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Spring 2018: Busy as Bees!

Blockbuster month for South Fork visitors & activities!

Total from April 23-May 23, 2018:

Students: 220
Teachers & Chaperones: 21
Scheduled community visitors for events: 73

Grand total = 314 + countless docents and board members working the events and classes

April 23: South Side Elementary

Science study during the school year “hit the road” as students walked trails, sat in study groups in the woods, and  did “hands on” activities at the tables.  Erin Scrimshire’s Southside Bee Branch 4th graders (34 of them) spent time in the out-of-doors stomping out the “nature deficit syndrome.”


It was exciting to experience ecosystems that a number of animals call home: black vultures, tufted titmice, armadillos, squirrels, turtles, lizards (just turn over a rotting log and see earthworms, centipedes, termites in their homes).

Flowers had nearly finished their bloom on the oaks in their very tiny “acorn,” female flowers and long strings of male flower anthers; white oak acorns will soon be developing this year. Eye-catching red buckeye flowers had sepals, petals, stamens and pistils seen through a hand lens, all of which aided in the success of the buckeye shrubs scattered over the north slope. Yellow buttercup flowers from herbs in the open field sported many stamens above 5, shiny, yellow petals.

Breaks around noon for energy from sack lunches gave time to visit with friends. Many would say that the outdoor classroom surely provided for learning about the world around us. Nature at its best!

April 24: Arkansas FAM Tour

On Tuesday, April 24, guests from the Arkansas Tourists Association’s “FAM Tour” (short for “Familiarization”) stopped for lunch at South Fork during their trek through Van Buren County. These FAM members represent over 20 Arkansas welcome centers across the state, where they assist travelers in planning their trip, answering questions and sharing their real-life experiences of amazing places to visit in Arkansas.
Judge Roger Hooper is shown here addressing our guests during a luncheon provided by the City of Clinton.

April 25: Nemo Vista Sophomores

Scott Perry and Jared Brice’s Nemo Vista students (40 of them came on Wednesday, April 25th) set up game cameras in the woods, verifying that the woods are alive and active even after dark. A check for bugs on leaves and twigs or under moist logs yielded exciting results. Shelter in the new outdoor classroom/pavilion was convenient as a few raindrops began to fall, watering the trailside ecosystems. Even the circular fire pit centered under the roof was appreciated when a fire built of nearby cedar warmed kids in the chill of the morning air.

May 8: Rosebud Pre-AP Class Visit

Rose Bud students arrived at the front gate at 9:00 AM to spend the day.  Their  pre-advanced placement curriculum taught by Margaret Moon had prepared them for discussions in greater depth about ecosystem habitats, bugs, and flowers.

Could the bright, pink veins of the big evening primrose petals serve as “runways” guiding insects in search of the nectar in the center of the flower where nectaries could be found? Look at those masses of mealy, pollen all globbed up on the anther surfaces! Will the sperm nuclei in those pollen grains find the eggs in the ovary in the pistil of another primrose flower? How does the diploid primrose plant (diploid because each nucleus of the plant has a set of genes each from the “mother and father”) produce haploid gametes, sperm and eggs, that can fuse in the fertilization process after pollination occurred in the flower? Are all flowers showy and pretty, attracting some pollinator (a bee, bird, butterfly)? The oak that has only many anthers that dangle in strings releasing light weight pollen the wind can carry (and some of it missed the tiny acorn flowers and gets in your eyes and nose)…no showy flowers here! Yes, why should the oak spend its energy making pretty flowers when only wind is needed to transfer pollen, not insects? There is so much flowering biology!

Lunches came out at 12:30, finally, before hikes through the woods to the waterfall or to the far end of the peninsula. “Search, find those ticks, tiny seed ticks, before they infect you with one of the five tick diseases” was the request heard by students as they boarded the bus for return to campus, but not before the group picture in front of the Riddle Cabin.

May 11: Clinton 6th Graders

Lots of them!  One hundred Clinton 6th graders under the watchful eye of Sarah Forrest.  South Fork trails were busy with 5 docents leading their groups into the “wilds of the glades and woodlands” (50 in the AM and 50 in the PM).  Destination:  waterfall at flatrock creek on the tip of South Fork’s peninsula.

How do organisms function? What adaptations allow for their successful structure, reproduction, living in the woods…both plants and animals? Students were overheard saying the “South Fork classroom” was neat and fun for the day’s lesson!

South Fork was also proud to host visits by our Foothills chapter Master Naturalist friends, in a tree identification trail walk on May 7, and the Fairfield Bay Master Gardeners, in a plant structure & identification study on May 19 (these gardeners helped our Milkweed project that started a couple of years ago). South Fork is the perfect venue for hands-on nature observation and group learning!

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April 28. 2018: Herbarium Tour

Don Culwell will give a public talk at the Van Buren County Library on Saturday, April 28, 9 AM, showcasing the Herbarium, the collection and its use. Representative specimens housed in the cabinet will be on display. Immediately following the presentation, we’ll leave the library and meet at SFNC at the 100 year old Riddle Cabin on the grounds for coffee and refreshments prior to the spring nature walk along the trails. Dr. Culwell will lead a public walk at South Fork Nature Center where many spring flowers and newly leafed-out plants of the spring flora will be seen along the trails through the woods and glades.

What’s in the Herbarium Cabinet at the Van Buren County Library?

It is a collection of dried, pressed plants, each labeled with data including its name, habitat, collector, and date. These 837 plants represent all the vascular plants found growing at South Fork Nature Center that were collected during 2005. The scientific study was undertaken by professional botanists Theo Witsell and Brent Baker at the direction SFNC and the Gates Rogers Foundation. The botanists visited the site every two weeks of the growing season that year. They collected and recorded a representative specimen of each species they encountered.This created a scientific documentation of all plant populations in the ecosystems of the approximate 120 acre peninsula known as SFNC. These findings of Witsell and Baker were presented before a meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science (Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 60, 2006); they included a summary of the floristic diversity and descriptions of the plant communities in the study area. At the time of this study, Witselland Baker’s findings were the most extensive for any piece of land its size found in the state.

Browse our website for more about our educational programs, facilities, and click the map for directions to the nature center!

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Riddle Cabin to have Picket Fence

PICKET FENCE IS TO SET OFF THE RIDDLE CABIN

Bob Hartmann, George Baker, and Don Culwell are working to get the fence built “to keep the chickens in and pigs out of the front yard” as might have been the case when Granny Riddle (Almeda Riddle) grew up in the cabin nearly a hundred years ago over on the other side of the Lake at Drasco where Granny’s dad built the home. The logs were milled on SFNC site. Thanks to all involved for their donation of time and effort!

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FFB Garden Club visit

CULWELL TEACHES TREE IDENTIFICATION AND TAKES A LOOK AT FLOWER STRUCTURE

The Fairfield Bay Garden Club met for lunch at noon and then gathered to see just what winter condition is like for tree identification. Dried, fallen leaves were examined for key features and winter twigs were studied for the characters they show. Dwight Moore’s Trees of Arkansas put out by the Forestry Commission was used to show keys for identification and descriptions of trees on display. Use of a hand lens and a flower diagram brought discussion of the numbers, functions of flower parts and their locations; sexual reproduction does produce variation in the combinations of genes of the two parents which is obvious in a population of one species. This was demonstrated in the materials being studied.

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Dr. Culwell’s Walk in the Woods

Photo credits: Melissa Graham
Saturday, March 10, twelve folks (half were kids) met in the outdoor classroom/pavilion getting ready for a walk in the woods, the winter woods. Coffee and peach cobbler got the gang in the mood for the woods. But, already on the cool day as the group hit the trail, there were a few flowers poking their heads up; the white trout lily (Erythronium albidum) was in full bloom on the north slope where it decorated the brown, leaf litter; the two leaves of each plant have their top sides colored green with white spots giving it the name trout lily. Rising up from the pair of leaves was the nodding, white flower nearly two inches long of three petals and three sepals tinged with maroon (or tepals as we call them, since the petals and sepals look much the same).

No doubt, the trout lily stole the day, even as lichens (crustose, leafy, and branched ones) stood out in white or pale greenish-blue on the tree trunks and rocks. A few animals let us know we were in their habitat; armadillo dens and uprooted soil told us we were in their home space, black vultures flew high overhead searching for a meal, and spring warblers as well as the resident, feathered folks sang out loudly announcing their presence.

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School Days

South Fork Nature Center docents and board members visited area Schools in February and March. They hosted luncheons for teachers at Clinton High and Junior High schools and at the entire South Side School district in Bee Branch. We want to thank all the people involved in these visits. Krissi Graham and Julie Nelson served as Liaisons between the schools and the Nature Center and were instrumental in a smooth production of our program in a short window of time. Many docents and friends of SFNC donated the food, and of course their time, making scrumptious desserts for the luncheons.


On February 16th docents, Krissi Graham, Sunnie Ruple, Janet Miron and Program Director, Don Culwell, were on site at Clinton Schools to share information with the teachers and administrators about what is offered out at SFNC. Teachers were served several different Taco Soup recipes along with salad and of course dessert. Don Culwell utilized the time to share with the teachers the types of activities available for the students. It was stressed that SFNC docents stand ready to work with the teachers to create the perfect field-based experience to coordinate with and reinforce classroom learning. Pictures of our new Pavilion were shown. It was emphasized that we now have a secure place to take large numbers of students to get out of the rain. Approximately 25 teachers attended the luncheons held in Clinton Schools.

On March 9th docents Ruth Andre, Krissi Graham, Kay Verboon, Marc Hirrel and board members Leslie Goff, Janet Miron and Don Culwell met at South Side School in Bee Branch to let them know how much we want them to bring their classes to SFNC this spring. A slide show was presented to introduce our Nature Center and then Don Culwell, Janet Miron and Marc Hirrel spoke with the teachers about logistics and the process for scheduling their class visit. We were contacted within a day by teachers ready to set up entire grade level visits. Over 35 teachers and students attended the luncheon. Some of Mrs. Nelson’s EAST students served as support staff for the luncheon busing the tables and managing the trash. Thanks to all who made this a successful outreach for our mission at South Fork Nature Center!

Want us to come and visit your school?
Want to schedule a field trip for your class or organization?

Contact Don Culwell, Programs Director at grf@artelco.com or 501.358.2095