The Way of the Naturalist Class

Well, I've been back from out west for about a month and a half and things have been moving along steadily. Catching up on a lot of things and getting ready for a new year of programs and canoe trips. Recently I just returned from a couple of weeks in southern Ontario where I ran a couple programs and lead a few nature interpretive/tracking walks for Brock and Mcmaster Universities. Everything turned out to be a great success and I made some new contacts and friends in my travels.

Here’s a few photos from the Way of the Naturalist class sponsered by the Brock outdoors club at the university. Unfortunately we didn’t take too many photos, but we did have a great time studying and learning about the natural world. This class focuses on how to go about studying nature and developing your core naturalist skills. We spent our time learning about Hazards, Mammals, Plants, Trees, Birds and how to journal and identify them in the field. We split our time between class room learning and walking in the forest putting into action the skills and tools that we learned inside. We also had some fun delving into the worlds of tracking and bird language. Two skills that have the ability to greatly enhance our awareness of the world around us. Learning how to track and move like the animals and utilize the knowledge of bird language can greatly increase our ability to move undetected through the forest and begin to experience nature like never before. These skills have the power to open up a whole new world and allow us to begin to unravel the many mysteries of nature.