Master Naturalist Training - Week 7

Last Wednesday was the 7th of eight days of training to become a Master Naturalist in Maryland. It was a very rainy day and we didn’t get out of the building for a hike. I took a few pictures under the covered part of the Carriage House patio - of the very wet forest with a hint of green from small leaves just unfurled

And the high contrast of lawn grass with the meadow (I also like the white and black of the birch.

The morning topic was Reptiles and Amphibians….not a topic I know very much about although I do remember some of the frog calls from participating in FrogWatch years ago. I enjoy photographing frogs and tadpoles when I can find them!  Many of the non-native and invasive species are in the state due to the pet trade or hitchhiking of vehicles. Some - like the Burmese python - won’t survive the Maryland winters. Others - like some of the turtles - can survive and thrive in Maryland; some of them can hybridize with native Maryland species. The part of the lecture on salamanders was new to me. There are a lot more salamanders in Maryland than I realized; I’ll add a hike with the instructor to my list of things to do as follow-up to the Master Natural class....since we didn’t get out during the lecture due to weather.

The afternoon was very different from the other classes because the topic was Interpretation….which is really part of all the other topics. There is a National Association of Interpretation! By the end of the lecture I realized that a lot of what I’ve learned in the training for leading field trip nature walks is about interpretation. And I still have a lot to learn. This area may be more challenging that the factual aspects of being a Master Naturalist.

Later in the day, it was still very gray - but I like the wavy branches of the pine

And the lichen on the sycamore. Sometimes a gray day provides a different perspective of familiar vistas.

I also noticed - and appreciated - a new feature at Belmont: marked parking spaces.