Everyone has a favorite green space to enjoy. A local park, nature trail, or even our own backyards are places where many of us find peace in just seeing what is going on. What is always interesting to me are the seasonal changes in these places, like which plants are blooming, or which sweet fruit treats I may be able to snack on. And just so you all know, I do not share locations of dewberry patches with anyone!!!
Enjoying seasonal change is what motivated my friend and fellow naturalist Janet Wright and I to begin monthly nature tours of the Fontainebleau Nature Trail in Ocean Springs, one of our favorite places. This trail is part of the Fontainebleau Unit of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Visitors can choose between two loops that traverse the site and experience several habitat types that are common across the gulf coast. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/mississippi-sandhill-crane/map?trail=fontainebleau-nature-trail
It is the combination of upland and wetland habitats that make this trail a favorite place to see seasonal changes and share them with others. This site includes managed upland Longleaf Forests, Bayhead Swamps, Tidal Marshes, and Wet Pine Savannas, with hundreds of species of plants to see during their annual cycles. And that is the point of our monthly tours, that are now guided by two additional friends and naturalists, Gail Bishop and Emmett Carstens.
The four of us share duties guiding folks on a 1-1/2 to 2-hour walk (9:00 – 11:00 am) on the first Saturday of every month – no exceptions, other than storms. And we have only missed one in the last four years. The July tour this year marked the beginning of our fifth year. We have made great new friends that come regularly to see what we see – those seasonal changes that, in the science world, are known as phenology.
Phenology is the study of the seasonal patterns of events in nature, especially those related to cycles in plants and animals. Those of us that grew up outdoors often talk about this when we recall when certain plants flower, or fruit are ready. Southern Pecans, for example, will not leaf out until well into late spring to avoid any chance of frost. I know better than to plant okra until the soil is warm, in May, not earlier. These patterns are driving largely by weather and climate that affects plants and the pollinators that they depend upon, and for many are themselves connected to these plants.
That, my friends, is what in part drove us to offer these seasonal walks at the Fontainebleau Trail – to share the stories about the plants and animals that live in our world and their seasonal journeys. For us, we hope to motivate our guests, and friends, to enjoy the phenology at other places and make greater connections to our natural world.
Our challenge to you is to take the time to visit your favorite places, regularly, throughout the year. Catching your favorite tree when it is just leafing out, or when its leaves begin to change color in the fall, can be rewarding.
For those of you interested in helping document seasonal changes in plants at Fontainebleau Trail and other locations across the coast, Emmett Carstens manages the Gulf Coast Phenology Trail program. Volunteers make regular visits to designated locations to record what is happening with select species, that contribute to better understanding about how climate change may affect our world. Contact Emmett via the trail’s Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/GCPTrail/ and view details about this project at https://fws.usanpn.org/GulfCoastPhenologyTrail.
Hope to see you in our great outdoors!