Nathan's New Goal

The other day I half-way jokingly told Nathan that he should make it his goal to become the best naturalist in Michigan by the time he graduates from high school.  A naturalist is basically a field biologist.  They are the people that take you on a nature walk and identify plants and animals, insects and mosses, trees and tracks.  They can tell you interesting facts about the life history of a bird or they can tell you if a plant is native to the region or not.

Nathan had his first opportunity to guide a nature walk at our local nature center where he is doing his summer research.  It was last week during the camp counselor training session that he led the soon-to-be counselors on a walk around the nature center trails.  People couldn't believe it was the first nature walk he had ever led.  I told him that he is a "natural at being a naturalist!"  Later in the summer, he will get the opportunity to lead the campers themselves on bird walks around the park.

Well, the wheels in his head have been grinding away and he has taken on my challenge, saying that at the very least, it will keep him busy until he graduates high school.  He has decided to learn all he can about Michigan:

plants (including grasses, sedges, rushes, ferns and mosses), lichens, slime molds, mushrooms, insects (including butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies), freshwater mussels, freshwater invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, mammals, birds (he's already got this one down), trees, rocks, weather, the night sky

Did I miss anything?  I'm sure I did.

Today, Nathan told another Fenner volunteer of his "idealogical, maybe impossible" goal.  The cool thing is that when I get him a new field guide or check out a field guide from the library, he will grab it up and spend, literally, hours devouring it.  I will be very interested to see what he can accomplish in the next three years!  Go Nathan!