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Nature Escapes for Kids: Healing Forest Art Walk

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A young student making forest art in Rushton Woods. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. ”

Pablo Picasso

You may have heard of healing forests around the world, especially in countries like South Korea and Japan, that are designated as places for people to find calm, balance, and rejuvenation.  There is abundant research that supports the many benefits of nature to our wellbeing: relieving anxiety, depression, and stress while boosting our immune systems, productivity, and even sleep.  Walking has all of these benefits as well; one study found that adults who walked for 30 minutes five times a week had more energy to get through the day, felt healthier, and were more confident than people who walked less frequently.

An Abington Friends student enjoying a woodland walk at Rushton Woods Preserve last fall. Photo by Blake Goll

Now imagine combining the super therapies of nature and walking with art!  Art is healing in its own way because it connects us to something deep within our soul.  A Healing Forest Art Walk is therefore beneficial to both children and adults.  I found this fantastic activity from HealingForest.org, which I encourage you to visit for more ideas and extensions of this.

The Healing Forest Art Walk starts with a quiet walk in the woods.  There are many nature preserves in our area (including our own Rushton Woods Preserve and Ashbridge Preserve) with trails that bring you through wooded areas.  This quiet walk encourages the release of the executive network of the brain (the part that is overworked as kids sit in front of screens doing school work or as you feverishly answer email after email).  Once that part of the mind is relaxed, the rest of it is free to wander here and there with all senses and emotions present and engaged.

Blake with Rushton Nature Keepers in the woods of Ashbridge Preserve.

Now find a spot with a nice open section of forest floor.  With a partner, spend 5 minutes exploring the vicinity and collecting 5 items each (so you’ll have 10 total).  As with building toad abodes, the main rule is to only collect what has already fallen or about to fall. Reconvene with your partner and spend 5-10 minutes creating nature art with your found items.  Once finished, everyone goes on a “gallery walk” to visit each pair’s artwork; you can guess what the artist had in mind and then hear the artist’s interpretation.

Children creating nature art at Rushton Woods Preserve. Photo by Blake Goll
Beautiful fungi on the forest floor of Rushton Woods Preserve: an example of what NOT to collect for nature art. Photo by Blake Goll
Nature art: an owl made of leaves. Photo by Blake Goll

This activity can easily be done with only one child as well, in which case it’s fun to have them create their own forest friend.  Whooo would not enjoy this?

I will leave you with some quotes about art to help get your child’s (or your) creativity flowing:

“Art is not what you see but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas

 “The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.” – Claude Monet

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

Rushton Nature Keepers

Blake manages our Rushton Nature Keepers (RNK) club for children ages 7-11. Through year-round programs covering four conservation themes (birds and wildlife, regenerative farming, healthy habitat, and watersheds), RNK provides children with unique opportunities to develop a meaningful life-long relationship with nature. Although things are subject to change regarding Covid-19, we plan to resume children’s activities on May 2nd.  Click here for the schedule of RNK programs and membership information.



Nature Escapes for Kids: Building Toad Abodes and Heart Space

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A Rushton Nature Keeper shows off a baby toad he found at Rushton Woods Preserve last summer. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

I first learned of this whimsical nature activity (building toad abodes) while I was living in the wilderness of Central Pennsylvania soon after college, training as an environmental education intern at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. Our soft-spoken instructor always took us through training activities as though we were children ourselves, which helped to get us in the mindset of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. Only in this mindset can you understand what makes these little people tick, what ignites their imagination, and what sparks those seemingly small moments to burn into their memories forever.

A toad abode. Photo by Blake Goll

So there I was curiously scrambling and scuffling about the crisp brown bed of cool soil, fragrant dried needles, and damp green moss beneath the shade of the giant hemlocks . My fellow interns and I each worked our own patch of the forest floor, collecting bits of bark, twigs, pine cones, stones, and fallen leaves —anything that could be used to build the foundation of our own sturdy toad abode.  Then came the interior design aspect because it only took a small stretch of the imagination to surmise that toads are discerning creatures with particular aesthetic tastes.  A shimmering found butterfly wing might become a welcome doormat, or a fern frond might act as a cozy curtain.

As you can probably guess, a child can be entertained by this activity for quite a long time.  And just as I look back fondly on that time with the forest floor of Central Pennsylvania, so too may your child remember their toad abode building fun.  The best part about it is its simplicity; the core of this activity is really a tactile connection to nature.  All you need is a patch of earth (in the woods, your yard, or a nature preserve) and a fertile imagination.  The only rule is that you try to avoid picking mushrooms or plants from the earth. (Focus instead on items already at rest.) 


A Rushton Nature Keeper building a toad abode. Photo by Blake Goll


A Rushton Nature Keeper building a toad abode. Photo by Blake Goll

You can extend this activity from one simple toad abode to a whole village or even focus on houses for fairies instead of toads.  The details are not important.  This kind of free play in nature as a child is what fosters critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and mental health as adults.  In doing something as simple as building a place for a toad to rest his head, a child is actually creating a healing space in his/her heart to return to as an adult.

Children playing under a pine tree. Photo by Blake Goll

Rushton Nature Keepers

Blake manages our Rushton Nature Keepers (RNK) club for children ages 7-11. Through year-round programs covering four conservation themes (birds and wildlife, regenerative farming, healthy habitat, and watersheds), RNK provides children with unique opportunities to develop a meaningful life-long relationship with nature. Although things are subject to change regarding Covid-19, we plan to resume children’s activities on May 2nd.  Click here for the schedule of RNK programs and membership information.

Resolve to Be a Better Human for Birds (i.e., Earth)

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Gray-cheeked Thrush banded at Rushton in October 2018. Photo by Blake Goll. This is one of our longest distance migrants, breeding in spruce forests of northern Canada and Alaska.

This fall, world scientists (11,000 of them to be exact) made a clear and unequivocal declaration in BioScience Magazine that planet Earth is in a climate emergency. The climate crisis is closely linked to excessive consumption of the wealthy lifestyle, and climate tipping points are arriving faster than anticipated. Major change is needed at all levels of society, and “help planet Earth” might be the most important New Year’s resolution to add to your list.

This sounds like a lofty task that could induce Ostrich Syndrome of sticking our heads hopelessly into the sand. Especially since this warning follows the article in Science declaring that we have lost 30% of our birds in the past 50 years. Do not despair: there are many personal changes we can all make in our daily lives, and by focusing on birds we can make the overall problem seem more manageable and the solution more tangible. When we help birds, we help the world.

Following represents a list of ideas to consider, realizing we cannot be perfect. But we can certainly be better.

Reduce Carbon Emissions

While most of us cannot directly reduce subsidies to fossil fuel corporations as the Alliance of World Scientists suggests, we can reduce our carbon emissions personally. Planning a vacation for 2020? Try exploring a place closer to home rather than one that requires global air travel. Buying a new car? Choose brands with low emissions or electric if you can afford it. Look into changing your home energy supplier to renewable energy.

Common Yellowthroat last April at Rushton. Photo by Celeste Sheehan. It was determined to be at least 9 years old (originally banded by us in 2012)! This species is less common in drier areas and suffers from loss of its natural habitat.

Studies show that climate change is playing a role in bird declines. As the planet warms, bird ranges are shifting north often into less ideal habitats. Some neotropical migrant species in particular have been hit hard because their day length-derived arrival dates are now out of snyc with temperature-derived North American insect pulses.

Check out the official climate emergency warning.

A native wildflower meadow at Willistown Conservation Trust’s headquarters on Providence Road, Newtown Square. Photo by Blake Goll

Plant a Native Wildflower Garden

With lawns covering over 40 million acres of the U.S., it is paramount that we begin to see these lawns as places where conservation can happen. Devoting part of your manicured lawn to a natural meadow habitat with native grasses and flowers can greatly increase diversity of insects and birds, eliminate the need for pesticides, and reduce the need for watering (most native plants once established can mine groundwater). These native wildflower gardens only require mowing once a year in early spring, thus decreasing carbon emissions associated with repetitive mowing.

Carolina Chickadee banded at Rushton last spring. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, proved that chickadees in a suburban neighborhood of mostly lawn and non-native trees and shrubs actually experienced diminished breeding success. Most of the nutrient-rich caterpillars they need to feed their young are located on native plants; Tallamy’s lab suggests that even an imperfect mix of 70% native plants and 30% non-native is enough to bolster healthy populations of breeding birds in our neighborhoods.

Visit the Native Plant Finder to learn which butterflies and moths are supported by different native plant host species in your area.

White M Hairstreak, a rare butterfly found at the Willistown Conservation Trust’s native wildflower meadow in July. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Support Healthy Food Systems

Reducing the global consumption of animal products, especially large livestock, can significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. Enormous expanses of natural ecosystems are used for growing livestock feed. Eating a plant-based diet not only improves human health but it also frees up cropland for growing human plant food as well as for restoring natural habitats for birds, wildlife, and ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration).

You can also support small farms like Rushton Farm that employ regenerative agriculture. More than simply organic, regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to farming and food systems. It’s partnering with nature to regenerate soil with smart crop rotation, increase biodiversity with habitat borders, improve watersheds by eliminating chemical inputs, and enhance ecosystem services like pollination by native bees. Basically, it’s the way farming was done prior to agricultural intensification.

American Goldfinch at Rushton Farm in October. Photo by Celeste Sheehan. Goldfinches are one of the many species that benefit from the habitat created by regenerative farming. We banded a record of 119 goldfinches this fall!

Agricultural intensification has been linked to the worrisome 50% decline in American grassland bird populations since 1970. Worldwide, this sect of birds is dramatically declining in part because of farmland habitat degradation but also because of controversial insecticides previously thought to only affect bees.

A recent study on wild White-crowned Sparrows used Motus tracking technology to understand the detrimental appetite-suppressing effects of these neonicotinoids on migratory birds. Read more about the fascinating study: Insecticides Shown to Threaten Survival of Wild Birds.

White-crowned Sparrow banded at Rushton November 2018. Photo by Blake Goll

Buy Shade Grown Coffee

Coffee traditionally grows in harmony with nature in the understory of tropical forests. This means that it is an agricultural product that can actually support a diversity of habitat structure that is perfect for migratory birds that overwinter in the tropics like our beloved Wood Thrush and Baltimore Orioles.

Wood Thrush banded at Rushton in May. Photo by Blake Goll. For every ten Wood Thrushes, six have been lost since 1970.
Baltimore Oriole banded at Rushton last May. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Unfortunately, much like the rest of modern agriculture, we have found a way to intensify this crop’s production by clear-cutting forests and growing it in the sun. Full-sun coffee farms make up over 76% of the total coffee cultivation area.

You can support family owned coffee farms that are doing it responsibly and preserving forests by looking for the Bird Friendly certification, a science-based certification that is run by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center of the Smithsonian Institution. Bird Friendly requires farmers to plant a diversity of trees, prioritizing native ones that have the highest value (in insects) to birds.

Read more about the intricacies of the relationship between birds, coffee, and global warming: Newfoodeconomy.org.

And then order some Bird Friendly coffee from our friends at Golden Valley Farms Coffee Roasters in West Chester, PA!

Switch to Sustainable Toilet Paper

The boreal forest of Canada has been dramatically affected by America’s love of luxury toilet paper brands that use virgin pulp. The boreal forest covers 60% of Canada, absorbs significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and has been called the Songbird Nursery of North America as 3 billion birds of over 300 species flock there for breeding each year. An area the size of Pennsylvania has already been wiped out of this majestic forest.

Magnolia Warbler banded at Rushton in May. Photo by Blake Goll. Primarily an insect eater, this warbler migrates from the tropics to the boreal forest to breed.
Northern Saw-whet Owl being banded at Rushton last fall. Photo by Celeste Sheehan. This is another species that depends on the boreal forest.

There are many toilet paper brands that now use recycled paper and even bamboo, which is still far more sustainable than pulp from trees (and a little softer than recycled paper for those transitioning from pillow soft virgin paper). Who Gives a Crap and Seventh Generation are popular brands to try out.

Keep Cats Indoors

Hundreds of millions of birds die each year from window collisions, but there is another human-induced threat that is even more sinister: cats. American Bird Conservancy states that cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds each year in the U.S. alone, making them the number one human-caused threat to birds (next to habitat loss). We need those 2.4 billion birds, now more than ever, to help keep insect populations in check, which keeps forests healthy and mitigates global warming.

Cat-killed House Finch found in September. Photo by Blake Goll

When allowed to roam outside in natural areas, cats are an alien invasive species that wreak havoc on bird populations that are already stressed due to habitat loss and climate change. When kept inside, cats are loving pets that live longer, healthier lives.

Looking for some interesting reading for 2020? Check out Cat Wars, by Pete Marra, which traces the historical ties between humans and cats and tackles this complex global problem.

Field Sparrow being released after banding last April. Photo by Blake Goll

Engage in Political Activism

According to Audubon science, two-thirds of all North American bird species are at risk of extinction without immediate conservation action. Bird conservation legislation can help prevent unnecessary bird mortality. Industry, for example, plays a significant role in bird deaths: annually, tens of millions of birds collide fatally with power lines and communication towers, 500,000 birds mistake open oil waste pits for lakes, and over 1 million birds perish from accidents like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The current administration has weakened important, long-standing legislation like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which held industry responsible for minimizing bird mortality (e.g., keeping covers over oil waste pits). Fortunately, a bi-partisan bill has just been introduced: the Migratory Bird Protection Act (MBPA). This bill will essentially revoke the free pass to incidental bird killing and create a permitting system for businesses to reduce preventable bird mortality.

Your voice can make a difference. Urge your representatives to co-sponsor this important bill on American Bird Conservancy’s action page.

American Goldfinch banded at Rushton last April. Photo by Blake Goll

Preclude the Canary’s Swan Song

Birds, long revered as the canary in the coal mine, are chiding us to make some big changes this year. We must work together as fellow inhabitants of this incredible planet to preserve its beauty. There are simply too many of us now for anyone to luxuriate in blissful naivete. The scientists have spoken. The canaries have sung.

Let’s be better humans this year, so that we may never hear the swan song of our canary.

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

Blake

Mute Swan. Photo by Blake Goll

Community Supported Avifauna

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Volunteer, Kelly Johnson, in awe of a Blue Jay banded October 10th. Photo by Blake Goll

Rushton Woods Preserve is a place where people gather in celebration of abundance. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members gather for their share of the soil’s bounty each week, and myriad groups from the community, schools, and universities gather at the songbird banding station to witness the bounty of the sky. Much like the agricultural harvest, our bird catch follows seasonal patterns that can help a visitor (or bird bander) develop a deep connection to the rhythm set forth by Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt.

View of Rushton Farm in Fall from Fred’s wagon. Photo by Blake Goll

As this was my first year participating in the Rushton Farm CSA, I noticed some interesting correlations between the harvest and the catch. My favorite crisp spring vegetables like kale, radishes, turnips, broccoli, leeks, and little gem lettuces have all made an encore appearance now that the cool fall weather is here. These I liken to our butterflies of the bird world, the “special” warblers, that we can only expect to see during spring and fall migration: Black-throated Blue Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Northern Parulas, Black-and-white Warblers, and American Redstarts.

  • American Redstart banded in September. Photo by Blake Goll
  • Black-and-white Warbler banded in October. Photo by Celeste Sheehan
  • Male Chestnut-sided Warbler banded in September. Photo by Blake Goll
  • Northern Parula banded in September. Photo by Jim Moffett
  • Black-throated Blue Warbler banded in September. Photo by Jim Moffett

Throughout the summer, I was overwhelmed with tomatoes and zucchini. These prolific crops mirror our common birds that breed at Rushton all summer long like Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats. Catbirds are a bander’s tomatoes making up the bulk of our catch August through September; they even ironically dwindled in numbers at about the same time as the tomato harvest finally ended a couple of weeks ago. And just like the tomatoes, we miss them when they’re gone.

Rushton Nature Keeper releasing a banded Gray Catbird October 10th. Photo by Blake Goll

Now CSA members are enjoying the hardy winter produce like squash and sweet potatoes, while our avifauna has shifted to tough winter birds from the north like White-throated Sparrows, kinglets, and Hermit Thrush.

  • First White-throated Sparrow of the season (10/1) Photo by Celeste Sheehan
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet Oct 16th. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

Recent highlights include a young male Rose-breasted Grosbeak on October 10th, our third Yellow-breasted Chat on October 1st (thanks to our new reduced mowing regime), a couple of young female Sharp-shinned Hawks in September, and a young male Scarlet Tanager on September 23rd.

  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak banded October 10th. Photo by Blake Goll
  • Yellow-breasted Chat (third of the season!) banded October 1. Photo by Jim Moffett.
Young female Sharp-shinned Hawk banded September 17. Photo by Jessica Shahan.
Young male Scarlet Tanager banded September 23. Photo by Blake Goll

Black-throated Blue Warbler numbers are back up this year from our previous year’s alarming slump. One little female got our silverware on October 1st and decadently dined for five days, increasing her body weight by 22%. A handsome male Black-throated Blue checked in on October 10th as our one-thousandth bird of the season, making this fall our most productive yet by almost double our past records.

Our 1,000th bird banded of the season on October 10th: a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Photo by Jodi Spragins

This local boom may seem peculiar in the wake of the recent article in Science, citing the devastating loss of 3 billion birds in the past 50 years as a result of habitat loss, pesticides, climate change, and other human threats. However, the majority of our birds are hatch year birds that have yet to complete the most perilous journey of their lives: their first migration in the Anthropocene. Thank goodness we can offer them temporary sanctuary within a community of people who care about open space and the abundance it supports.

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

Blake

The Rushton banding crew with No.1,000 (a Black-throated Blue Warbler). Photo by Jodi Spragins

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Rushton Farm. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

After peeling yourself out of bed in the pitch black of pre-dawn in deliberate disobedience of your circadian rhythm, you wander through the dark to the bathroom where you reluctantly flip on the light and stand blinking into the mirror with owl sized pupils. You go through the motions of getting yourself dressed, quiet as a mouse so as not to wake your sleeping significant other. Finally you creep to the kitchen to adeptly pour coffee into your thermos without spilling a single precious drop even though the light from the east is still woefully dim.

When you get to the preserve, it is near dawn. The air is fresh, and the trees are alive with tinkling chip notes of migrant birds. As you get to work setting the nets in the hedgerows, you take comfort in the sound of an Eastern Screech Owl singing its haunting song down in the lower woods. You smile as the familiar catbird belts out its harsh petition for the sun to rise now. Above you, a rainbow stretches from one lavender cloud to the next and now you remember what it means to be a part of nature.

Billions of birds now have their sights set somewhere over that rainbow as they travel south by starlight. Our bird banding operation at Rushton Woods helps us monitor which migrants are using our specially managed preserve, understand how long they spend here preparing and fueling up for the journey, learn about populations and lifespans, and study their movements.

  • Yellow-breasted Chat captured this week. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • Director of Bird Conservation, Lisa Kiziuk, educates visitor about a Gray Catbird before releasing it. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

This fall has been excellent so far with a catch most days of 90-100 birds despite the warm weather we’ve been experiencing. Some highlights have included Connecticut Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Nashville Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler. Some of the most abundant species include Gray Catbird and American Goldfinch.

  • Chestnut-sided Warbler being banded. Photo by Celeste Sheehan
  • Connecticut Warbler banded 9/5. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • Red-eyed Vireo banded this week. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • American Redstart. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • Black-throated Blue Warbler banded this week. Photo by Celeste Sheehan
  • Young Ruby-throated Hummingbird caught at Rushton this fall. We simply release these at the net since we do not have a special hummingbird banding license. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

Songbird Banding Open House is Tomorrow Morning (9/14) from 7-10:30 am at Rushton Woods Preserve

Come on out to observe our bird banding, see incredible migratory birds up close, and chat with field scientists.

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

Blake

Monarch butterfly. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff