Each Friday for the next three weeks, the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center will host a free, child-oriented educational series about different animal species that live in Arkansas.
The June 10 program of "Find Your Natural State" was all about birds.
In a small auditorium at the back of the center, a staff member gave a PowerPoint presentation about birds. Kids heard about birds' mating habits, the colors of their plumage and migration patterns. They listened to bird calls, with some children remarking how familiar each call sounded.
Those attending also learned about native and exotic birds.
After exiting the dark auditorium, the children examined birds' nests and then
entered the real jewel of the nature center: its vibrant natural real estate.
The center -- on the edge of the Arkansas River -- is surrounded by hundreds of native bird species, which use the river as a migratory stop or call its banks home.
Birds from all over North America use this river as a causeway to and from their Northern and Southern time-shares.
Kids who had just sat enraptured by a slide show in a dark room stepped out into a veritable who's-who of the bird world right outside. What a few minutes before was just an image was now a living thing, fluttering by the river or feeding from one of the bird feeders on the center's grounds.
This event is, going by the reaction of delighted children using toy binoculars to spot birds on the river and lush grounds of the William E. "Bill" Clark Presidential Park Wetlands, perfect for youngsters fascinated with anything that crawls, swims or flies.
"Find Your Natural State" is offered from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fridays. Topics include insects (Friday), mammals (July 8) and reptiles (July 15).
The center contains exhibits about the state's different ecological regions, including the Ozark Plateau, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas River and Coastal Plain. Each is connected by flowing water that visitors can follow room to room. These "rivers" have flow-through barriers that separate each region's different aquatic wildlife.
The center is at 602 President Clinton Ave. For more information, call (501) 907-0636 or visit centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.
ActiveStyle on 06/20/2016