| The Spring Wild Class April and May 2012 Ages 18 & up |
This is the next edition of our popular nature and survival skills class, The Wild
Class. Immerse yourself in the skills of our core nature awareness curriculum.
Course Description:
This class will explore two core areas of nature-connection and awareness; bird
language and animal tracking. Bird language reveals how animals communicate
through sounds, silence, and body language about what is happening in the area.
It calls us to pay attention to the moment rather than be caught up in our busy
minds.
The art of tracking explores body language and physiology through tracks and
track patterns. Tracks and signs of wildlife are everywhere yet most of us grew up
without being taught to notice and interpret these signs.
Together, tracking and bird language gives us many useful tools (approaches and
techniques) for observation, sensory awareness, reasoning skills, understanding
ecology, and noticing body language and behavior in not only animals but people
too.
Course Overview:
Dates: April 14-15th and May 5-6th, 2012
*participants are expected to attend all dates
Class Times: Saturday 10am to 9pm, Sunday 9am to Noon. Participants
may choose to camp out Saturday night or go home, it is up to you. Pack
your own lunch and dinner.
Location: meets north of Bloomington near Griffy Lake. May
occasionally meet at Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.
Cost: $110 per person *can be paid in two payments of $55
Register Online Here
Class. Immerse yourself in the skills of our core nature awareness curriculum.
Course Description:
This class will explore two core areas of nature-connection and awareness; bird
language and animal tracking. Bird language reveals how animals communicate
through sounds, silence, and body language about what is happening in the area.
It calls us to pay attention to the moment rather than be caught up in our busy
minds.
The art of tracking explores body language and physiology through tracks and
track patterns. Tracks and signs of wildlife are everywhere yet most of us grew up
without being taught to notice and interpret these signs.
Together, tracking and bird language gives us many useful tools (approaches and
techniques) for observation, sensory awareness, reasoning skills, understanding
ecology, and noticing body language and behavior in not only animals but people
too.
Course Overview:
- Introduction to "Bird Language"
- Bird Behavior: understanding baseline vs. alarm
- Bird Alarm Behavior: a more in-depth look into alarm behavior
- Reducing Your Alarm/Disturbance in Nature
- Identifying Clear Animal Tracks
- Understanding Gait Patterns (patterns of tracks and what they tell us)
- Sign Tracking (i.e. trails, scat, bones, dens, beds, feathers, digs, etc.)
- Aging Tracks and Sign: the art of determining when the animal was there
- Animal Forms: practicing how animals move to better understand how to
track them - Sensory Awareness Exercises: techniques and fun games to enhance the
reach of our senses - Concentric Rings: how bird language expands into observing all animals
and your own "gut feelings"
Dates: April 14-15th and May 5-6th, 2012
*participants are expected to attend all dates
Class Times: Saturday 10am to 9pm, Sunday 9am to Noon. Participants
may choose to camp out Saturday night or go home, it is up to you. Pack
your own lunch and dinner.
Location: meets north of Bloomington near Griffy Lake. May
occasionally meet at Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.
Cost: $110 per person *can be paid in two payments of $55
Register Online Here
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More on Bird Language...
The ancient Apache scouts knew the birds and animals very well. They would
watch and listen to the sounds of birds or the movement of mice that would tell
of the movements of predators or people on the landscape. This information
might keep their tribe safe and alive or assist the hunter to where their prey is
sneaking away. Today, we call this "Bird Language" or "Reading Concentric Rings
of Nature". It is a rare and almost lost science and art that brings us deeper into
our senses, presence of the moment, and closer to nature. The easiest way to
learn bird language is to be immersed in it.
The ancient Apache scouts knew the birds and animals very well. They would
watch and listen to the sounds of birds or the movement of mice that would tell
of the movements of predators or people on the landscape. This information
might keep their tribe safe and alive or assist the hunter to where their prey is
sneaking away. Today, we call this "Bird Language" or "Reading Concentric Rings
of Nature". It is a rare and almost lost science and art that brings us deeper into
our senses, presence of the moment, and closer to nature. The easiest way to
learn bird language is to be immersed in it.
| Journaling tracks often includes taking track measurements in order to precisely ID the species and sometimes the individual |
| Siri and Ross practice animal forms, moving like the animal, in order to understand the track pattern we were seeing |
| Kids in our youth programs learn to ID bird feathers in a feather matching game we created |
