By Jody Sackett, Rumson Environmental Commission
Winter closes us in with its weak sunlight and cold days, bringing on the “blues.” We want to lethargically huddle indoors next to the TV, but the children are as restless as feral cats. The solution? An outdoors “awe” walk.
You can do this anywhere – your backyard or a park – for any amount of time, with family or even alone. It’s a unique and free opportunity to immerse yourself in nature, while mindfully grasping the awe-inspiring world around you.
Being in nature restores cognitive function as it reduces stress and is a golden opportunity to give kids exercise while teaching them about wildlife in winter. Sort of like a giant educational scavenger hunt.
It’s winter… nothing’s going on, you say? Not so. The local wildlife is still here, just a bit hidden. Here are a few clues to help you find the animals on your Awe Walk. No headphones please, just tune in to sounds of nature around you.
• Birds. While some birds migrate, like osprey and hummingbirds, many more are still here, hopping and flying around. They’re searching for hidden insects in dead leaves and bug eggs under bark or hunting for abandoned seeds. Birds shelter in shrubs and trees all around us; to find them, listen for calls or carefully search the dense evergreen bushes for their presence. Explain to the kids that these tiny creatures don’t freeze because they keep warm fluffing feathers to increase insulation, shivering to build body heat, or cuddling together to share body warmth. Birds also pack on weight during fall and preen feathers using body oil to waterproof themselves. Try the iNaturalist app to identify the birds you see.
• Deer. There are plenty of white-tailed deer around, searching for food or congregating together to share body warmth. They survive winter by increasing fat layers, getting thicker winter fur undercoats and darker outer fur that absorbs more sunlight to trap body heat. Deer also have oil-producing skin glands to make their fur water-repellent. Use your Awe Walk to spy on them and look for clues as to where they are. Deer are browsers so look for nibbled foliage up to 5 feet high, tracks in soft earth, flattened grasses where they sleep together, and scat (poop). Since they’re less active in winter to reduce metabolism and save energy, you’ll surely find them.
• Squirrels. Go for a short Awe Walk in your yard on a warmer winter day. Watch for semi-hibernating squirrels, briefly emerging from their tree nests and dens to check their multiple food hoards. In the fall, squirrels gathered nuts, seeds, berries and insects to bury in underground caches all around their nests. Winter’s the time to dig and eat.
• Rabbits. Take the family on a dawn or dusk Awe Walk to see bunnies; that’s when they’re most active in the winter because the muted light hides them from predators. Rabbits don’t hibernate but live in underground grass-lined warren tunnels, rock piles or hollow logs. They’ll hide in bushes and under droopy evergreens, which provide protection and food. Bunnies love to eat twigs, tall grasses, conifer needles, plants, insects, or even re-ingest their own scat if food is scarce. Since rabbits conserve energy by moving less in winter, you’ve got good odds of finding them if you search for clipped twigs or gnawed bark on woody plants.
• Marine Animals. Visit Sandy Hook for your Awe Walk to see the large harbor seals that come here for the winter from Canada and Maine. Go at low tide when you’ll see them resting on jetties while digesting their food. Don’t get too close, as the seals need to rest; instead use binoculars to watch their antics. While you’re there, listen for loud nonmigrating seagulls and honking Canada geese. Explain to the kids that we have local geese who live here year-round and migrating geese visitors, too. They all stay warm in winter by balancing on one leg to keep the other cozy and tuck their beaks into back feathers to keep the bills warm while breathing heated air. Awesome.
Should we feed the animals? Animals use their fat stores to get through winter, but food supplies can get scarce over a long season. If your family wants to help backyard wildlife, the best approach is to simply let your yard go wild in autumn; dead leaves hide tasty insects, the seedheads attract feeders, and the brush provides shelter. Please don’t feed deer high-energy food like shelled corn; it will make them sick since it changes the pH of their stomachs and they can’t digest it.
Have the kids help with backyard birdfeeders, using a variety of seeds to feed birds and small mammals. Suet works well for insect-feeding birds like starlings, jays, woodpeckers and chickadees. And everyone loves those peanut butter-and-seed coated pine cones kids make. Since wildlife may come to depend on you for birdfeeder food, make sure you not only like having the animals in your yard, but also that you are willing to keep feeding them all winter.
An Awe Walk immerses you in the joy of nature, floods your senses with quiet amazement, and turns off the negative mental feedback loop. Your children will be wiser and calmer. Bonus: you’ll get those steps in.
Don’t give in to the dark side this winter – enjoy nature’s quiet gift and celebrate the “awe” in the world.
The article originally appeared in the January 26 – February 1, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
