Raleigh Parks Winter-Spring 2024 Leisure Ledger

Adult Backyard Bird Counting!

Winter sleep: Hibernation and Suspended Animation Age: 10-99 yrs. Winter often feels like a “dead” time, yet it is easy to forget that life is all around us, even if it is in suspended animation. We’ll explore hibernation and related processes, to see why critters do it, how they do it, and when they do it. Pre-registration is required for participants. Durant Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $5 Jan 24 W 5:00-6:00pm Winter Wildlife - Large and Small Age: 6-99 yrs. We’ll walk around and look for wildlife that is active in winter. We’ll talk about ways large and small living things survive the winter season, and the benefits and costs of being active in winter. Bring your binoculars, or borrow a pair of ours. Also bring a warm coat! Children must be accompanied by adults. Pre-registration is required. Durant Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $5 Feb 10 Sa 10:00am-12:00pm Teen Pollination: Advertising, Robbery, and Deception! Age: 12-99 yrs. Pollination usually involves a relationship between plants and animals. Often it is beneficial to both plants and animals, yet sometimes one partner deceives the other. We’ll talk about the pollination process, and we’ll look for pollinators on plants at Horseshoe Farm Preserve, documenting them on iNaturalist. Participants must be at least 12 and be accompanied by adults, all participants must register. Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $5 Apr 27 Sa 2:00-4:00pm Watching the Woodcock Ballet at Horseshoe Age: 12-99 yrs. Woodcocks are sandpipers that look kind of like footballs. Males do a surprisingly graceful aerial “dance” to attract mates in winter and early spring. Come watch one of the wonders of the bird world. Bring your binoculars, or borrow a pair of ours. Also bring a warm coat! Children must be accompanied by adults. Pre-registration is required. Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $5 Jan 31 W 5:00-7:00pm Feb 15 Th 5:30-7:30pm

Owl Pellet Study Age: 8-16 yrs. Learn about the owls that live here in Raleigh, and the amazing adaptions that help them survive. What do they eat? What happens after they eat? We'll take a close look as we dissect owl pellets and determine exactly what an owl had for dinner. A.L. Wilkerson Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $6 Jan 24 W 3:30-5:00pm Super Animal Senses Age: 7-11 yrs. Did you know ants have a super-sense of smell, which directs them to food from far away? Did you know a starfish uses its arm to see? Did you know crickets use their legs to hear? Did you know butterflies use their feet to taste nectar? Come learn about the amazing super senses of many animals and how these adaptations help them survive. There will be hands-on activities using your senses as well as stories to help yo learn about some unique animal senses. Forest Ridge Park – Course Fee: $3 u Apr 21 Su 3:00-4:30pm To Bloom or Not to Bloom? Age: 10-99 yrs. As the climate changes, plants are changing when they put out leaves, bloom, and produce seeds. Those changes affect animals and other critters that depend on these plants. Come learn about these changes in timing, their effects, and what we can do as citizen scientists to help monitor the changes. Children must be accompanied by adults. Pre-registration is required. Durant Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $5 Mar 13 W 6:00-7:00pm Volcanic Action Age: 6-10 yrs. Have you seen pictures of the Kilauea volcano lava flows? Do you know when lava cools you are left with igneous rocks? Do you know there is a lot of granite in North Carolina and at one time that it was hot magma that cooled inside the earth to form the rock? Come learn about igneous rocks with an edible lab and slime project. Forest Ridge Park – Course Fee: $3 Feb 11 Su 3:00-4:30pm Mar 17 Su 3:00-4:30pm Winter Botany - Plant Detectives Age: 6-99 yrs. Even without leaves, it is possible to use clues on branches (and sometimes fallen leaves nearby) to figure out which trees are which. We’ll walk around playing plant detective, and see how many different trees we can find. Registration cost includes a tree ID guide. Children and adults must pre-register for this program. Durant Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $10 Feb 10 Sa 2:00-4:00pm

Age: 12-99 yrs. Become a citizen scientist and participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count! We'll collect data on Wilkerson's many winter-time birds to help scientists track migration patterns, and we'll learn how we all can attract more birds to our own backyards. No prior birding experience is necessary. Binoculars will be provided. This program may count for Criteria II for NC Environmental Education Certification. A.L. Wilkerson Nature Preserve – Course Fee: $4 Feb 17 Sa 10:30am-12:00pm Bird Watcher Walks Age: 13-99 yrs. Join us for a morning of birding! Lake Wheeler Park is home to a plethora of bird species from songbirds to eagles. Our instructor will be leading a morning stroll along our trails to see what birds we may encounter and identify. We will be using an app to help s identify bird calls. This class is perfect or beginner birders and those wanting o learn a little more about nature. ake Wheeler Park pr 17 W 9:00-11:00am u f Cyanotype Printing Age: 15.99-99 yrs. Join us for a half-day workshop combining community service and art. We’ll remove glass from the creek and repurpose it for a unique craft, using UV-sensitive paper to create a special kind of print called a cyanotype. Walnut Creek Wetland Park – Course Fee: $15 Mar 2 Sa 12:00-4:00pm Early Birds Age: 16-99 yrs. Grab your binoculars and meet us at Durant for a bird-watching hike led by Wake Audubon guest naturalist, Erla Beegle. Spend your morning watching and learning about birds that prefer a forests and lakes, on this approximately 1.5 mi hike. Help us document birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count! For beginning and advanced irders. Bring your binoculars, or borrow pair of ours. Pre-registration is equired. urant Nature Preserve eb 17 Sa 8:00-9:30am orseshoe Farm Nature Preserve b a r D F H Mar 16 Sa 8:00-9:30am t L A Apr 30 Tu 9:30-11:00am

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Leisure Ledger January-April 2024 | parks.raleighnc.gov