by Docent Bob Hartmann

Cool, clear, almost cloudless skies are a delightful feature of fall weather fronts, particularly when you STOP, LISTEN and LOOK UP. With these fronts comes migratory waterfowl traveling the winds of opportunity to get an almost free ride SOUTH. So if you are out in the morning or through the afternoon LOOK UP and LISTEN to the silence in a place away from traffic, lawnmowers, boat motors, chainsaws, cows or maybe crows, whether it be on South Fork Nature Center trails, in your back yard or in the ‘deer woods’.

Cup your hands behind each ear and swing your head in a slow arc north to south. At first you may think their voices are your imagination, then you know it’s the ‘cacklers’, White-fronted Geese (aka Speckle Bellies) constantly talking to one another as they cruise the heights in their broad
V-shaped skeins. Look hard and thoroughly; in a bright blue sky they are almost invisible at their altitude! Their next stop may be a harvested grain field, a playa or a shallow slough to refuel for another leg of their journey.

by Docent Don Culwell

Eighty two degrees under a sunny sky, a salty ocean smell in the air, and toes wiggling into the sand…once more Don Culwell opened up bags of Coquina Clam shells, broken pieces of large Sand Dollars, Venus Clams, and sea sponges to show kids and adults (40-50 of them) Florida’s Living Beach. A live Coquina Clam kept burrowing into the dish of wet sand…several kids brought up living Olive Snails, a Hermit Crab, and a number of Mole Crabs that scooted backwards fast as they were lifted from the pail of sand.

And it all happened right at the edge of the Fort Walton Beach surf…biology class (for the second year in a row) out in the ecosystem where the most complex beach organism is man himself. Wow, what a “teachable moment!”

On Wednesday September 25th, Connie Starnes hosted the Clinton Iris Club. Docent Steve Smith entertained the 20 club members with a talk on the South Fork Nature Center.

Smith entertained the group of gardeners with a slide show showing activities at the Nature Center and interesting sightings from some of the trail walks. He shared the history and future plans the board has for the center, and information about the monthly third Saturday walk. Steve concluded his talk providing the club with the directions to the entrance and open hours.

“My thanks to Connie Starnes, such a gracious host, and the entire club for allowing me to come and talk to them about the South Fork Nature Center,” said Smith.

Steve Smith