March 18 & 19, 2019

Those sunny days found 12 students (grades K-4) on Monday and 10 students (grades 5-7) on the trails, at the table in the pavilion-outdoor classroom, and around the fire pit investigating nature at its best, up front and real!

Melissa Bradley and Melissa Belote (teachers from Counseling Associates) brought their Greenbrier students during their spring break from school to experience nature, investigating what they saw in the woods, talking about the plants and animals in their ecosystem habitats. What a great time it was as students put their classroom learning from back at school into the “outdoor classroom” as they talked about the trees, flowers, and the animals living among them.

Among the times spent with docents, flowers were dissected noting structures and functions, the flow of water and nutrients through stems and the functions of leaves were discussed, and a number of live animals were seen (a tiny rabbit, a small snake, some insects, a number of birds).

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Have you scheduled your visit to South Fork?

It’s time for teachers K-12 to schedule all day visits to South Fork Nature Center for the remainder of the school year. Plan to come when a bus is available, bring lunches, and get the bus back to campus for the students’ return home after school. Classes are broken up into groups of 10 or so to spend an hour with a docent on the trail, in an art session, in a journaling session, etc., in some outdoor fun exercise that allows for the appreciation of nature outside of the normal, school classroom. WHY NOT PLAN SOME OUTDOOR ACTIVITY THAT BRINGS TO LIGHT THE BOOK-LEARNING OF THE SCHOOL CLASSROOM?

Other non-classroom groups such as clubs, Boy Scouts, etc. are encouraged to visit South Fork; call and see what programs are offered that would benefit your group!

Contact Don Culwell (Programs and Services Chair) for further information and planning: 501-358-2095 cell or donculwell@conwaycorp.net.

BUR OAKS AND BLACK WALNUTS PLANTED AT SOUTH FORK

Nine Students and their teacher, Allison Wallace, from the Economics and Environment Senior Seminar in the UCA Honors College visited SFNC on Saturday, March 2, to plant two seven foot bur oaks they had purchased (Quercus macrocarpa) on northern, well-drained slopes of the Nature Center. The class also dug four black walnut saplings (Juglans nigra) grown by Bob Hartmann and transplanted them to South Fork on that cold, March day (hot chocolate and lunch around the fire pit with nice warmth radiating from the oak logs in the pavilion was most welcome).

These species enhance the botanical diversity on the peninsula. Black walnut is economically important with its rich, dark wood used in construction and building of furniture; bur oaks produce huge acorn fruits, the largest of the AR oak fruits nearly two inches in size.

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Know of a local/regional organization interested in environmental preservation/education?

Are they wanting to do a service project, hold an environmental educational event, or even a monthly meeting out in the wild? We would love to talk to them about coming to South Fork Nature Center. Environmental education is our Mission. Community involvement is our goal!

Contact Programs Director, Don Culwell at 1 (501) 358-2095 about visiting SFNC.

DOCENTS CELEBRATE

Don Culwell

Saturday evening, 6:00 PM on September 8, 17 docents and their spouses gathered around a low fire in the center pit of the new outdoor classroom-pavilion to roast skewered, stuffed jalapeño peppers and corn on the cob. Conversations over hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, and soft drinks caught every one up on early fall activities. With school classes now in session and teachers encouraged to bring classes out to SFNC for the day, docents will soon be busy again fulfilling South Fork’s mission: “No Child Left Inside” to stomp out the nature deficit syndrome.

So, with visiting over appetizers and drinks completed, docents were treated to a supper of fried chicken, slaw, biscuits, and fruit salad before desserts of peach cobbler and iced brownies were served.

Entertainment for the evening was by the Arkansas fiddle champion, Tim Trawick and his brother, Steve on guitar; toe patting melodies, gospel songs, and old familiar tunes sure rang through the rafters as the group gathered around on the hand-made cedar benches; surely some foursome must have been square dancing off to the side!

Docents were gifted with a T-shirt or a SFNC cap; a drawing honored door prize winners. It was indeed a great evening honoring South Fork docents for the great work they do to make nature come alive.

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See how cool it is to be a docent? If this sounds like a good fit for you, ask us how you can put your skills & enthusiasm to use as part of our docent volunteer team. Call 501-745-6444 or contact Programs Director Dr. Don Culwell at 501-358-2095.

Save the date! Saturday, September 15, 2018 from 10am-Noon at the South Fork Nature Center on Greers Ferry Lake in Choctaw

One of the fascinating stories in the world of nature is that of the Monarch butterfly migration.

On September 15, from 10:00 am to noon, an event at South Fork Nature Center where we will be assisting scientists in learning more about the “Monarch Migration Phenomenon”. We will be tagging adult Monarchs and releasing them. Some participants will be able to select a butterfly, hold it while it is being tagged, and then release it to nature (please note there will be a limited number of these spaces available; not everyone who attends will be able to hold & release a Monarch). If it survives the trip to Mexico and is found by someone, scientists will be able to add the information about that butterfly to their database.

Learn more about Monarchs by joining us in this citizen science effort at the special nature preserve we call South Fork Nature Center. Find driving directions here!

Click on the following link to read about Monarch Tagging and Migration:

Monarch Watch: Tagging →

Friday, August 10, was time for a clean-up burn of many downed cedars that had been cut a couple months before. This opens up considerable glade area for colonization of forbs and grasses.

Fourteen South Fork docents, friends, and Master Naturalists were on hand at 8:00 AM to light four big fires, piling on the cedar, all of which could be done in this very dry time of year due to significant rain two days before.

South Fork glades have been the site of major milkweed planting, as young plants have been set into the shallow soil in an attempt to grow flowers that attract butterflies and bees, as well as providing vegetation to feed butterfly larvae. These glade “wildflower meadows” must be kept free from most tree growth, allowing forbs and grasses to get the needed sun for their growth and development.

Come to South Fork Nature Center to check out the glade development for yourself!