Nature & Photography

Walk the Wild Side

Don’t look for an aerobic workout. The pace on a nature walk is very slow, with lots of stops to look at and to learn about things: birds, bugs, plants, tracks, scat, rocks, features of the landscape, the sky.

Walk along Hickory Run trail in Hickory Run State Park…

Mixed forest, mature hardwoods and conifers laurel and rhododendron. Serene trail beneath an expansive canopy, beautiful stream. Animals, songbirds, reptiles and amphibians, diverse plant species of the forest floor, ferns, fungi.

What items to bring? Binoculars and a camera might    be useful. If you have a little magnifier, you can bring that too, and a favorite field guide to plants, or birds, or whatever your special interest is. The leader will have some equipment for the group to borrow, as well as a few field guides. Mostly just bring your curiosity. Equipment is not necessary.

What is necessary, though, is water and sunscreen. The best protection against both sun and annoying bugs is to cover up, and water, in all seasons, not just the warm ones, is an absolute necessity. What you see on a nature walk changes with the seasons. There is always something new. Nature walk leaders warmly invite you to come out and search out the wonders to be found in plain view!