DiscoveryNews

April - May 2019

The Forest Awakens

Hi Everyone,

With the spring season finally here, it is time to come out of hibernation and enjoy the warmer weather once again. When you venture to one of our many sites, be sure to stop and look for the small spring wildflowers that are some of the first blooms of the season.

Spring wildflowers have many adaptations for survival. With their early bloom time, there are no leaves blocking the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. But they have to work quickly to make flowers and seeds before the trees leaf out. Because they bloom so early, they also need to be able to attract the few pollinators that are active. Their flowers aren’t always the most colorful, but the early pollinators aren’t picky about which flowers they pollinate. Skunk cabbage blooms so early in the year (as early as February!) that the only active pollinators are flies. The flowers attract flies with an enticing scent of rotting meat and a resting place warmer than the air around it, perfect for getting the fly’s attention.

Spring wildflowers are indicators of a healthy, undisturbed ecosystem, as it can take years for the plant to mature and flower. Mayapple plants can take 4-5 years to fully mature, and trout lily and trillium can take 7-8 years to flower. You can distinguish a mature plant from an immature plant by looking

for the flowers or by looking at the leaves. When the plant is maturing, it will typically send up one leaf to gather sunlight and make and store food for that season. When the plant has enough energy stored, most species will send up two leaves that growing season and will flower soon

after. As you are finding these plants, look for the immature and mature ones to know which will bloom and show off its flower.

While taking a walk through any of our native areas or nature parks, keep an eye out for these small, beautiful flowers. You might be able to see spring

beauties, trout lilies, and mayapples in a forested area or marsh marigold and skunk cabbage when walking through a wetland. If you are lucky, you might be able to find the strange flowers of the Dutchman’s breeches or the similar-looking squirrel corn. Look for them in the forested areas of DeGraaf Nature Center or Rabbit River Preserve. There will be a guided hike with a naturalist taking place from 6-7 PM on May 9 at DeGraaf Nature Center to learn more about these flowers. Be sure to get out to see these plants before they are done blooming for the season.

While the weather seems to be taking its time warming up, a quick visit to one of our natural areas will show that spring is truly here. Maple sap has been flowing at Van Raalte Farm with visitors seeking those sweet bottles of syrup. A walk through the lowland forests of Rabbit River Preserve will engage your senses; from the diverse vocalizations of wildlife competing for mate selection and nesting territory to the beauty of the emerging wildflowers. If you visit the Outdoor Discovery Center, you will certainly be greeted by school buses and numerous excited voices of nature explorers. From area schools to our Little Hawks campus, each day hundreds of children are enjoying the wonders of our seasonal transition from cold to warm. Our spring is here. We hope you will visit one of our many locations soon!

4214 56th Street • Holland, MI • 49423outdoordiscovery.org

616-393-9453

Travis WilliamsChief Executive Officer

Mayapple

Marsh Marigold

Dutchman’s Breeches

Squirrel Corn

Maple Sugar TimeThough the colder weather delayed the start of the sugaring season, we still had a decent year of sugaring at the Historic Van Raalte Farm. Our Maple Sugar Time events were fun with over 1200 guests coming out to explore the Sugar Bush. There were eighty trees tapped with traditional metal spiles and tin buckets and ten trees tapped with modern plastic spiles and buckets throughout the wood lot. During the latter half of March the sugar shack

was boiling sap down at full “steam” to make our very own pure maple syrup. Look for it at the gift shop at the nature center and at Outdoor Discovery Center. Limited quantities are available for purchase! Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Michigan Forestry Co.!

Enjoy a touch of nature near downtown Holland on the 18-acre

preserve.

Advancing outdoor education and conservation in West Michigan

Support the ODC Network with a Night OutWe are privileged to have fundraising partners in our community willing to help underwrite our mission. We hope you’ll take time to get together with loved ones while supporting the ODC. Thank you to the generous businesses who have provided these opportunities and continue to give the community great places to dine!

Beechwood Grill Falcon Fundraiser Month of April

Order wings or a specialty “Falcon” cocktail at Beechwood Grill during April and a percentage of the price will be donated back to ODC. The “Falcon” will be a spin on a traditional Moscow mule with the addition of pomegranate liqueur.

Beechwood Grill Bird of Prey Event Saturday, April 27 • 12–2:00 PM

Head to Beechwood Grill on Saturday, April 27 where kids eat free with adult lunch purchase between 12-2 PM. One of our birds will be visiting as we round out our month-long fundraiser!

Dine to Donate at On the Border April 1

Bring in a flyer to On the Border on April 1 and have 20% of your meal go to the ODC Network. Flyers can be found at the ODC, DeGraaf, or printed from our website. If you come between 6-8 PM you can see one of our live raptors!

Saugatuck Brewing Company Fundraiser Month of May

$1 from each purchase of a pint of Awesome Amphibian Amber will be donated to the ODC Network.

Salt & Pepper Savory Pub & Grill Fundraiser Tuesday, May 28

Bring in a flyer to Salt & Pepper on May 28 and have 15% of your meal go to the ODC Network. Flyers can be found at the ODC, DeGraaf, or printed from our website. If you come between 4-6 PM you can see one of our live birds of prey!

Photo by Mike Lozon

Photo by Mike LozonPhoto by Mike Lozon

ODC Conservation Services

Habitat and wildlife preservation through sustainable land

management

Wildflower Spotlight: Trout Lily

2019-2020 MISGP UpdateODC Conservation Services, along with our partners at the West Michigan Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (WMCISMA), have been awarded state funding to continue the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program (MISGP) that started in 2017. This program provides financial assistance to homeowners dealing with invasive species within Ottawa and Allegan counties. Through cost-sharing, landowners are provided with technical assistance and management of phragmites and Japanese knotweed. Previous years of MISGP assistance have resulted in 47 acres of Japanese knotweed and 105 acres of phragmites treated within the Macatawa and Kalamazoo watersheds by ODC Conservation Services staff.

If you are a landowner looking for assistance in dealing with invasive species on your property reach out to Ben Heerspink (ben@outdoordiscovery.org.)

Trout lily is a spring wildflower commonly found in the rich and moist forests of Michigan. Yellow and white trout lily (also referred to as dogtooth-violets) are two native species that make appearances throughout the state.

Both species form massive colonies over hundreds of years that consist of some two-leaved flowering plants and numerous single leaved non-flowering plants. Many of the non-flowering plants are not produced from seed, but rather are produced through stolons. Stolons are essentially horizontal runners that extend on top of the ground with tips that burrow into the ground and develop new plants.

Each individual plant takes around 5-7 years to reach maturity and develop a pair of speckled leaves. The name “trout” lily comes from this distinct grey pattern on their leaves that closely resembles the speckling of brook trout. Shortly after reaching maturity, both species produce one six-petal, yellow or white flower between April and May. Their leaves wither away shortly after blooming. In fact, so much so that by mid-summer there is no trace above ground of the colony that once blanketed the landscape in spring. Rabbit River Nature Preserve in Hamilton offers a multitude of trout lily blooms throughout spring. Be sure to grab your hiking boots and camera this season to catch some stunning shots of your own!

Winter Adventures at Little Hawks

Wintertime in childhood is a magical time. Who can forget the feeling as a little one when you looked out the window to see freshly fallen snow. In those moments, our inner selves just screamed to play outside. Our Little Hawks staff have the privilege of joining our children in their excitement each school day.

Many may wonder: how do the Little Hawks enjoy the cold winter months? They know that every day is an adventure and being dressed for the weather allows for exploration and learning. Time spent in the snow and cold temperatures teaches our youngest learners a simple form of resilience and enjoyment for more than just sunny days. Winter is a treasured season for our Little Hawks because the environment changes daily and freshly fallen snow provides an excitement to explore.

Little HawksDiscovery Preschool

A five-star, public nature-based preschool program enrolling 3- and

4-year old children

Icy Playscape Problem SolversWhat do the Little Hawks do when their playscape has ice coverings? Break the ice, of course! The Little Hawks take great pride in caring for their playscape and nature. They learned how to use tools to break the ice and identify unsafe icy areas.

They discovered how ice can be used for a winter slide! They experimented with how the speed changes when

they change how their body moves down the ice.

Ice Fishing AdventuresThe Little Hawks enjoyed partnering with students from Hamilton Community School’s STREAM program this winter for an ice fishing adventure. They gained a deeper understanding of fish behavior and survival in the winter months and practice regulating their excitement as they waited for a fish to bite!

Wow, Look at the Tracks!The fresh snow gives clues to what animals live close by and the Little Hawks created stories to who may have been there. The animal tracks provide opportunities to incorporate simple math concepts of measuring, counting, and shapes.

This winter over 300 students at multiple schools throughout West Michigan participated in a new nature-based curriculum series designed by the ODC Education Network team that uses forts and shelters to drive learning in nature.

The program begins as a design challenge in which students are given material lists and design constraints in a process that yields to a unique fort prototype design. Students build prototypes with found items and snow. After that, they are given more materials for the full sized build. Once the forts and shelters are built and tested, they serve as a learning lab for that team of students. After the design and build phase, teachers are able to incorporate standards from many content areas and often multiple disciplines. Kids were able to practice Next-Gen science, math, social studies, and literacy using their forts as the center point for learning experiences in nature.

Sixth grade teacher Melissa Chambers used her forts to help kids collect data for their math instruction on inequalities. Students borrowed the ODC infrared thermometers to gather temperature data from inside and outside of their forts on different days. From there, students were able to practice inequalities using that data. “I just love the fact that we can take a challenging topic and connect it to a real world experience with our kids” says Chambers. Her favorite part of the curriculum was that

throughout the process kids were engaging critical thinking and problem solving skills to set up their ability to collect data. Another benefit of this program was that the science teacher in her building was able to use the forts to give kids a first hand understanding of energy transfer. And at the end of the day, who doesn’t love the notion of making your own fort!

The fort/shelter curriculum has been designed by the team to connect with multiple content areas in grades K-8. If you would like to know more about how forts can drive powerful learning for your kids, we would love to share more information with you! ODC Education Network Manager, Bob Wandel would love to work with you on this project. Bob can be contacted via email at bob@outdoordiscovery.org.

Small Forts, Big Learning

Creating personal relationships between students, teachers, and

their environment

ODC EducationNetwork

Rolling Out the KRG PlanThis past January, the Lower Kalamazoo River Greenway Plan that was developed by ODC Network and our partners was approved by the Michigan DEQ. The full version of the plan is available for viewing and download on our website. Now for the fun part of rolling out our plan! We will be working this spring and summer on gaining endorsements from local

governments, businesses, county agencies, and other organizations that are invested in the Kalamazoo

River. Several are already using the KRG Plan in planning and grant requests!

On March 19th, several ODC staff members helped partner at an evening of conversation hosted by the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council. We were able to have discussions with community members around the details of our plan and what our next steps are going forward. We are eager to continue working across Allegan County to improve the reputation and quality of the Kalamazoo River!

Kalamazoo Riverreenway

A corridor connecting and protecting habitat along the lower

Kalamazoo River

A community initiative to permanently clean and restore the waters of Lake Macatawa and the

Macatawa Watershed

PROJECTclarityLake Macatawa UpdateProject Clarity has now been implementing projects around the Macatawa Watershed for five years. During that time frame, our partners at the GVSU Annis Water Resources Institute have been monitoring conditions around projects sites, major tributaries, and Lake Macatawa. Each year, they produce an in-depth report about the extent of their activities, as well as a dashboard of how healthy the lake was the previous year.

2018 saw the lowest in-lake levels of phosphorus that Lake Macatawa has seen since regular monitoring began in the 1970’s. Averaging around 72 parts per billion, phosphorus levels fluctuate throughout the year, depending on the season and factors like the amount of precipitation the area receives. Phosphorus is the main nutrient of concern in the Macatawa Watershed, often bound to sediment that muddies the lake. It can lead to algae blooms and throw off the natural nutrient balance of inland lakes.

While it is great to see the levels of phosphorus drop, we need to keep working on reducing phosphorus and keep an eye on the lake. Factors

such as changing lake levels, dredging, increasing precipitation, and changing weather patterns can impact levels of phosphorus from year to year. For instance, 2017 saw nearly two times more precipitation than any previous year lake levels were monitored. However, likely due to best management practices and projects implemented across the watershed, phosphorus levels didn’t spike nearly as high as they might have twenty years ago. We have work to do if we are to reach the target set by state and federal regulators of 50 parts per billion.

To read the full Lake Macatawa Dashboard and Monitoring Report for 2018, visit our website.

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Total Phosphorus 2018 Mean Concentration: 72 µg/L Target Concentration: 50 µg/L

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for living organisms. In many freshwater systems, P is the element that limits algal growth. However, when it becomes too abundant, it can help stimulate undesirable algal blooms. Phosphorus comes in many forms; we selected Total Phosphorus (TP) as the dashboard indicator because it includes all the forms of P in the lake (i.e., particulate and dissolved). Lake Macatawa has a history of extremely high TP concentrations (i.e., > 100 µg/L), placing it in the “hypereutrophic” trophic state. As a result of this nutrient enrichment, the State of Michigan has established an interim target TP concentration of 50 µg/L in Lake Macatawa. Thus, the TP dashboard shows the water quality goal as being met when TP concentrations are < 50 µg/L. While attaining this goal would be a significant improvement in water quality from current conditions, Lake Macatawa would still be in an impaired “eutrophic” state, which we define as TP concentration > 24 µg/L. Therefore, the TP dashboard shows the ultimate desired TP concentration as < 24 µg/L. The current status for the total phosphorus indicator is Undesirable, meaning that the average TP concentration in 2018 exceeded the water quality goal. Some annual variation in TP concentration should be expected and although mean 2018 TP concentrations remain above the target concentration observed in Lake Macatawa, it is encouraging to see that mean 2018 concentrations were considerably lower than those in 2017.

Save the DateProject Clarity Update Breakfast

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant 7:30-9:00 AM • Registration required

Nature-based group trips to regional, national and international

destinations

Travel With the Explorer NetworkExperience Tanzania — May 2-15, 2020Our 15-day, 14-night itinerary will be a once in a lifetime experience! We have created an exceptional itinerary that will have us exploring three national parks, Masai and Tengeru villages, and the Ngorongoro School. Don’t forget your camera for the game drives which will provide excellent views of the animals that define the Serengeti region of Africa. Our travel will include visits to Arusha National Park, Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Our safari tour company will provide a local bi-lingual guide, private

vehicles for our group and accommodations at excellent facilities. Not only will they provide us with an amazing experience, but they use resources from groups like ours to build schools and support education in the Arusha region while working with the local communities to

provide unique lodges and experiences for travelers.

If you are interested in joining us, please contact the office or tour leaders, Jamie Krupka at jamie@outdoordiscovery.org or Travis Williams at travis@outdoordiscovery.org, for more information.

Over 170 Fish Caught in Five-day AdventureAvoiding the polar vortex in early February, the ODC Explorer Network traveled to Guatemala for a five-day billfishing adventure. Guatemala is known as one of the best billfishing locations in the world, logging some of the highest catch rates for Pacific sailfish and blue marlin. In three days of fishing the group caught 174 Pacific sailfish, mahi mahi, and marlin. The all-

inclusive excursion featured sun, waves, excellent dining, drinks and even watching the Super Bowl live featuring game day favorites and fish caught

earlier that day.

Why not join us in 2020? If you are interested, let us know if you would like to participate in this unique experience by emailing explore@outdoordiscovery.org.

Holland

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NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDHOLLAND, MIPermit No. 5394214 56th Street

Holland, MI 49423

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ODC Visitors Center HoursMonday - Saturday 9 AM - 4 PM

Extended Hours: Memorial Day thru Labor DaySundays 12- 4 PM

DeGraaf Visitors Center HoursTuesday - Saturday 9 AM - 5 PM

Discovery Center

Thank You, Tennant Foundation!

Looking for Programs?

We are pleased to announce that the Outdoor Discovery Center is the first Tennant Foundation non-profit recipient outside their Minneapolis, MN corporate giving region. The foundation saw value in supporting the community in which their Holland company employees live and work. Their gift went towards the construction of our seven-acre Eldean Family Nature Play Park that provides families with year-round nature

play. Children are able to experience the outdoors and learn about nature and wildlife by playing in a life-size bear den, eagle nest, or giant spider web, riding a zip line, and fishing from the catch and release pond. Thank you Tennant Foundation for being our partner!

Look for our program guide, Discover Nature, in the mail!Programs are also listed at outdoordiscovery.org

Earth Day Weekend River Clean-upSaturday, April 27 • 1:00 – 4:00pm

Dunton Park, 290 Howard Ave., Holland, MIHelp clean the Macatawa River for Earth Day (April 22). Depending on the group size, there may be a crew on the shores of the lake and another in kayaks in the river. Anyone under 16 years old must be with an adult. All boats, paddles and life vests will be provided. Meet at the lower parking lot near the boat launch.