Otter Lake 5th grader Kyra gets up close and personal with her new friend at Tamarack Nature Center.

Sabina Beck learns what a yellow-throat's feathers feel like.

The kids quieted down as Carol Carver, a licensed bird bander, began explaining the program. After a short banding/measuring demonstration (during which we learned that Carol has banded roughly 8,000 birds in her lifetime – WOW!), she asked for a volunteer to come up and hold the little cowbird she had just examined. 5^th grader Joe Stoterau’s hand shot up quickly and eagerly, accompanied by the proud pronouncement that he was used to handling birds because he had raised five cockatiels at home. The class oohed and aahed as the bird perched easily on Joe’s finger for a moment, and then clapped and shrieked with excitement as it made its escape into the trees.

Sabina Beck was slightly less confident; she tentatively approached the front of the group with a nervous “Is it gonna peck me?” After assurances that she would make it through the experience free of peck-wounds, Sabina seemed to have no trouble making friends with the tiny yellow-throat.

After the demonstration, it was time for the kids to go out on a little bird-watching mission. Bingo cards were handed out with a different kind of “bird behavior” described in each square; the children were to look for the different behaviors and cross the squares off, essentially a game of bird bingo. As the kids set off into the woods (Tamarack has a magnificent system of trails), I could feel the air buzz with their beginning-of-summer joy and excitement. They were just happy to be in the sun and out of the classroom.  

Armed with binoculars and a knack for commanding the attention of the group, Katie made sure to point out every bird she spotted, and helped the children decipher which “behavior” they were seeing. One kid in particular really seemed to be getting into it; I asked Eric Boerner why he kept stealthily darting after the birds like he was a big game hunter, and he gave me two answers, equally smile-inducing. I was pleasantly surprised when he replied “I’m trying to get a good look, so I can look them up in my bird book” (the children had also been given a copy of Birds of North America). I was much less shocked (although more amused) when he told me he was James Bond, “practicing his moves”. Whichever his stronger motivation, it was good to see him running enthusiastically through the bushes.

We approached a dock floating on the edge of Tamarack Lake, and while the

Eric Boerner (AKA James Bond) consults "Birds of North America".

kids ogled turtles and kingfishers, I took the opportunity to talk to Lisa Thompson, a 5th grade teacher at Otter Lake Elementary School. I asked her how it made her feel to see her kids interacting with nature. She responded, "I love it because it gets the kids active and it...helps me create a relatoinship that's totally different with the class...they know they're free to explore. It gets them to say, 'Outside is cool'...that's the goal, instead of just sitting on the couch playing video games."

fter the last child had gone to the bathroom and the chaperones had led the slow march across the road and back to the school, I had the chance to sit down with Mary Vidas, the Director at Tamarack Nature Center. She’s relatively new to the program; she made the switch six months ago from her previous position as Public Policy Director and Education Coordinator for the University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum. She tells me that it’s a good time to be at Tamarack; the Nature Center is currently undergoing a 13 million dollar expansion termed “Destination for Discovery”. The expansion will be a multi-year project to re-design and upgrade the facilities, trails, programs and exhibits.

Katie introduces Eric to the rare delicacy that is cattail stem.

Mary feels very strongly about kids and the outdoors. In fact, Tamarack is also home to the “Children and Nature Resource Center,” which is a library of research articles dealing with the importance of exposing children to the outdoors. “For the first time, research has caught up with what we innately know,” Mary says. “Connecting children with nature is a huge deal.” In addition, Mary is currently helping to write a bill to be introduced to the Minnesota State Legislature called “Every child’s right – access to nature.” The bill would provide transportation for urban kids from the city to places where they can connect with the outdoors.

When I asked Mary what the most rewarding part of her job was, she didn’t even have to think about it. She seemed very sure of herself when she responded “In the morning, seeing the children running for the nature center, and at the end of the day, having children teach their parents about what they learned.”

For more information on Tamarack Nature Center, visit http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/parks/tamarack/index.htm