Last of the South Fork Tree ID Stones Painted

The Fates were smiling! 7 painters arrived at Pat and Fred’s house Friday afternoon to paint the 7 remaining South Fork Nature Center ID stones. Robert was kept busy distributing paint supplies, making sure everyone had what they needed, and standing ready to wipe a brow if necessary — a Stone-Painting-Concierge Extraordinaire! Painters included Pat Bradley, Cathy Connaughton, Becky Pierce, NiT Laurie Gaines, Connie Smith, Sunnie Ruple, Sharon Roberson, Robin Harris, Robert Fuhler.

While the paint on the stones dried, the crew had tea and snacks and enjoyed a beautiful view of the afternoon sunshine on Lake Conway. Then Fred and Robert hauled the stones to the truck so they could be transported to their permanent homes on the trail the following morning.

Special thanks to Fred Hendricks for scrubbing the stones, as well as hauling the marker stones around with his truck and his back…over and over and over.

Ed, Fred, Laurie, Becky, and Pat gathered at South Fork to place the newly painted stones in their places. The group discovered quite a bit of invasive grape holly. Becky and Fred made some excellent kills…

Thanks to Bob Verboon for sharing this exciting update from the FAMN newsletter!

For more on the cool projects of the Foothills of Arkansas Master Naturalist team, you can follow them on Facebook at @FoothillsArkansasMasterNaturalists

Admiring the beautiful work of these Master Naturalists!

Many of the tree ID stones at South Fork Nature Center had weathered to the extent that they were unreadable. This team from FAMN (Foothills of AR Master Naturalists) collected & cleaned them & repainted the information before replacing them on the South Fork trails.

Look for these marvelous markers on your next hike along our trails!

The Earth’s rich mosaic of life has a complex and gorgeous voice.”

Hank Lentfer

It’s evening now, and this time of year the melodious up and down buzz of locusts fills the air in my neighborhood…must be a hundred of those large, nearly 2 inch long, fat, green insects rubbing their legs as if they are bows on fiddles…the orchestral piece is stunning! Can you hear it in the trees outside…the buzz up and down the musical scale, on and on?

The purr of the hummingbird wings (90 beats or more per second) as the tiny feathered friend with its throat decked out in ruby red scarf…then in zips an angry hummer intruder, fast, with its shirring, purring hum as it darts after the one feeding on the red sugar water that hangs on my porch. Now both hummers have quickly darted off, only to have one of them return shortly. Can you hear those beating wings with an occasional “chip, chip” of its tiny voice?

Then out back from the deep woods comes the raucous call of the pileated woodpecker…I can see it in the tree as it flies near me, its large red crest standing as if it is all butched…its raucous call breaks the silence of the morning as the sun rises and the day slowly reached full speed.

Or maybe you are sitting at the base of a large oak soaking up all the nature around you in the cool of the day. Hear the wind in the trees…the pines over there almost seem to whistle so softly in the breeze…leaves of the red maple twitch and turn a bit.

Not uncommonly this time of year a silent moment reveals the pelting of tiny bits of insect droppings from vast armies of walking sticks, caterpillars, or some other ravenous insects as they defoliate the trees…droppings resounding on the brown leaves of the forest floor like so much sleet in the winter woods.

Many are the sounds, some so quiet and soft, almost unnoticed (not the crashing, thunderous storm)… quiet moments, sweet songs, a scampering here and there, the snort of a doe warning her fawn…check out the biodiversity as Hank Lentfer so ably puts it, “The Earth’s rich mosaic of life has a complex and gorgeous voice.”

Dr. Don Culwell, Programs Director
Gates Rogers Foundation