The Naturalist Notebook

All told, more than 130 birders, forming 32 teams, counted 276 unique species across 20 U.S. states and Guatemala. Whether these individuals were celebrating over two decades of participation or were picking up binoculars for the first time, everyone generously gave an entire day to raise money!

Last week, the book club met for its last content discussion. We used the second half of Black Faces, White Spaces as inspiration for this session, however, the conversation carried similar themes as last week. In the short time that we had, we dove deeper into topics such as representation, intention, and fear.

Our book club recently met over Zoom for its second session. We dove into the book, using our reactions to the stories it shared as inspiration for our conversation. Although the book offered a strong basis for starting the discussion, participants were quick to lean into the personal experiences present in the room.

This month, Shaver’s Creek is hosting a book club featuring Black Faces, White Spaces by Dr. Carolyn Finney, which focuses on the underrepresentation of African Americans in the outdoors. Every Thursday of this month, we will meet on Zoom to discuss our reactions and personal connection to the content of the book.

Working with Matilda, the Black Vulture, has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of working at Shaver’s Creek for me! I began my journey with Matilda when I first started working as a Shift Leader for animal care. She was known for being very high-strung and difficult to work with because of…

As a volunteer and then work-study “Nature Filmmaker” at Shaver’s Creek during the summer of 2020, I began work on a series of “sense of place” videos about each of the eight LTERP (Long Term Ecological Reflections Project) locations around the Creek and Stone Valley. Now in its 15th year at the Creek, LTERP seeks…

“Equinox, do you want to take the camera and snap some photos?”  A Friday evening at Summer Camp, 2019. Families were gathering around for ice cream and I, a first-time Naturalist having just graduated from Penn State (with a Journalism degree, which is beside the point), didn’t have anything in particular to do until campfire…

On December 9, 2020, we will be joined by environmental activist and writer Nathaniel Popkin to discuss his new book, To Reach the Spring: From Complicity to Consciousness in the Age of Eco-Crisis, newly released on December 1, 2020. You can read the preface of To Reach the Spring in this post to familiarize yourself with Nathaniel and his work prior to the event.

Have you ever noticed animals in media acting a certain way? There are the wise old owls such as Owl from Winnie the Pooh and friendly heroic dogs such as Lassie. But have you ever wondered why we give these traits to certain animals? “Animythology” hopes to compare the mythology of animals to their actual…

This spring marked the second year that the staff of Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center (SCEC) and members of the public had the opportunity to observe a nesting pair of barn owls through a live webcam. Two webcams were mounted, one inside and one outside the nest box, for 24/7 observations of the barn owls’ activities…