Welcome to Week 6 of our 10-week challenge, designed to encourage new naturalist discoveries as we continue to practice social distancing and wait for the coming vaccinations! As each day lengthens and warms, we need to savor winter before it melts away into spring.

Looking N from Lake Wenatchee State Park

Each week, select one of the 60 total activities designed to delight your senses, stimulate your curiosity, and remind you of the joy that springs up just by being outside in nature. When you’ve completed 10 activities, send an email to Susan (skylinebal@gmail.com) so she can add your name to the list of Coronavirus 2021 life-long learners on the Wenatchee Naturalist website.

Below are six options for Week 6 – which one speaks to you today?

Read

Explore nature book gift options for a child in your life. The Seattle Library has a nice list of titles, including non-fiction and myths. Most will be available at your local library, or for purchase at your local bookstore.

Paul Winter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winter

Listen

Take a listen to the music composed by Paul Winter. He has won seven Grammy Awards for his unique genre of “earth music,” which interweaves the voices of the greater symphony of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and indigenous traditions of the world, introducing people to the variety of species and ecosystems on earth through the beauty of sound. The music is often improvised, and recorded in natural acoustic spaces.

Watch

Watch Washington Audubon’s webinar “Sagelands Seminar” to learn about shrub-steppe ongoing joint projects with Washington Dept. of Wildlife to protect birds.

April, Douglas Co. Shrub-steppe: the green carpet of annual grasses creates a continuous fuel connecting the native shrubs and wildflowers

Antelope bitterbrush in full bloom, Wenatchee Foothills

Journal

Revisit the weekly journal prompts used during our 12-week Wenatchee Naturalist course. These can serve to trigger entries into your journal, in your own backyard, or at a frequently visited field site.

field journal — Excerpt’s from Heather Murphy’s journal, used in Wenatchee Naturalist course

Visit

Take a winter hike in the Wenatchee Foothills on a trail south of Fifth Street. (Trails North of Fifth Street are in winter closure to protect mule deer.) Use this link to the newly updated CDLT Foothills Trails map.

View of Twin Peaks and Canyon Number Two, Wenatchee Foothills — View of Twin Peaks from the trail between Saddle Rock and the Jacobson Preserve

Advocate

Engage with Douglas County (or other county) Commissioners on a natural resource or conservation topic you care about. This webpage link provides all contact information.

Just Announced- March Webinars

Wenatchee Naturalist Betsy Dudash will speak on March 1st about using native plants in landscaping.

Native Planting 101 Workshop – Mondays in March at 7:00 pm. (virtually via Zoom – one hour session each week) RSVP here.

March 1: Using Native Plants in Landscaping with Betsy Dudash
March 8: Native Plants for a Firewise Home with Al Murphy
March 15: Noxious Weed Control with Julia Sanderson
March 22: Native Plant Selection and Care with Mel Asher
March 29: Q&A and Panel Discussion with the experts

Questions? Contact KirkB@cascadiacd.org or (509) 436-1601

White River spawning sockeye salmon — Torsten Watkins

WILD IDEAS! with Chelan-Douglas Land Trust- Three Thursdays in March, 6:00-6:45pm. Register for these 15-20 minute talks, followed by Q&A with the speaker.

March 11- The Salamanders of Central Washington with herpetologist, Torsten Watkins. Register here.

March 18- All About Pacific Salmon with Tracy Bowerman. Register here.

March 23- Unbust the crust (bio-crusts or biological soils) with Lydia Bailey. Register here.

Wenatchee Naturalist

Cultivating awareness, understanding, and stewardship of the Wenatchee River region

Join Week 6 – Naturalist Challenge