Ijams Superhero Academy graduates first class

Crime in Knoxville took a big hit recently as Ijams Nature Center graduates new Superheroes to join in the fight against evil! 

The Saturday morning workshop saw the first recruiting class enlist in Superhero Academy with the hopes of joining the prestigious Justice League of Ijams. Willing recruits arrived at the academy and immediately revealed their super-secret superhero identity and super powers. Official Academy badges were created to identify official recruits.

Suddenly, the head instructor, Professor Accipiter, was alerted to a possible security threat. After silencing her alarm, she immediately dispatched the recruits into the exercise yard to diffuse the situation. Because the weapon of choice was kryptonite, recruits donned the appropriate safety equipment to prevent injury and set about removing the kryptonite from the area. Once the area was deemed safe again, recruits returned to their training.

- Text and photos by Jennifer Roder. Additional photography by Jimmy Olsen/Daily Planet. 

Carefully removing kryptonite from Ijams

Green kryptonite

Like every good superhero, new recruits needed a disguise to safeguard their true identity. A critical part of superhero training is to develop masks and accessories to aid them in the fight against dastardly villains. 

Once complete, superhero candidates donned their disguise and assumed their heroic alter ego. Training was complete once they had finished several missions in the superhero flight simulator.

 

Anyone interested in possibly joining the Justice League of Ijams can join us July 7-11, when we host the Justice League of Ijams summer camp.

Congratulations Superhero graduates! May truth and honor guide you in your fight against evil.

Ijams Hike-A-Thon thanks Sam and May Ann Venable

Last Saturday, March 22, Sam and Mary Ann Venable led a hike along the River Trail as part of our second annual Ijams Hike-A-Thon. 

As we walked down North Cove, we came across toothwort, bloodroot, trout lily and little brown jugs just to name a few early spring wildflowers. Sam and Mary Ann told lots of stories about their hiking experience. One story that stood out to me was Sam’s rendition of the once benevolent American chestnut tree. Sam talked about how important the tree once was to the livelihood of animals and people alike. The American chestnut was once dubbed the redwood of the south. It was practically wiped out due to a blight that began in the early 1900s.

Sam, beloved columnist for the Knoxville News-Sentinel,  also talked about his experience with duck hunting across the United States. A good time was had by all. We look forward to welcoming Sam and Mary Ann back for additional hikes soon.

Thank you, Sam and Mary Ann!

- Text and photos by Sabrina DeVault

    

Spring Break Campers welcome in the new season at Ijams

Spring Break Camp at Ijams started the week in coats and jackets and by Friday we were in short-sleeves, but it didn't last long.

We welcomed the change of season with wildflowers and meadow larks; we also explored Jo's Grove and other sites.

Special thanks to all of our great camp kids!

- Stephen Lyn Bales

Spring bouquet

Mineral hunting

Finally a day of sunshine

Yes, that's a vulture!

Tree hugging

Looking for newts

Playing dragon tail

We are mighty!

So what happens when our educational owl gets tired?

Welcoming visitors to Ijams can be exhausting if you only weigh three pounds and spend most of your time alone in a secluded enclosure, away from the crowds. 

So what happens when our male great horned owl gets tired? 

He simply lays down. Luckily this afternoon, he had the friendly arms of our vet, Dr. Louise Conrad, to catch him.

- Stephen Lyn Bales

Rare grebes spotted off Ijams Boardwalk & at Forks

Jason Sturner, husband of Ijams volunteer Kelly, reports: 

Red-necked grebe

"Wanted to let you know about a rare bird sighting at Ijams. Yesterday morning I saw a red-necked grebe (and two horned grebes) at Forks of the River WMA [upstream from Ijams]. I came back in the evening, and the red-necked was near the boardwalk (the horned grebes were still in the Forks area. 

"Anyway, there's an irruption of water birds this year due to the extreme cold up north, where much of the Great Lakes froze over. Species have been on the move to find open water, including the red-necked Grebe."

Details about this irruption can be found here: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/species-on-the-move-wwscrngr/

Thanks, Jason.

Another Knoxville Urban Wilderness piece-by-piece finished

Another brick in the walkway. 

The second Ijams Piece-by-Piece Hike was held Saturday, March 8 on a section of the Knoxville Urban Wilderness: South. 

Our goal is to hike all 40 plus miles. We don't know when we'll finish, and when we do, we're apt to start all over again. 

This time out, we focused on the Dozer and Bluff Trails on the east side of Forks-of-the-River Wildlife Management Area. Bluff Trail is spectacular, little more than a goat trail that hugs the cliff overlooking Sea Ray Island along the French Broad River just upstream from where the Tennessee River begins. 

The weather was perfect, best Saturday of 2014. The next Piece-by-Piece hike is set for the second Saturday in April.

Special thanks to Eric Johnson for trail-scouting our route and for Valerie for helping lead the way! 

- Stephen Lyn Bales

Dance fitness with Jessica livens up the plaza

You could almost call it a packed house, or in this case a packed meadow.

As part of this month's Hike-A-Thon, Knoxville' own Jessica Byrge brought her dance fitness zumba class to Ijams last Saturday. It was lively, bright and colorful. 

But, most of all, it was fun.

For other March Hike-A-Thon activities go to: Events. 

UT volunteer group assist in plaza makeover: brick-by-brick

The University of Tennessee Center for Leadership and Service conducts Fall and Spring Break service projects. The Alternative Spring Breaks are available to students to visit other cities to do volunteer service projects and relief work.

Last Saturday’s group came to Ijams to do pre-trip service and to get to know one another. They moved a 1000-pound sculpture and assisted with landscaping.

They will travel to Charleston, SC to work with the Parks and Recreation Department and the National Park Service.

The plaza is getting a makeover. Above the UT group are removing and stacking pavers, as Coach Butch Jones is apt to say, "brick-by-brick."

- Story by Ed Yost. Photo Stephen Lyn Bales

We waited for woodcocks but, this time, they kept their distance

As in years past, we set up our usual picket line overlooking a boggy field at Forks-of-the-River WMA. And we waited as darkness moved into the meadow last Saturday evening. 

Geese honked, herons flew over. The towhees went to bed, as did the cardinals. We heard their final calls and chip notes. Good night. Good night, sweet prince. 

Clear skies. The stars slowing began to twinkle: Betelgeuse. Rigel. Sirius. Castor and Pollux. Joining Jupiter the mighty. A perfect night for listening for American woodcocks passing through, practicing their courtship displays, their "peent" calls. 

This is the one program we do all year at Ijams were you have to be in the right place at the right time. It's part experience, part luck. But on this night I guessed wrong. It happens. A woodcock is usually in the field we watched, but not this twilight. They choose somewhere else. 

We heard them in the distance but by then it was too late to move the group in the dark through the muddy winter meadow.

Nature has an easy unpredictability. That's the allure. 

Yet, it was peaceful just being there, far from the madding crowd.

Thank you Eliot for helping. 

- Stephen Lyn Bales