moments in every hour that I spend volunteering at Robinson Nature Center’s saltwater touch tank that are little celebrations for me and for the children. Whether it is awe from something an animal does…or how they feel…or just understanding something new.

Conowingo Eagles: Even on a morning I don’t get any particularly good pictures – I enjoy every trip we make to the Conowingo…and that the eagle population is back from the brink!

Hot tea with cream: Or maybe with just milk. It’s my favorite winter beverage.

Middle Patuxent Water Monitoring: I always enjoy getting in the river and then doing the gleaning of the macroinvertebrates to identify. Since it was winter, I was braced to get very cold…but we had a wonderful sunny (not too cold) day!

Honing skills for volunteer gig: None of the classes were very long but were informative and applicable to me becoming a better volunteer. The topics ranged from autism, Howard Country Green Infrastructure Network, sensitivity training (impact of microaggression), outdoor wear fashion and function, and the spotted lantern fly. Wow – quiet a range of topics and all the presentations were excellent.

Snow in the afternoon: So beautiful. I celebrate every snow these days because I don’t have to drive in it!

Zentangle® with Howard County Conservancy volunteers: I love guiding group Zentangle sessions. This particular group seemed to enjoy the session…and had some ideas about ‘next steps’ in a practice. And like the campers last summer…got a little Zen as well.

Cooper’s Hawk on a Snowy morning: Often a ‘little celebration’ is a surprise that just happens. Seeing the Cooper’s Hawk fly into our sycamore was that kind of celebration – although I am glad the hawk is not around my backyard more frequently (since I enjoy the other birds).

Touch Tank – January 2020

I enjoy the volunteer gig at the Robinson Nature Center Touch Tank….getting more experienced every time I spend an hour there. The Discovery Room, where the touch tank is located, is full of activities for pre-school through elementary school aged children with the Touch Tank being available when there is a volunteer to open it.

There are two kinds of sea urchins: the slate pencil with spines that look like slate pencils from the 1800s and pin cushion with spines that are more prickles. Both names are somewhat historical for young children. Some have never seen a pin cushion! Even the adults haven’t seen slate pencils that look like the sea urchin. Everyone enjoys seeing how the pin cushion urchins ‘hide’ by holding shells and little hats to themselves. The pin cushion urchins can also hang on well enough to hang upside down for a little while on my hand…always a surprise to the children.

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Sometimes the sea urchins attach themselves to something else – a rock or a conch. Do you see the pin cushion urchin on the back of the milk conch in the pictures below? The conch was on the move with eye stalks extended and vacuuming up its food from the sand.

There are three conchs in the tank. The largest is usually the most active.

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And then there are the sea stars. I like to look at them through the glass of the tank…with their suction-cup feet out and hanging on. I pick them up for the children to touch – back and front – but I like them better through the glass.

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Overall, I am getting more comfortable with the animals in the tank and better at controlling the flow of people (children) around the tank. An hour at the touch tank is always an hour well spent!

My 2019 in Review - Volunteering

I am looking back at the volunteering I did in 2019…what was like prior years…what was the same…how might things change in 2020.

Howard Country Conservancy is where I did more than half my volunteering. I enjoy the school field trips at Mt. Pleasant, Belmont and the streams around the county – “connecting people to nature”. The variety of locations and age groups keeps my interest. The field trips evolve to stay linked with curriculum in the schools but being out in the natural world is a continuing learning experience for a lifetime. In 2019 I changed the activities I did with summer campers…and volunteered more frequently during the summer than in previous years. Looking forward to 2020…it will be more of the same, but I’ll add the expertise I gained from the “Flying Wild” and “Growing up Wild” workshops to summer camp activities. The HCC staff and other volunteers are engaging and thoughtful. HCC is a great place to volunteer over the short and long term.

Three years ago, I added Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy to my volunteer activities.  I’ve increased my hours each year. In 2020, I’ll probably do about the same as I did in 2019: 1-2 shifts per week when I am in town. The butterflies, interactions with the visitors to the exhibit, and helpful staff members keep me coming back.

Toward the end of 2019, I started volunteering at the Robinson Nature Center – specifically for the Touch Tank. I’ve enjoyed the shifts so far (I am still learning something new every time I volunteer!) and will continue volunteering in 2020. It’s an indoor venue…different from my other activities.  Right now my strategy is to volunteer more frequently at Robinson in the cold and hot months….less frequently in the spring and fall.

Overall – volunteering is my best way of connecting to my community…helping to make it a good place to be for everyone.

Ten Little Celebrations – December 2019

Happy Holidays!

My December had a lot of little celebrations already. I picked my top 10.

Coming home – I traveled over Thanksgiving and didn’t get home until the first of December. As usual after being away, I celebrated being home again.

Weather Conference for 6th graders – The weather was great…the students were focused…the speakers geared for the audience. It’s another annual volunteer gig that is now part of my celebration of December.

Maryland Water Monitoring Conference – This was my third year to go to the MWMC and I learn something new every time. It’s a pretty intense day of learning.

Howard County Conservancy Natural Holiday Sale – I love stocking the cookie table and keeping the urn full of Russian Tea. The event is always a celebration of the season.

Touch tank at Robinson Nature Center – I have a new volunteer gig! I chose something different than my other volunteering and easy to do during the winter since it is indoors. I really like the sea stars…watching the children observe the ‘feet’ through the glass and what happens when I ‘tickle’ to help the sea star let go so I can pick it up.

Flying Wild and building a nest – I took a train-the-trainer type class for activities intended for grades 3-8…and one of hands on activities was building a nest. I celebrated that the one my team made managed to meet all the criteria: holding ‘marble’ eggs even when the nest moved and holding (weights) of fledglings!

Fog in the forest, birds at the feeder – It was a beautiful time looking out from the window of my office…the quiet of the forest holding the fog in the soft morning light, the birds coming to the feeder for breakfast. A moment to celebrate.

Maryland State House Christmas Trees – I enjoyed seeing all the creativity of the garden clubs…getting idea for upcoming years (maybe). It was just one of the things that put me more in the mood for all the other celebrations of the month.

The Rise of Skywalker – It was a good ‘book end’ with the other end being the original Star Wars movie back 1977. I liked that so many story lines were resolved. Now I’m ready for a marathon watching of the other movies!

Bird feeder camera – We’re still perfecting how to mount the camera to optimize the view or our bird feeder. I’m celebrating getting the squirrel climbing the ladder as one of our early successes.

Touch Tank at Robinson Nature Center

I have started a new volunteer experience – at Robinson Nature Center’s Touch Tank. Like any new activity – the first few times are all about learning role; in this case, the biggest challenges involve opening the top of the tank (I’m not graceful at doing it…but I can do it) and knowing enough about all the organisms in it to share with people (children and accompanying adults). The sea stars are interesting even looking at them through the wall of the tank….hanging onto the glass with their suction-cup ‘feet.’

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I encourage the children to watch what happens when I ‘tickle’ the sea star to loosen its hold on the glass so that I can pick it up and let the children (adults too) touch the creature. There are also milk conchs that sometimes seem like a rock at first glance. The shell is cream-colored and smooth on the side toward the sand with highlights of green and orange…and the organism is a deep red. It has eyes on stalks and, if held vertically for a few seconds, kicks!

Note in the second picture above – what looks like a top hat behind the milk conch. That is a sea urchin in hiding. They like to cover themselves with shells and other things that camouflage what they are; the hats were 3-D printed for the urchins to use for their ‘dress up.’

After two sessions volunteering at the tank, I’m well along the learning curve. One lesson learned – wash the saltwater off thoroughly (up to the elbows) when I get home and moisturize. I’m focused on my fingernails too since they seemed to be very dry and broke easily even after just one shift.