Nudged: Take a guided nature Hike

By Lisa Manterfield, Guest Nudger

Greetings, Nudger! This week author Lisa Manterfield is inspiring us with her own nudge. I’m lacing up the hiking boots and grabbing the binoculars to do my version of this. What might you do to get outside and enjoy some natural beauty? — Kathleen

I’ve always been a nature lover. As a child growing up in northern England, I learned how to identify birds using my Spotter’s Guide to Birds. [Note: This series of guidebooks, published by Usborne, can be hard to find. Try your local used bookshop.] With this pocket-sized book, and the help of my patient parents, I learned how to listen for bird song, and use markings, habitat, and behavior patterns to identify birds. On one summer trip, I was given a Spotter’s Guide to Wild Flowers, and spent many happy days hunting for flowers and tracking them on the handy checklist. The book even had a points system, and I was so proud to find an unusual (although not rare) 25-point flower that summer. So many good memories.

But then I moved to the other side of the world (California) and a whole new variety of birds and flowers. I lost the ability to identify species because they were so different, and I’ve been meaning to take a local guided nature hike to start learning my local flora and fauna again.

Enter my nudge….

What happened: I’m fortunate to live close to several state and regional parks and was pleased to learn that they offered a series of spring wildflower hikes.

On a cloudy morning, a young park ranger handed us flower guides, notebooks, and magnifying glasses, and we set off on a short hike. It was early in the season, so the flowers were only just emerging, but she pointed out Star Lilies, Milk Maids, Blue Dicks, and tiny Lupines; showed us how to differentiate between butter cups and sun cups; and explained what new blooms to look for in the coming weeks.

She also taught us about edible plants, and I boldly scrambled well off the trail to harvest some Miner’s Lettuce. Perhaps, most importantly, I finally learned how to identify Poison Oak in all its various stages, a skill that will be very useful this year after all the rains.

Over the course of the two-hour ramble, my spirits lifted as I reconnected with my childhood adventures, recalled my Spotter’s Guides, and remembered the joy of discovering and identifying plants in the wild.

The Ah-Hahs: I’ve hiked that park dozens of times, but the wildflower walk helped me see the beauty through a new lens. When my husband and I returned later in the week for our regular hike, we stopped to recall the names of the flowers we’d been shown, and to identify and appreciate the new ones that had emerged since. We’re looking forward to going again throughout the wildflower season to watch and enjoy the changing landscape of a familiar place.

I also discovered that the parks service runs a monthly bird hike. I’ll be nudging myself out to join that at the next available opportunity.