A day with Anne Runyon

I've been hanging out with Anne Runyon the past few days, resting up before the conference. We were planning to go to Gorges State Park, but instead stayed around Raleigh for the day. Anne showed me some wonderful stories about box turtles in Wildlife in North Carolina magazine. Then, as if that weren't enough, she even made one of her beautiful paper sculptures. I think it looks just like me.

My visit to Granville County ....

Weary from so many travels, Tryon rests up at a small farm in northern Granville County before heading to Raleigh on Oct.  12 and is surprised to find a gorgeous baby diamondback terrapin getting ready to go to the NAAEE Conference, too!!  It was no accident to hear him exclaim, “what a fine Carolina Critter!” 

You can meet the terrapin and his friends the bumble bee, red-cockaded woodpecker, narrow-mouthed toad and many more when you visit the “Welcome to North Carolina” exhibit at the Raleigh Convention Center, Oct 12-14. What is really cool is that you can take the Carolina Critters home with you permanently and share them with friends and students. Once they settle into their new surroundings, they required very little care and thrive on marvel and will delight for many moons to come. Adoption fees are very affordable and go toward a great cause: Environmental Education!! Don’t miss meeting all of Tryon’s newest friends, Carolina Critters & Crafts.

My Busy Day at Brunson Elementary School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Wow!

What a busy day!  Elementary students in Winston-Salem sure learn many things. The class I visited has been studying animals, but not animals like me.  They've been studying invertebrates.  Boy were they excited to see a critter as complex and spine-toting as me! 

During the day I checked out some cookie crumbs set out to lure ants. The students were trying to determine what types of ants live on their school grounds as part of NC State University’s School of Ants global ant mapping project. The students found that more ants were attracted to the cookies on a grassy surface than on a paved surface.  Although the students found many kinds of ants, they will have to wait for the School of Ants analysis to see what species they caught. Those arthropods sure liked the cookies! Too bad the ants that were attracted to the cookies had to be sacrificed in the freezer before being mailed to NCSU.

We all know that students can't learn without a dedicated teacher. These kids have it made. Lara Overby is their teacher. She is also on the board of the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC). It's pretty neat that these students are still in elementary school but are already contributing to an important science project at NCSU. This is a picture of Lara, with her statement about what she likes best about EENC.

After the tiring time outside with the ants, we came back into the classroom to read Bridge to Terabithia, their class novel. Everyone wanted me to read with them. 

You’d think they didn’t know that the Eastern box turtle was their state reptile. In fact, two of the students introduced me to a picture of my cousin Charlotte, another Eastern box turtle, in a field guide book.

The end of the day was the most exciting part. We had recess! I got to play zombie tag and go down the slide. We also played a new game called Turtle, Turtle, Tryon that was similar to Duck, Duck, Goose. I felt very honored that the students created a special game just for me.

Then I met the principal who was covering for the crossing guard. He tried to look mean and scare me, but the students assured me that he was very helpful and kind. I thoroughly enjoyed being the Brunson Box Turtle.

I better get moving. I can't believe that the conference is starting next week. It hardly seems like any time has passed since I started my adventure in Raleigh at Artsplosure. 

My visit to the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching

Tryon Turtle here. I wanted to drop you a few lines about my wonderful adventure with NCCAT. NCCAT as I found out is the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and provides week long seminars for public school teachers to re-energize their love of learning. The seminar I visited took place in the NC mountains and was all about citizen science in the classroom. We visited Fairview Elementary where we tagged Monarch butterflies and hunted for ladybugs at their amazing outdoor classroom area. We ended our first day by looking at the ant diversity on NCCAT's campus using the School of Ants project.



The second day we traveled to Purchase Knob at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Purchase knob is a research station where we monitored the phenology of local tree species, examined the terrestrial invertebrate diversity, and searched for salamander species in what is considered to be the salamander capital of the world. Seeing all of the insects and salamanders sure did make me hungry. We ended our day with an introduction to bird banding with local bird bander Mark Hopey.




The next day we traveled to the bird banding station at Big Bald along the Appalachian Trail on the Tennessee border. We banded a variety of migratory birds, counted migrating raptors and finished our day by catching and banding a migrating Merlin. What an amazing day. I sure have learned a lot about citizen science, met some of North Carolina's fantastic teachers, and had a great time during my NCCAT seminar.

You can find more photos at flickr

Tryon Goes to Middle School

Earlier this week, I visited a young group environmentalist at Archdale-Trinity Middle School.  These students stay after school to recyle, making sure their school environmental friendly for turtles as well as humans and every critter in-between.  I learned a lot about the large amount of plastic bottles and paper that are thrown away each day at a school.  Each week, the ATMS Environmental Club recycles the bottles for points through the Dream Machine Recycle Rally.  The Dream Machine Recycling Rally is supported by Pepsi Company, Waste Management, and Greenopolis to encourage schools to reduce their waste. Schools get to redeem points for rewards.

Of course, we all know that these students wouldn't be doing this without the help of a wonderful, energetic, inspiring teacher. Their teacher is Sarah Fuller-Allman, the EENC membership co-chair. As if volunteering and teaching aren't enough, Sarah owns a farm and raises and shows Brahman cattle. I didn't meet her cattle. I guess that's good because I might have been stepped on. Ouch! Here is a picture of one of her Brahman calves starting to stand after being born. 

These kids are not only helping their school to be “green friendly,” but they are also helping the community by testing their water.  They had some time to take me water quality testing in Archdale at a local stream.  This stream is off the parking lot from the school, so the kids study how the school affects its local environment.  I learned a lot with the kids about the runoff from the parking lot and how it is causing sediment to build up in the stream.  They share their data with local scientists to help improve the water quality.

It was definitely a tiring day, following these energetic environmentalists around, but it is good to see my children’s future will be protected as along as these kids keep studying and lobbying for us!

My First Marathon

On September 17th, Davidson Lands Conservancy sponsors a "Race for the Green" marathon.  This year, I hitched a ride on the back of one of the runners and actually finished in pretty good time, and not at all winded!  The course winds in and around the town of Davidson and ends up on the Town Green.  On the Green, and for the rest of the morning, I enjoyed live entertainment, displays from vendors of "green" products and activities with the kids. I was able to share information about the conference with many people, and at by lunchtime, I was exhausted! Thankfully, EENC member Carolyn Walker took me home to rest before my next adventure.

I helped Dr. Grant at the Davidson Lands Conservancy booth.



These cute girls took me around  after they got their faces painted. I passed on that because I am not a painted turtle.

I finished my first marathon. I don't know why everyone thinks it's so hard. I thought it was pretty easy.












     

September 10: Summer Camp at Piedmont Environmental Center Turtles Just Want to Have Fun

Nature Camp and Herpetology Camp at PEC

Imagine an old guy like me going to summer camp, but that’s just what I did. I had the chance to go to High Point and attend one week of Piedmont Environmental Center’s Summer Nature Adventure Camp and two days of Herpetology Camp. The 5-day Summer Nature Camp was a great experience. One of the naturalists, Tom Shepherd, has been supervising camps for more than 25 years.  The other Naturalist was once a camper at this very camp. She went to Appalachian State University and came back to work here. Some of the campers have been to this camp before and some were newcomers like me. The schedule covered just about every topic of natural history.

Each day, camp began with an introduction to the map of the day. The trail selected for our first hike was the Woodland Wildflower Trail. The Naturalists explained the 8 “tools” packs that go with us on every hike. Of course, the most sought after pack is “Herp tools” pack. It contains the most essential tools for working with wild reptiles and amphibians: calipers, scales, record books and pencils, two pillow cases, and three herp-jugs.  I learned that you can buy herp-jugs in the grocery store. They come with free peanut butter and parmesan cheese in them! The parmesan cheese kind are the best, they have the build- in flip-top air holes. I got to be put in the herp pack and a camper named Maria carried me.

With snacks in our packs, and our packs on our backs, we set off on the first of 12 trails we would follow through-out the week. Our first herp was a Fowlers Toad. A camper spotted it just off the trail next to an old log. Hard to believe I am considered within the same broad biological science as this odd fellow.  Over the course of the next five days the campers and I had spotted and documented fourteen species of herps including: twenty-one Yellowbelly Sliders, three Painted Turtles, one Eastern Musk Turtle. Unfortunately, no Eastern Box Turtles we found during my week at camp.  Campers also kept track of the birds, arthropods, fish and mammals observed during the week.

On Thursday, the campers have the option to spend the night. During the final activity of the evening, the naturalists shared stories and folklore about Eastern Box Turtles. One story explained how I got the markings on my carapace; they are the footprints of a little muskrat that brought the land-land up from deep down in the water-land to give the woman from sky-land a place to stand. You have to hear the story! I learned that my carapace is also a calendar. Each one of my vertebral and costal scutes represents a full moon cycle. The riddle is: 13 scutes but only 12 months, how can you account for the extra scute?

Herp Camp at PEC is two days of studying lizards, frogs, toads, salamanders, snakes and of course, as my pack friend from last week would say, las tortugas. We got really lucky for Herp Camp; it had rained over the weekend. The forest was moist and refreshed when we started out on our first trail. The first herps we saw were tiny American toads. Then, several campers called out with great enthusiasm, “Turtle!” A hatchling Eastern Box Turtle was walking across the trail. We took lots of pictures. This is the fourth year out of the last five that a hatchling has been found during the summer camping season. These documented sightings are evidence that there may very well be a reproducing population of Eastern Box Turtles at PEC.

Over the course of the next two days the herp campers and I observed and identified 21 species of herps, three short of the record that was set 14 years ago. So close! We found one more Eastern Box Turtle. She was captured and marked two years ago at nearly the same spot on the trails. By looking at her marks on her marginal scutes, the naturalists determined that she is turtle #33. The record shows she was recaptured last fall during one of the school fieldtrip classes at PEC. The campers and I helped update her weight and carapace measurements for the record book.

I left PEC camps like every other camper has left; absolutely worn out! I am told it is a tradition.

September 7 A Visit to the NAAEE Offices

Sue Bumpous, the program and communications manager, took me to the NAAEE offices, so I could meet everyone there. My favorite part, at least at the beginning of the day, was riding the Metro without being in a suitcase. We got on the blue line at Franconia, got off at Metro Center, then rode the red line to Dupont Circle.  I got to put the ticket in at the beginning and put it back in when we got off the train.

At the NAAEE offices, I got to help a lot of people. Dee was swamped with conference registrations. That, they tell me is a good thing. If you didn't register, you can still come to the conference but you have to pay an extra $50 at the door. That is a lot of turtle food. Well I don't really pay for my food. I mostly look for worms and then eat them. 

                                                                             


Pepe Marcos-Iga was in town from Arizona and needed my help with ideas for the 40th anniversary program. 

Gus Medina needed my help too. I think we were selecting pictures for the opening program, but I can't quite remember.

I was hoping to meet Linda Rhoads, the acting executive director, but she had some appointments out of the office. Guess I'll have to wait for the conference.


 By the time I was done at the NAAEE office, I was pretty tired. Tucked my head back in my shell all the way back home on the Metro.

Tryon on the move to Northern Virginia and Washington DC

I’m in Northern Virginia, visiting some old friends and making some new ones. I got a ride with my friend Sue Bumpous, when she returned to Virginia after she finalized conference details in Raleigh last week. My plan is to visit the offices of NAAEE and see what they do there.

But first, I got to hang out with Elizabeth Burke. Elizabeth is the communications chair for EENC, even though she doesn’t live in North Carolina anymore. She says she still loves meeting with the environmental educators in North Carolina and, having met a few of them, I can see why.

Her main volunteer job in Virginia, is helping to care for native plants at the Earth Sangha Wild Plant Nursery. The nursery collects its seeds from wild stock in parks in Northern Virginia (local ecotype is how they describe it) and then propagate the seeds in their nursery. 

Elizabeth took me to the nursery on her regular Wednesday morning shift, where I met Alison (on the left) and Denise (who is holding me so I can read the words on the sign).

I also got to meet a bunch of garden helpers from  St. John’s Community Services. They come every Wednesday and help with watering, weeding and, when there are seeds to be sown or plants to repot, they fill pots with dirt. Ishmael, one of their counselors, is holding me here, so that I don’t get stepped on.

The nursery operates on a trough system, with one of the troughs dedicated to wetland plants. If you know wetlands, you know all the kinds of critters that are attracted to the water. I saw dragonfly larva, water boatmen, water striders, and lots of green frog and bullfrog tadpoles. There were also a couple of green frogs just hanging out (they kind of hid when my St. John’s friends got too close).

The picture on the right shows a toad road one of the garden helpers made, to help the frogs get out of the water when the time comes for the herps to hibernate. I thought I would give it a try. Seems to be pretty solid.

With all these beautiful plants around, I wanted to get up high so I could see them better. Elizabeth picked me up and let me check out the false sunflowers.  Earth Sangha propagates 200 species of native plants, which make their way back to meadows and riparian buffers.

I’m helping Denise remove the bee straws from the bee condo. Denise has become an expert on native bees and told me that she would donate two of her beautiful bee houses to the Stapp auction: one for the North Carolina basket and one for the Virginia basket.

Speaking of the auction, if you are coming to the conference, I hope you'll bring some auction items. The money raised will go towards scholarships for next year's conference.

Escaping the Heat

Wow!  It sure has been hot here in North Carolina!!  But don't worry, come October we have average temps in the low 70s.  But if we are still facing record temperatures, than I will certainly be sitting in on the NAAEE Conference Plenary Panel: Climate Change, Oceans, and Society!

To escape the heat, I headed to the mountains.  I have really enjoyed visiting this part of the state on my journeys, there is so much to see!  This time, I decided to immerse my turtle self into some more history of the area.  When I attended the Sustainable Forestry Teachers' Academy in New Bern, I learned all about the history of the forest industry on our coast (that reminds me... I still have to upload my pictures!)  But wow - - did you know that North Carolina is known as the birthplace of forestry in America??

One of the gardens at the Biltmore Estate

I learned that a man by the name of George Vanderbilt built this little summer retreat for his family and friends in the mountains of North Carolina outside of Asheville.  He called it the Biltmore Estate.  I did visit the house, but you can't take any pictures inside.  There was so much to look at there - I could have easily spent three days walking through the grounds and gardens!  But what I learned is that Vanderbilt worked with three very smart men to convert the tired agricultural land around Biltmore Estate into the beautiful forest we see today.  Those three men were Frederick Olmsted, Gifford Pinchot, and Dr. Carl Schenck.  These three men created and implemented what is most likely the first written forest management plan in the United States, as well as beginning the first forestry school.  You can read about their influence, and learn about it first hand when visiting the Biltmore.  

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Weeks Act

I headed up to the Cradle of Forestry, a 6,500 acre historic site within the Pisgah National Forest, set aside by Congress to commemorate the beginning of forestry conservation in the United States.  The Pisgah National Forest exists because of the Weeks Act, and the Vanderbilts.  The Weeks Act is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year, and the Forest History Society (also based in North Carolina) has a great web site that you can use to help educate yourself and students about this important legislation.     

The Cradle has lots of beautiful trails to walk on and see some replica buildings from Schenck's Biltmore Forestry School.  One of the buildings is a classroom, and I am sure Schenck's students preferred learning out in the field rather than in that classroom with those hard wooden benches!  And since there were no forestry schools in the United States, Schenck wrote most of their textbooks and helped them create many of the tools they would need in the woods, including the Biltmore Stick, which is used to help measure the diameter, height, and volume of trees!

I had to get up close to read the information about the
Biltmore Forest School.  Glad the volunteers didn't mind me
sitting on the calipers!

Here I am with my new friend Cindy!

While on the trails, I met my new friend, Cindy Carpenter.  She works for the US Forest Service as the Education and Interpretation Program Manager for the Cradle of Forestry.  She has a huge passion for forest history, forestry, and education about our wonderful resources.  She even sang me a song while she played her guitar about forests! 

I also went through the Forest Discovery Center which has some wonderful interactive exhibits.  I tried to convince the volunteers that I could be a part of their display.  I also saw this huge sawblade!  Can you imagine the size of the trees that were cut into building lumber with this?

Well, I certainly had a great time in the western part of the state again!  I did also want to remind you that August 11th is the Early Bird Registration deadline for the NAAEE Conference.  Registering early saves you $80.  You know what I did with my $80 savings?  I registered for one of the pre-conference workshops!  There were 16 to choose from, so it was a tough decision.  Also - don't forget you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter... just look for Tryon T. Turtle!

California Stow-Away

Hello! 

 I would have posted earlier, but as you know...I'm on turtle time!

 

As an Eastern Box Turtle, it was easy for me to stow away in a suitcase by tucking in my head and legs.  Samsonite has nothing on a turtle's trusty shell!  Before you could say "Turtles are truly terrific," my friend Sheila toted me to sunny California.

 

While here, I'm busy having fun in the sun while promoting this year's exciting 2011 NAAEE Conference in Raleigh, NC and checking out the state that will host the NAAEE Conference in 2012.  Take it from this terrapin, you'll want to travel to both these destinations for the best professional development in EE!

Here I am  posing with Jenny Rigby outside Acorn Naturalists--the science and nature supply company that's well-known by environmental educators the world over! 

 

Jenny treated me to a grand tour of her eco-friendly American Craftsman bungalow in Old Town Tustin, CA.  We entered through handcrafted doors featuring a beautiful oak tree.  It reminded me of the shimmering oak tree on the Raleigh Convention Center!  Whether doing EE out west or back east, we are all "Rooted in Time, Branching to the Future."

Inside we saw all the cool books, activity guides, and field equipment that fill the pages of the Acorn Naturalists catalog.  Plus, lots of turtle-themed and nature inspired gifts which are perfect for this, the Year of the Turtle!

 

Be sure to visit the Exhibit Hall at Raleigh's 2011 NAAEE Conference to meet all kinds of companies and organizations that sell educational materials to support quality EE!

Next, this landlubber lumbered further up the beach where I met another new friend.  Riley was visiting the beach from the desert region of Phoenix, AZ.  She invited me to join her and her siblings in sculpturing sandcastles and excavating moats before high tide would sweep them away.  What fun! 

These youngsters were very curious about turtles--both those that live on land and those who make the ocean their home.  I told them how we turtles like to dig our nests and lay our eggs in sand and soil.  I also gave them ideas on how they could help turtles everywhere.  Environmental educators who come to the 2011 NAAEE Conference will hear Jean Beasley speak on how she founded the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island, NC to help sea turtles in trouble.  I'm looking forward to seeing Jean's education assistant Lennie, a blind Kemp's Ridley sea turtle who is my BTF (best turtle friend!)

Goodbye!  It's time for ol' Tryon T. Turtle to trek back to NC to promote the 2011 NAAEE Conference. I've got to let everyone know that the early bird registration deadline is coming up August 11th!  You remember the story of the Tortoise and the Hare?  Be quick and register by clicking on "Conference" atwww.naaee.org.  Hope to see you there!

The Sea Turtle Frenzy!

Every summer, folks in North Carolina get a little cuckoo for sea turtles.  I suppose it's because North Carolina's coasts are home to five of the world's seven sea turtle species!


Well I'm just a 59-year old landlubber who's grown accustomed to my maritime cousins getting most of the fame and glory.  And size doesn't always matter.   Even though loggerheads outweigh me by 100 times (300 lbs to 3 lbs), our brains are just about the same size!!!!

I visited Hammocks Beach State Park where four Sea Turtle interns carefully monitor almost 4 miles of coast each night from dusk till dawn!  When they see a sea turtle crawl ashore to nest, they enclose the nest in a protective cage to keep dogs, raccoons and foxes from interfering.  About 70 days later, up to 100 eggs hatch and the young sea turtles "boil out" of the sand.



I also visited the aquarium at Fort Fisher and talked to education staff about how I could help.  Apparently sea turtles use the brightest horizon (usually the ocean) to orient themselves at night. But bright street lights can confuse them.  Also, plastic bags that end up in the ocean look strikingly similar to jellyfish, a favorite food of some turtles.  Even landlubbers like you and I can make a difference! 

Playing in the Mud with Seagrove Potters!

In case you don't know, Seagrove, North Carolina, has been famous for it's pottery for hundreds of years.

Last weekend, the EENC Conference Chair, Lois Nixon, took me to Seagrove. It was really fun to hang out with people who love playing with damp, squishy mud as much as I do!  Can you believe they were making cereal bowls out of that clay? Lois was there to look for bowls for you to purchase and use at the conference. These will save on disposable bowls, which makes the sustainability chair Mickey Jo Sorrell very happy, and will give you a piece of North Carolina to take home with you.  

As you can see in the photo, I was very interested in how they make bowls out of mud—you can also meet my new friend, Suzanne, in the Artists’ Corner at the conference.

I really learned a lot of new stuff about mud last weekend. Those potters have been making bowls, face jugs (can’t remember if those jugs hold spirits or scare off spirits!), bird houses, dinnerware, Christmas ornaments, pie plates, decorative wall tiles, and much more for over 200 years. A few of the people we met  are descendants of the potters who came to Seagrove in the 1700’s to dig up good dirt and mud and clay for making pots and bowls.  Some of the potters still use that local mud for pots and glazes.

About 100 potteries are along a highway way out in the country.  We would see their signs by the highway and then have a long way to go down their dirt driveway to get to the place where we could see and buy their pottery.  It was like a treasure hunt.  Most of them live in very old historic houses, and make the pottery in the barns or sheds. I met a tiny baby five-lined skink with a neon-blue tail on the way to one of the pottery barns. 

After the potters make the mud into a bowl shape, it dries, then they “fire” it in a “kiln” to get all the water out and harden it before the colorful glazes are added (these are all new words for me).  

I peeked into one of the kilns. It is a big brick room, where they stack the bowls and pots on shelves, then use wood (or gas or electricity) to make a really hot fire --

1700º F or more.  After the pots cool, the next step is for the potter to mix up their special secret recipes for glazes and dip or brush on the glaze, then stack the pots back in the kiln again, and heat the kiln to about 2000º F to melt the glaze onto the pot.  I would not be peeking into the kiln when that firing was going on!  It might scorch my shell!  The potters said the fire even shoots out between the bricks—in ancient times in the Orient, this caused these outdoor kilns on the hillside to be called “dragon kilns.”  I think dragons might be my ancestors! 

After the pots and bowls cool down in the kiln for a whole day, the potters open the kiln door to see their art work!  Sometimes it is a big surprise….good or bad!  We found lots of beautiful cereal bowls on our shopping trip, and here I am, trying to decide which one I want.  Which is your favorite?  We’ll save some of these just for you to buy to use for your breakfast each morning at the conference.                       

By the way, that breakfast is going to be healthy granola (yummm), yogurt (think I’ll skip that), and fresh NC fruit from the Farmers’ Market.  Your choices will be fresh apples and pears grown in the NC mountains, fresh peaches and figs grown in the sandhills of NC, or fresh raspberries and grapes grown on the coastal plain.  You’ll have to hurry to beat me to those fresh raspberries each morning.

Stay tuned for more travels!

Tryon T. Turtle

Where are the Smores?

No smores this week at Carolina Beach State Park.  Extremely dry conditions led to a burning ban for wood campfires.  Not to worry, there's no shortage of great ice cream here on the coast... not to mention the roadside produce stands full of NC peaches and blueberries.


While we're cautious about  campground fires becoming wildfires, prescribed fire is an important part of our natural resource management.




The longleaf pine savannas in particular depend on fire every few years to maintain this natural plant community.  One of the park's most famous plants, the Venus flytrap, also tolerates fire well.


Prescribed fire reduces the "fuel level" in forests, protects rare species and can even reduce tick populations.  Park rangers receive  extensive training and only conduct prescribed burns when the weather is ideal.  

This turtle is trying to avoid too much heat.  I don't want to end up like these bacon, hot dog, turtle burgers. Grubs and shrooms are more my taste!