25 "ologists" get their Ijams degrees in Turtle-ology

Last month, on a very hot Tennessee Williams kind of afternoon, 25 people got their degrees in Turtle-ology at Ijams. 

In addition to the Ijams adopted education turtles, we also managed to find several of the shelled reptiles swimming in the river near the greenway. Cooters, sliders or map turtles, it was hard to tell, the distance too great. But needless to say, in the cool water, they looked more comfortable than we were.

Our -ology programs are great for families and the young-at-heart. If you’ve been to one before, you know there are always fun and animal-themed food. Feel free to bring something to share, or just come partake. Last month we had scaly turtle snacks! (See below.)

Sunday, July 17, 2 p.m. 
Cicad-Academy at Ijams

 
The next -ology in the series is Cicad-Academy, all about the species of cicadas, katydids and crickets that sing and creeeeaaaaak in summer. The two hour class is Sunday. July 17 at 2 p.m. Space is limited; to register call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110.

Chinese students studying at UT visit Ijams

Local fitness expert Missy Kane led a group of visiting Chinese college students to Ijams last week. 

The students from Shanghai University of Sport (SUS) were in this country taking classes at the English Language Institute (ELI). The group is hosted in Knoxville by UT professor Rob Hardin. His department (Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies) is providing a Sports Studies Seminar for the 14 students and 2 faculty. 

One of the classes was outdoor recreation. They visited Ijams and met two of our educational animals then Missy Kane led the group on a hike to the sunflower fields at Forks-of-the-River WMA. 

Welcome to Ijams and Tennessee!

- Stephen Lyn Bales

Ijams Hiking Club conquers new ground & sky bridge

Led by volunteer hike leaders Amy Oakey and Eric Johnson the Ijams Hiking Club explored new ground. On a hot Sunday afternoon, the group hiked from Ijams Mead’s Quarry through Victor Ashe Park to Baker Creek. The last part of the 5.03 trek was along a new trail that features the walking bridge over Red Bud Road.

The bridge itself and Red Bud Crest Trail have only recently been opened. The pedestrian bridge was funded by private donations and a grant from REI.  

Knoxville’s own REI store awarded the $10,000 Community Grant to Legacy Parks Foundation and the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club to build the sky bridge in South Knoxville connecting the new Wood property to the greater Urban Wilderness South Loop trail system.

Watch for notice of the Ijams Hiking Club's July outing. For an account of our May hike, click: AC/DC.

Thanks, Amy and Eric!

- Stephen Lyn Bales. Photos by Amy Oakey.

Hike co-leader Eric Johnson describes the route to Baker Creek.

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Ijams Family Nature Club meets for aquatics workshop

The 2016 Family Nature Club met last Sunday for their class and outdoor workshop on Aquatic Life. The seven families and  senior naturalist (the one with the gray beard) explored the Plaza Pond and Toll Creek looking for frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, newts, crawdads (are females called craw-moms?), fish, aquatic spiders, water striders and insect larva such as dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, stoneflies, to name a few.

Hellgrammite

I offered a shiny new dime to anyone that found my favorite, the charismatic dobsonfly larva, commonly called a hellgrammite, but none were caught.

It was a very hot afternoon, and the best place to be was in knee-deep or for some of the junior naturalists, chest-deep cold creek water, where we found tray fulls of aquatic life. 

"Family Nature Club at Ijams has been a tremendous experience for all of us," writes Sue Goodall, the founding force behind the club.  "For any family that has ever questioned whether their kids might have what has been described as 'nature deficit disorder,' Ijams has the solution.  Substantial programming, full of information for all ages, taught by experts.  It's a perfect program."

Her son Judah adds, "Being in nature just makes learning more fun."

"Ijams Family Nature Club is an extension of our great times we have at Ijams," emails Sara McNally. "My children have been attending programs for years here as well as we occasionally get a chance to come to some of the mini nature programs. The family club though allows us all to be together learning and exploring. It also is scheduled family time, which is nice in this busy world we live in! So far it has been a fantastic experience and I look forward to the rest of the weeks to come!"

Family Nature Club consists of seven classes each covering a different nature topic plus a season ending canoe trip on the river. The classes are either Saturday or Sunday afternoons for parents or grandparents with their junior naturalist partners.  For information or to register for the 2017 edition, call Lauren at (865) 577-4717, ext. 135. 

And thanks to the junior naturalists (B.K.U.), the Best Kids in the Universe, for making the day so memorable. You know who you are.

For a look at our first meeting of the year, click: Birds. 

And our April meeting was also covered by the media, click: News-Sentinel

- Photos by Linda Knott, Sara McNally and Rex McDaniel.

Kids being kids, exploring nature: newts, bugs and polliwogs

Damselfly and dragonfly nymphs

Outdoor Adventure Camp began this week at Ijams

Summer is officially here because our Outdoor Adventure Camp began this week. That's eight weeks of activity-packed, fun-filled sessions of educational, environmental and outdoor activities. Wow! 

Roughly 60 kids a day for 40 days. Outside in the sun and water and fresh air where kids belong in summer.

Each week a different theme for campers ages 5 through 14. Most of the camps are full, but there are a few openings left.

WBIR Live@5@4 reporter Emily Stroud caught up with busy Camp Director Jennifer Roder today, outside with the kids having fun at Mead's Quarry Lake and Toll Creek. 

For Emily's report, click: Live@5@4

For more information, click: Outdoor Adventure Camp.

-Stephen Lyn Bales, text & photos 
 

One of our favorite campers with Jen Roder, Camp Director

Ijams Snake-ology class attracts curious naturalists, media

Ijams Snake-ologists

Ijams graduated a whole new group of snake-ologists yesterday afternoon.

Our Snake-ology workshop was great fun! After an indoor class where we learned how to identify the 12 most common snakes in our area and shared some snake-related yummy snacks, we ventured outside to look for snakes.

The mice-eating reptiles have been plentiful this season at the nature center, one even found its way into the Visitor Center. (But, naturalist tip #19: It's really hard to sneak up on a snake with 51 people.) Still yet, we managed to find one northern brown water snake in one of our ponds.

The -ology classes @ Ijams are light-hearted and informative for the young and young-at-heart. We schedule one a month on Sunday afternoons at the nature center. 

Correction: It was announced yesterday that in June it would be Hawk-ology, but the announcer (that would be moi) completely forgot about Turtle-ology. June is a very active month for the reptiles that carry their homes on their back. (And we thought we invented "mobile homes.")

Mark your calendar: Turtle-ology will be Sunday, June 26 at 2 p.m.   

 For the WBIR Channel 10 story about yesterday's Snake-ology class @ Ijams, click: Snake-ology!

Thank you, WBIR's Jerry Owens!


- Stephen Lyn Bales 

Young snake-ologists watch a rough green snake eat a cricket. Better than Animal Planet.

Northern brown watersnake

The great snake hunt begins!

 

Ijams Hiking Club meets to take on AC/DC

The Ijams Hiking Club met again yesterday to "Explore the Urban Wilderness!"

Volunteer naturalist Amy Oakey and Eric Johnson served as the hike's leaders; they picked the trail. And did they pick a doozie. The swirly, curvy AC/DC Trail, east of Ijams, which I am told was named by the bikers after the line from the quintessential rock group's 1979 hit, "Highway to...Hades." (Ijams is a family-oriented place, I can't say "Hell.")  AC/DC is a biker's roller coaster.

In all, there are now over 40 miles of trails built by the Appalachian Mountain Biking Club, and the Ijams Hiking Club plans to walk them all, yesterday we tallied 4.4 miles, on what my grandmother Pearl would have called a "drunkard's path." We also did a portion of Lost Chromosome and Chain Ring trails.

Our next hike will be on Sunday, June 19 at 2 p.m. And I'm sure Amy and Eric will find us a good one!

Thank you to all.

- Stephen Lyn Bales