Nurturing a Sense of Place: The Stewardship Network Conference, 2011

I mentioned on Facebook last week that we were preparing for the 2011 Stewardship Network Conference. We had been asked to do a poster presentation, and were more than happy to oblige, but it took me about a day and half to put it together and get it printed. That coupled with the conference itself left no time for blogging!

The Stewardship Network is an organization that brings other ecologically-minded organizations, businesses and individuals together to help us all better manage our lands. Concerned primarily with restoration of damaged habitats, the Network serves as a central place for those doing the dirty work to connect for the greater good. The Network is comprised of eight clusters in Southern Michigan, and each cluster holds its own events throughout the year as well as participating in the Garlic Mustard Challenge, where one cluster tries to pull more of the nasty invasive species than their neighbors.


Now in its (I believe) fourth year, the conference has grown each year and now takes up a big chunk of the Kellogg Center on the MSU campus. The two-day conference starts with several speakers, then we break up into groups for some smaller, more specific concurrent workshops. The speakers this year were quite diverse and represented a break from the normally somewhat dry "scientific" presentations loaded with statistics and study results.

Peg Kohring, a biologist with The Conservation Fund, talked about economics and biodiversity, and how it is vital to show the economic value nature holds--for instance, the 47 million birdwatchers in this country spent $32 billion on their hobby. And for the urban planner, statistics like this: that a five percent increase in the number of trees in a region reduces storm runoff by two percent.


After Peg came Guy Williams of G.O. Williams and Associates, a sustainable community consulting business who has also worked for The National Wildlife Federation. He talked about stewardship and how it can benefit the common good. His talk was much more personal and much less scientific than past speaker's. He stressed the need for us to have a personal mission statement that can help guide us in our life and work, and urged us all to look for those things we agree on and then begin our dialog from there. He also joked about being one of the only persons of color in the room, which I personally think has less to do with culture and more to do with economics and opportunity, but that is for another discussion.


Professor Emeritus Jim Crowfoot, who teaches at the University of Michigan, continued the more personal theme of the conference and gave a talk about deepening our sense of stewardship by reconnecting emotionally and spiritually with local nature. He gave one of the Saturday workshops where people actually broke down and cried when talking about those places that are dear to them. He stated that we are facing the crisis of all crises where all planetary systems are affected, and asserted that while science is essential to solving these issues, it is not in itself sufficient. As Baba Dioum stated, "We will conserve only what we love." Conservation is as much about emotion as it is about need.


Frank Ettawageshik, a traditional Odawa storyteller and potter, spoke on climate change and our sense of place. He stressed that we need to remember that our environment is constantly changing, and that we need to know our place within the context of time. Conservation, he said, is really about preserving ourselves and our place on Earth, and as we restore the Earth we are restoring ourselves.


After a wonderful lunch keynote speaker Henry Lickers took the stage. Henry, of the Seneca Nation, currently works for the Department of the Environment for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne in Ontario, Canada. He spoke about stewardship and sense of place (see a theme here?). He talked about the value of local knowledge when it comes to place and how critical that knowledge is when it comes to restoration. He spoke of a "naturalized knowledge system" that begins with accepting Earth as Mother and ends with the idea that the spiritual world is not "out there" but here, close to earth. Everything is connected, something Native peoples have known for countless generations but that Western culture is only just now beginning to realize and accept.


That evening the poster presentation area was opened and lots of yummy snacks were laid out (they do feed us well there!). Most of the presentations were very scientifical, loaded with info about this study or that research.


I must say we really stood out with our artwork! The poster next to us, as an example, is about biofuels and restoration. I did write a piece about art in the conservation movement to try to make us look a little more legit!


Lori stands dutifully by to answer questions. (And yes, for those of you paying attention, we did move our presentation to another panel.)


That evening there was a "fireside chat" with conference elders. The term elder simply means one with great knowledge, and can be a person of any age. It was a very informal gathering where the group chatted and talked about their hopes and fears for the future, and I think pretty much everyone left that night feeling all warm and fuzzy, and hopeful.


The conference wrapped up Saturday with more workshops. Again, there were plenty of opportunities to talk about Nature and our connection to the land, and the importance of that spiritual connection to place in the conservation movement. I know I for one got a lot more out of this conference than in years past. I hope that next year, along with presentations of studies of the restoration of oak savannas in Iowa that we also continue to study our own emotional connection to place, to the Earth, and to all who walk upon it with us.

A Tern for the Better

2010 Florida posts con't....


As I have mentioned, I know nothing about waterfowl, a rather ironic state since I grew up on a lake. So a bit of advice--if you want to immerse yourself in them, go to Florida in mid-winter. Holy Cow! I was taking pictures of birds I couldn't identify, until I got home and put them on the computer. Below is my first American wigeon, with a Northern pintail behind.



I will refrain from posting any more ducks for the time being as I have better shots coming later on. Let me just say that I was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of them.

To see the most stuff along the Black Point Wildlife Drive, or any other wildlife excursion, it is best to get out as early as possible, and drive very slow, and stop often to just sit and watch. This Killdeer was hardly a speck moving along the mudflat in the morning sun. Go too fast and this bird gets missed.


Here a Snowy egret shows off its ridiculous yellow feet. Makes me think of the University of Oregon's player's shoes they wore in the BCS Championship game last week.


As I paused on the side of the road I noticed an occasional splash in the water along the drive. I thought at first it was a fish jumping, but as I moved farther down the road I realized I was wrong.


It was this fellow, a Forsters tern, fishing the canal along the road.


I had a blast, standing next to the car, trying to get shots of him as he zipped by.


Back and forth he went, and without warning he would suddenly plunge into the water, so quickly that I was not able to get a shot of it. I never did see him come up with a fish.


What a beautiful, graceful bird.

Merritt Island NWR

2010 Florida posts con't....


On the third day of my trip I made my way north to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Since my grandma lives on the island I have been there many times. However, I have never seen the sheer number of birds there as I did last February. I had always been disappointed in this refuge, and longed for a return visit to Ding Darling, on the Gulf side, where I had gone back in '96. There just never seemed to be much going on at Merritt Island.

Boy, was I about to be surprised! But first, a quick overview of the park, straight from their website:

"Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 as an overlay of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. Consisting of 140,000 acres, the Refuge provides a wide variety of habitats: coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks provide habitat for more than 1,500 species of plants and animals."

It really is a wonderful place, with hiking opportunities and the Black Point Wildlife Drive, a seven mile one way loop that winds through the salt marshes. While the birds are pretty used to cars passing nearby, most are very leery of people on foot, so you end up doing a lot of shooting out of open windows.

One of the first things I saw was a pair of (I think--this image is pretty poor) Mottled ducks. All I knew as I was trying to shoot them through the passenger side window is I'd never seen them before. Another first!


Around a bend I came across two male Blue-winged teals. Now, I have been to Florida more times than I can count, and I don't remember ever seeing these before. I have to imagine that I have, but never paid them any attention. As I said a while back, I thought all ducks were mallards--shame on me!


They led me to a small group resting on the shore.


When I visited the refuge in 2009 it was very dry. I don't know if there was a drought, or if it had been drained (the ecology of this whole area is controlled by man, and the water levels are lowered in the spring and summer to facilitate vegetation growth, then flooded fall and winter). Whatever the case, in 2010 there was water water everywhere, and with the water came the birds.

Flocks of White and Glossy ibis filled the sky.



Farther away from the road I could see flocks of White pelicans, Spoonbills, ibis and egrets. Unfortunately I still had only a 200mm lens.


Coming around a bend there was a lone tree on the left side of the drive. It was full of Wood storks, an endangered bird here in the states. I had never seen one in the wild before.


Fish eaters, they like to hang out in marsh and swamp lands.

Here they are, hanging out.




Yes indeed, a face only a mother could love.



Next: more from the wildlife drive

Pelican Island NWR

Florida 2010 posts continued....

When I had been researching Florida's middle east coast for hiking opportunities I came across Pelican Island, near the little town of Sebastian. I learned that this national wildlife refuge was the first ever created, when in 1903 Teddy Roosevelt set aside 5.5 acres to protect the Brown pelican. Since then the refuge has grown to over 5,000 acres, and is home to more than 100 bird species. The refuge is part of the same Indian River Lagoon/barrier island system that Archie Carr NWR encompasses.

After my hike at the Barrier Island Center I drove farther down the coast to Pelican Island. It felt good to be out exploring! I must confess however that I was a bit disappointed, at least initially, with Pelican Island, not because it wasn't a cool place but because it was so quiet.



It's a very nice park with an easy walkway and boardwalk that leads out over the flats. The boardwalk is neat, displaying the names of all the national wildlife refuges in order of their inception.


But other than the pretty view from the observation deck, there was not much to see--no birds, certainly no pelicans. Bummer.


So I walked back to the parking lot, thinking about heading back up to my grandma's, when I heard the call of a bird I did not recognize. I am no expert when it comes to bird calls--I know very few, in fact. But this was distinctly different that anything I'd heard before. I stopped in my tracks and scanned the trees. Finally, I spotted the source, near the top of a small snag.



I couldn't believe what I was seeing. For whatever reason, before I left home, I told the girls I wanted to see a Loggerhead shrike. I had never seen a shrike, and I thought they were striking birds. Well, here it was, in a dead tree at the edge of the parking lot, a couple hundred feet from my car.


I snapped away, taking a picture every time the bird twitched. I was nearly giddy with excitement! (These images are of course cropped.)


I do think this is a gorgeous bird, with its bold markings. Very dapper.


The shrike finally flew away, and I walked along the edge of the lot, where I heard more soft twitterings in the shrubbery. I spotted this Yellow-rumped warbler. I had seen a male once back in Michigan, but this was my first female.


As I looked more closely I realized that there was another warbler here too, one I had not seen before. I checked my book and identified a palm warbler. Yeehaw, two new birds in one day!!


So what started as a bit of a disappointment ended with a small bonanza of new birds. It was a good lesson, to never give up, and always pay attention, because otherwise you may miss what is right in front of you.

On another note: I was awakened last night to the calls of coyotes behind the house. I got up and opened a window, and was met with the chorus of two or three 'yotes not more than 100 feet from the house. They stopped their singing soon after, but I could hear them walking around, crunching in the snow. It could be courtship, or perhaps they caught a rabbit or feral cat. I had a hard time going back to sleep....


Next: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Barrier Island Nature Trail

2010 Florida posts con't....

After a lovely day spent in the Archie Carr Nat'l Wildlife Refuge I decided to return to the area the following day. My first stop was the Barrier Island Center, a gorgeous new facility on the beach with displays about sea turtles and other southern Florida marine life. I failed to get a picture of it, so this is from their website.


The beach was quiet again, the day being unusually cool. This pelican was doing some exercises on the sand.


And one and two and lift your wings


and stretch your neck.....


There is a short nature trail on the lagoon side of A1A, about a mile long, similar to the trail at the Maritime Hammock preserve (you can read about that here). For the most part, it follows the dikes that were put in years ago. By installing drainage pipes under the dikes the area has been returned to its more natural state.


It was a pretty quiet afternoon, with most of the birds far from the trail.


I did catch this little blue-gray gnatcatcher working over the shrubbery.


A bit blurry, but a better look at it. Damn girl wouldn't carry a tripod!


An Osprey soared overhead. I had heard its peeps from a ways down the trail and finally spotted it perched on a dead tree in the lagoon.


There was not a lot to see. The vegetation was thick and close, and I felt most of the time like I was in a hedgerow maze.


I did spot this buckeye butterfly as it sunned itself in the leaf litter.


This shy Yellow-crowned night heron sat still just long enough for me to get a shot before it flew away.


And as I neared the end of the trail, I found this tri-colored heron perched in a tree.


In all it was a nice, quiet, easy walk, and I was ready to head farther down the coast.


Next: Pelican Island, and a prediction comes true.

Beach Bums

I grew up on Whitmore Lake, a reasonably sized lake about 15 miles north of Ann Arbor. I saw lots of waterfowl, as you can imagine, although I must confess the for the longest time I thought all ducks were mallards. I loved the geese, who would come with their babes and eat bread. But my favorite were the Great blue herons. Regal and mysterious, I was never able to get remotely close to one. I don't know if they heard me or saw me, but even in stealth mode I could not get near them. Our house was on the top of a wooded hill but even so, they would often be gone from the end of the dock before I'd reached the bottom of the stairs.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this on the beach in southern Florida:



There stood this bird a short distance from a group of people who where fishing from the shore. I couldn't believe it. Obviously looking for a hand-out, this bird, and another further down the shore, were just sort of hanging out with these folks.

He or she was not too keen on me getting between it and the water. It started to its right...



..then stopped...


...then started again. Notice the broken toe on its right foot.


It paused again to contemplate...


...but eventually gave up and flew away. Harrumph!


The other bird was a bit closer to the action.


He watched the man's every move very closely. I did not see either one get a fish but I imagine they have in the past or they would not be hanging around.


When I look closely at them, I realize they really are rather odd-looking birds. Their beaks are just huge in comparison to their heads, and it's a wonder they can hold them up.


But when I step back and take in the whole bird, I think again that I've never seen anything quite so magnificent.


Even if it is begging for scraps....