Author: dragonfly
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Making Summer School Fun
By Angie Clarke MMN 2021 Having to go to summer school – no fun, right? But at least there’s recess and your friends! So, you can just imagine my surprise when a hand full of 4th graders have chosen working in one of our pollinator gardens over playing at recess almost every day! Back in…
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20 years of Missouri Master Naturalist – Celebrate and Reconnect: A Conference in Columbia
Photos by Kitty Peer, Christine Meier, Linda Callahan, and Lisa Provence. On June 7 and 8, Missouri Master Naturalists gathered in Columbia for a celebration of 20 years of the program and a chance to connect with members from across the state. A wide range of field trips and educational presentations were on offer, as…
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Head ‘Em Up, Move ‘Em Out—Goose Roundup!
By Ed Beijen, 2017 MMN Canada geese lose their flight feathers for about a month starting in June and that is an ideal time to round them up to record their bands and geese that do not have bands are banded. Banding allows biologists to learn about their distribution, calculate survival rates, harvesting and production…
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June Chapter Meeting: Hike at Rocky Point
Our June chapter meeting was highlighted with a hike led by Larry Rizzo. This area has been worked on for years by KC WildLands, and is now showing a wonderful variety of native woodland and glade species. A couple of interesting finds on the hike were the wild bergamont (above), and the cicada just emerging…
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A New Snake Enrichment Box for Burr Oak Woods
Report by Karen Highfill Karen Highfill, a member of the 2023 class, completed her capstone project. Karen worked with Nikki King at Burr Oak Woods, in the planning of a snake enrichment box . With the assistance of her husband, Karen designed and built a 3’x3’x3’ snake box. This box allows the snakes to sun and…
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Fox Hollow Creek cleanup on April 6
By Mary Smead Trash! What an ugly word! But what is even more ugly is what trash can do to our environment! 15 of us found this out on Saturday, April 6, during the Blue River Clean up. Our assignment was to pick up trash along Fox Hollow Creek. This is the section of the…
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Capstone Project: The History Writers of the Forest presentation at the Urban Woods event
By Darla Burns The annual Urban Woods event, which celebrates trees as one of our most valuable natural resources, was held on Saturday, February 24 at the Anita B Gorman Center. Lisa Gann and Darla Burns contributed to the event by sharing their capstone project on Dendrochronology, which is the study of tree rings, also…
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Chapter Stream Team Conducts Winter Water Monitoring
Story by Jim HindsPhotos byArienne Barnes and Everett Koehn On February 10, five Osage Trails chapter members and one guest conducted chemical and visual monitoring at our two stream sites. Besides stream veterans Arienne Barnes, Jim Hinds, and Everett Koehn, we were joined by 2023 interns Monica Schroer and Dustin Schroer (no relation!) We…
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Three new Master Naturalists complete Capstone project
Three members of the 2023 class have completed their Capstone project! Cheryl Bolton, Ann Greene and Janet Blauvelt removed invasive bush honeysuckle from the old growth area at Hidden Valley Park, working with Linda Lehrbaum of KC Wildlands right before her retirement and resignation on December 31. (KC Wildlands is our partner under Bridging the…
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Winter Seed Cleaning Was Completed in December at Dunn Ranch Prairie
By Barb VanVleck Prairie heroes at work! In mid-December, Gail Goeke, Mel Haney, and Janie Borchart had a very dusty yet satisfying day sorting and cleaning the seeds from pods and removing stems to process the valuable seeds we collected at Dunn Ranch this summer. One mishap turned out alright. Janie’s cellphone slipped unnoticed into…