Event Report - Geology Rocks!
It's true, folks: geology DOES rock!
Fifteen third, fourth, and fifth grade students ventured onto the trail to study the local geology of the BSES Nature Trail! After a brief review of the types of rocks and observing local maps of our area, we hiked the entire trail to see what sorts of rocks and other wildlife we could fund.
It didn't take long for us to stumble upon a lot of cool rock samples around the trail. We were able to climb over the huge slabs of gneiss located below the outdoor classroom. We also found a HUGE piece of quartz that one of the students stumbled upon after kicking over a pile of leaves. This quartz was so huge, when we tried to flip it over, we couldn't even get it to move. It is definitely part of a much larger rock that seems to be mostly underground!
Wildlife wise, we had quite a few birds chirping overhead. Thanks for the expert whistling from our friend Jack, we were able to attract Carolina Chickadees from the treetops to investigate the strangely familiar sound of his Tufted Titmouse whistle. Also, we were able to see a few Dark-eyed Juncos and Northern Cardinals, too!
It was an exciting afternoon for all! Not only did we learn a lot about the geology of the trail, but we even got to collect some bird data on what we observed for the trail. On a personal note, today's walk was a milestone birding moment on the trail: I submitted my 300th eBird checklist for the nature trail! I have officially birded the nature trail 300 times since I started at BSES a few short years ago. Amazing how time passes! Check out the bird list and link to the eBird checklist below the photos.
eBird Checklist:
Bethel Springs E.S.--Nature Trail Dec 7, 2017 3:33 PM Traveling 0.60 miles 58 Minutes All birds reported? Yes Comments: Checklist taken from Trailblazers Geology Rocks! Temperatures were in the mid 40s with sunny conditions. Birding wasn’t our primary purpose, but we did stop to do some observing. Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.6.1 Build 25 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 Carolina Chickadee 24 American Robin 2 Dark-eyed Junco 1 White-throated Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 1 Common Grackle
