Being that Naturalist

The simple definition is: One who studies Natural History.

Or...

A Naturalist is someone who studies the patterns of Nature.

Oh, well now I feel better.

I am in the 'wonder' stage right now. Our instructor had told us to go out and just sit in a spot and wait for a while. Look around, use all of your senses, and just observe.

Okay.
I'm supposed to take a notebook and write what I see and draw things that I see.
I am SO much better with a camera.

However I decided to do just that. I was going to make my daily trip to the creek anyway with Charlie.
So I found a huge rock to sit on and did some pondering.
A Naturalist is someone who studies the patterns of Nature.

Well, I have been doing that for about 20 some years while living on this place. But now I had a chance to learn much more.

I started to pick out some of the green blue stones [limestone bits] that I wanted to use to make a 'fairy house barn' with. I watched Charlie wander around close by smelling the scents of the animals who had recently come down into the creek for water.

After a bit I just thought I'd look down and see what I could see.
Tiny rocks. Nothing exciting. There was one of those bluish pebbles I could use.

But...wait!

There was a funky looking almost clear bug moving around. If I hadn't just sat still and gazed at the water between my boots I would have missed this.
I didn't know what I was looking at, so I took a photo for when I got back home and could look up aquatic creatures in one of the Handouts I'd gotten.

Then I noticed these rocks that had little piles patterns of rocks the size of sand on them.

What was holding them together?

So I pulled one off a rock and pulled it apart.

 Curious. A tiny larvae?

Some sort of living thing. Immediately I felt sort of bad that I'd opened it.

I had NO clue what it was. However I did recall seeing this sort of thing before and just ignoring it while I was seeking out other things along the creek.

Caddisfly larvae of some sort. They build stone houses around themselves and eventually emerge as a tiny fly that trout eat. Found in healthy and clean waters.

Wow. How cool was this? How many years have I walked right over these little wonders and never knew what they were?

I have to admit. I was pretty darned excited at this new discovery.

So now I was able to recognize what this was. Little houses for Caddisfly larvae on rocks that I'd walked over and glanced at. These are covered with silt.

Last but not least.
My love for rocks. I do love looking at rocks. When we were kids, Grandma used to take us Rock Hunting in a different part of Wisconsin. We'd hunt pretty rocks and often could find agates. I'm in a different geological region so I am still trying to learn what our rocks are.

I think this is a Stromatolite?
I could be all wrong about this. But now I am on a specific search for a really good example.

I think I have some rocks that have much neater fossils in them than this one in my garden but it is still under about 6 inches of ice and snow.

Well, I best get to my paper journal now and write that rather dry and factual entry.

I think I've been an informal Naturalist for a long time now.
I'm naturally curious about the woods, the creek, and the land around me. I enjoy watching the creek change over the years as well as the land itself.