When: May 18, 2024 @ 9:00 am
This event has been POSTPONED/CANCELLED due to weather concerns. Keep an eye out on our events calendar for rescheduled sessions!
Wander the Needmore with an entourage of local experts!
This spring, Mainspring is hosting a Bioblitz in the Brush Creek area of the Needmore Game Lands in partnership with Highlands Biological Station and Discover Life in America! A Bioblitz is a sort of “biological census,” aiming to capture a snapshot of all the species living in a particular area.
Each day of this event (Friday 5/17, Saturday 5/18, and Sunday 5/19), local experts will lead multi-hour mini-expeditions along waterways, through meadows, and in the forest, seeking particular species or taxa. Choose your own participation level– come all day, attend one session per day, or participate in just one or two sessions over the weekend! Beginner naturalists are welcome at this event, let’s learn as we go!
Observations collected during this event will help drive future conservation in this area, fill gaps in scientific knowledge, and maybe even document a critter that hasn’t been observed here before! Want to meander through this beautiful area while searching for and learning about birds, mosses, snakes, and more with these scientists? Check out Saturday’s schedule below, then fill out the form at the bottom of this page to secure your spot! Find more details about the sessions and their leaders below the form at the very bottom of the page. Email Skye with questions.
Other important info:
- The Bluegrass Concert is not affiliated with this event. Please purchase your ticket on the Cowee School’s website.
- Exertion varies per session: some sessions may be easy walks along the road while others may involve traipsing through the woods off-trail. In general, wear sturdy shoes, bring a snack and plenty of water, and be prepared to walk 2-3 miles. For accessibility-related questions, email Skye.
- All sessions will leave from Lower Needmore Rd in the Needmore Game Lands near Bryson City, either from the Brush Creek Access Area or past the swinging bridge. Exact meeting location and directions will be sent out in the week leading up to the event.
- Please download and login to the iNaturalist app before this event. We will be using this app to record our observations. If you have never used iNaturalist, here is a brief tutorial.
- A bagged lunch will be provided free of charge to any participant who wants it.
Why the Needmore? This over-5,000 acre chunk of public land in between Franklin and Bryson City encompasses a fascinating array of rich, low-elevation habitats, including 30 miles of river frontage. Mainspring has contributed over 3,000 acres to these Game Lands, and we continue to carry on the legacy of protecting this area’s unparalleled beauty and biodiversity. When the Fontana Dam was installed in the 1940’s, it flooded what would have been the lowest elevation ecosystems of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and many other low-elevation areas in the Little Tennessee River watershed have been developed. The Needmore contains a special set of unfragmented ecosystems that is not well-represented in our landscape.
Birds
THIS SESSION HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER CONCERNS. It will now occur on June 9th. All participants who are registered will receive an email detailing how to register for the new session, and other members from the community will be welcome to attend. The new session will be posted on our events calendar.
Join us for a peaceful morning stroll as we explore the beautiful and varied birds of Western North Carolina. The session will start with a brief introduction on how to use binoculars for those new to the hobby as well as a short lesson on how to use field guides and bird identification apps like Merlin and eBird. As we walk, we’ll listen closely to the soundscape and learn to identify birds by ear. We’ll also do our best to blend into the landscape and get an up-close look at some beautiful birds and learn which features to focus on to make positive identifications. Along the way may also find some interesting animal tracks and have the opportunity to discuss the huge species diversity of this rich habitat. This session is open to anyone, no prior birding experience necessary. Loaner binoculars are available for beginners.
Born and raised in Cullowhee, Topher Stephens has been a nature enthusiast since childhood and professional leader of outdoor and experiential education programs for over 15 years. Drawing from his background in conservation biology, mindfulness education, and nature-based mentoring, he brings a reverence for all life and a deep respect for the more-than-human world to his teaching about birds, animal track & sign, and ecological systems. He currently teaches courses in bird identification, wildlife track & sign, and mindfulness-based nature connection through his school Wild Remembering.
Snakes
Email Skye with your party size to be added to the waitlist for this session.
Be prepared to go off-trail during this session! We’ll be traipsing through the woods and checking snake tins for whatever critters we may find underneath. Participants may wear snake gaiters if they would like, but they are also welcome to keep their distance from the tins themselves if they would like to observe snakes without getting too close. Jason will give a safety debrief before the session begins.
Jason Love is the Associate Director at the Highlands Biological Center in Highlands North Carolina, after serving as site manager at Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research Program with the University of Georgia for ten years. A children’s book author, Jason also chairs Mainspring’s Education and Outreach Committee and is active in Mainspring’s educational programs for youth. Jason holds a Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia. He lives in Franklin with his wife and daughter.
Lunch & Learn with Dr. Bill McLarney
Settle in for this optional lunch-and-learn! Dr. Bill McLarney will share wisdom and insights from his years of biomonitoring in the Little Tennessee River watershed, including why fish diversity is special and important, what impacts human development have on aquatic critters, and how you can help us keep tabs on the special creatures that live in our rivers.
Dr. William O. McLarney holds a Ph.D. in Fisheries from the University of Michigan but considers himself an aquatic conservation biologist. He has worked in aquatic ecology in the Great Lakes region and Alaska and was a co-founder and director of aquaculture research for the New Alchemy Institute in Massachusetts. He splits his year between Macon County, North Carolina, where he has directed a biomonitoring study of the upper Little Tennessee watershed for over 30 years, and the Talamanca region of Costa Rica for over 20 years, where he founded Asociación ANAI, one of the most successful conservation and sustainable development organizations in the tropical world.
The Aquatic Biomonitoring Program at Mainspring is one of the most successful in North America. Its success led to the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Water Conservationist of the Year in 1994, the River Heroes Award for Dr. McLarney from River Network in 2004, the Roosevelt-Ashe Society Award for “Outstanding Scientist in Conservation” from WildSouth in 2009, and the Fred A. Harris Fisheries Conservation Award, awarded by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Fisheries Society in 2014. Bill also has a terrestrial home and family in the Oak Grove Community.
Mosses, Ferns, and Liverworts
Email Skye with your party size to be added to the waitlist for this session.
The Southern Appalachians are an area of high diversity for ferns and bryophytes. The focus of our hike will be on common ferns, mosses, and liverworts of the Little Tennessee region. We will survey bryophyte and fern diversity by visiting a variety of habitats. The outing will introduce students to the difference between mosses, liverworts, and other lower vascular plants. Bring a hand lens or magnifying glass if you have one. Extra hand magnifying tools will be provided for those without their own.
David Siripoonsup is a Special Projects Botanist for the NC Natural Heritage Program.
Ed Schwartzman is the director of Joe Pye Ecological Consulting LLC, based in Asheville, NC. He is a botanist/ecologist with a master’s degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland. His professional expertise includes botany, bryology, herpetology, and forest and wetland ecology. Ed previously worked as a biologist for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, conducting natural area inventories in the NC mountains, and with the Division of Water Quality, where he implemented the NC Unique Wetland classification.
Aquatic Macroinvertebrates
This session will focus on the aquatic insects that can be found in our creeks and rivers. Many of these critters start their lives in water but become airborne later in life, such as dragonflies, mayflies, and stoneflies. Participants should be prepared to get in the water (up to their knees) to collect and observe these insects!
David Penrose is the director of Penrose Environmental Consulting. He worked as a stream ecologist for over 40 years and find that the science still fascinates him. He learns something about every stream or river that he works in. His professional goals primarily are about advancing the science of stream ecology, whether that’s as a contractor working on a restoration project or teaching aquatic insect taxonomy or ecology to students. Prior to starting Penrose Environmental, David worked with Watershed Science, and prior to that in the NCSU Water Quality Group.
Butterflies and Dragonflies
THIS SESSION HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER CONCERNS
Jason Love is the Associate Director at the Highlands Biological Center in Highlands North Carolina, after serving as site manager at Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research Program with the University of Georgia for ten years. A children’s book author, Jason also chairs Mainspring’s Education and Outreach Committee and is active in Mainspring’s educational programs for youth. Jason holds a Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia. He lives in Franklin with his wife and daughter.
Will Kuhn is the Director of Science and Research at Discover Life in America. He was born and raised in East Texas, but has lived around the Appalachians for 15+ years. He’s an entomologist by training, and an aspiring naturalist who loves learning about the diverse flora and fauna of the East Tennessee region. He’s obsessed with cataloging life on iNaturalist, including in his Knoxville neighborhood. Will directs DLiA’s scientific research and helps coordinate research with the NPS, scientists, and community scientists.
Lightning Bugs
Sarah Johnson was born and raised here in Macon County, and her roots go back several generations. She is a naturalist, artist, and stay-at-home mother who has been catching fireflies since she was 4 years old. Join her for this “after dark” session to search for fireflies and other bioluminescent creatures, including her personal favorite, Blue Ghosts.
