Jr. Naturalists
The Ohio Bird Sanctuary Jr. Naturalists began in 2000 as an opportunity for Jr. High and High School aged youth 13-17 to learn more about their environment, serve as ambassadors of the Sanctuary, give service to OBS and to have fun and fellowship in the out-of-doors. There are 12-15 students in this group. The program begins in February and runs through December. This is a very active group of self-motivated and environmentally conscious young people.
Current J.Nat Projects
In 2011 the Jr. Naturalists look forward to visiting Peter Tolson to learn more about the endangered Karner Blue butterfly and Ohio's Oak openings. We will also host a workshop on dragonflies and damselflies, led by the Judy Semroc and Larry Rosche authors of "Dragonflies and Damselflies of North-east Ohio". Later in the summer, a campout at Prarie Rose Farm near Marysville is in the planning stages. We will study night insects, photography and archery.
Past J.Nat Projects
2000- Planning for the Butterfly Garden at the Sanctuary began.
2001- Construction of the Butterfly Garden began. Field trips were made to Gorman Nature Center and Malabar Farm.
2002- Butterfly Garden was the main project. Field trips to the Columbus Zoo for a behind the scenes tour of the Bird Show. The students also visited the Olentangy caves.
2003- In 2003 the J. Nats visited Penitentiary Glen Rehabilitation Facility in Kirtland and the Cleveland Museum
2004- In 2004 the J. Nats added a family campout to the year's schedule. The campout this year was at OBS. The J. Nats visited Back to the Wild, Crane Creek, and the Ohio Caverns.
2005- The J. Nats took a trip down the Mohican River canoeing 15 miles and spending 2 nights camping at Joy of Living Camp in Brinkhaven. Day one, Merrill Tawse (Gorman Nature Center) taught water quality. Day two, Steve McKee (Gorman Nature Center) taught botany and rocks/fossils.
2006- The Jr. Naturalists took a trip to Hocking Hills State Park and hiked Old Mans Cave, Ash Cave, and Cedar Falls. Two nights were spent camping in the almost continual rain. On the second day, Steve McKee led a hike in the gorge. We dicovered the state endangered sword moss on the Old Man's Cave hike.
2007- After participating in the Camp Avery Hand C.O.P.E. course (a high ropes and team building experience, the J. Nats cooked supper over a roaring fire and slept in tents under the pines at the Boy Scout Camp Avery Hand. The J. Nats also took a trip to The Wilds and toured the facility, helped eradicate carp in Miller Creek, and learned to Rappel.
2008- In 2008 the J. Nats took a two day trip to the Ohio State Stone Lab facility on Lake Erie, helping catch Lake Erie Water Snakes and do other aquatic studies.
2009- The group made a return visit to the Wilds to continue in the effort to re-establish a hellbender habitat at the facility. After spending the night in Zanesville, the Jnats traveled to Nelsonville to ride the Hocking Hills Canopy Tour zipline.
2010- A grant was obtained from the Environmantal Education Fund(EECO)for this years program. A second visit was made to F.T. Stone Laboratory in Lake Erie to work with Kristin Stanford (Island Snake Lady). Before leaving South Bass Island we learned about the Battle of Lake Erie at Perry's Monument. In July the teens canoed 40 miles on the Black Fork, Mohican, and Walhonding Rivers to learn about riparian waterways, with a focus on mussels. In August another trip took us to the Wilds to work on a project to restore marsh habitat. We stopped at the Earthworks (Indian Mounds)in Newark to get a in little history lesson on our way home. Several improvement projects were accomplished by the Jnats on the OBS property including the establishment of a new trail through the marsh. The Madison High School Science Club participated in the trail work and obtained a grant to build a bridge to connect both halves of the trail.
2011- Our main focus this year was the world of Insects. We took a field trip to the Toledo Zoo to visit the Karner blue Butterfly project. This small(quarter sized) butterfly is found in Ohio,only in the Oak Openings in the Northwwest section of the state. It is on the endangered list for the state and would probably be extirpated by now without the help of the program overrseen by Dr. Peter Tolson. After the zoo visit we ended the day at Kitty Todd Nature Preserve which is one of the few areas the Karner is known to inhabit. It is in this area that the newly hatched butterflies from the zoo are released. Later in the summer Judy Semroc and Larry Rosche of the Cleveland Museum came to OBS to present a workshop on Dragonflies and Damselflies. While they were at OBS a Tulee bluet was discovered in the meadow in front of the Visitor Center. It was the first recorded sighting of this damselflyin Richland County.
Becoming a J. Nat
If you are interested in learning more about this program, please email Jan at: janferrellobs@gmail.com