Parks and Recreation

WPNC Senior Naturalist

  • Join us for a Nature Center program.wpnc bird
    (See the quarterly schedule for a list of free programs.)

  • Discover the park. (Do at least one of the following.)
    - Hike a trail or walk the “Old Roadway” in Edwin Warner Park.
    - Read the history exhibit and visit three historic sites in the park.
    (Ask for a map of historic sites at the front desk.)
    - Introduce a friend to the park; invite your friend to a program or to take a stroll in the park.

  • Sharpen your naturalist skills. (Do at least three of the following.)
    - Pick up a Tree Trail booklet at the Nature Center and hike one the tree trails.
    - Identify ten wildflowers in the park. (A spring wildflower garden is located on the nature center grounds.)
    - Learn three Tennessee frog or toad songs and visit the Nature Center pond on a warm evening to listen for these vocal amphibians.
    - Begin a nature journal.
    - Identify 5 trees using characteristics other then leaves (bark, twigs, fruit, etc.)
    - Observe one of the birdfeeder stations and learn 5 different birds that come to feeders.
    - Read or listen to a nature-themed book – fiction or nonfiction. (Ask for a suggested reading list at the front desk.)
    - Research an animal that is relatively new to Tennessee. Suggested topics include coyotes, armadillos, and pine bark beetles. (The Nature Center Library is available for research.)
    - Learn the names of 5 insect orders and find 2 examples of each of these orders that live in the Warner Parks.
    - Visit the Nature Center organic garden. Name 3 techniques for successful gardening without the use of chemicals.
    - Visit the park and find 5 signs of animals that inhabit the park (tracks, scat, rubbing, burrows, chews, etc.)
    - Visit the fern garden and identify 5 ferns.
    - Hike one of the self-guided trails in Edwin Warner Park and read the interpretive booklet. (Pick up a booklet at the Nature Center or trailhead.)

  • Share your talents by choosing one of the opportunities below. (Volunteering can be a one-time or an ongoing event. Contact the Volunteer Coordinator at the Warner Park Headquarters, 370-8053, to sign up.)
    - Volunteer in the organic garden.
    - Bake for a program or workshop.
    - Make hummingbird food and help maintain feeders.
    - Assist with a public program.
    - Read stories to preschoolers under the museum beech tree.
    - Share your knowledge and experience by presenting a program or staff in-service.
    - Participate in exotic plant removal.
    - Stuff envelopes for Friends of Warner Parks’ mailings.
    - Help with parking during an astronomy program.
    - Adopt a section of the park.
    - Be a regular volunteer in the library.
    - Volunteer to fill the bird feeding stations on a regular basis.
    - Be a regular front desk receptionist.
    - Participate in Park Watch.
    - Pick up litter.
    - Join Friends of Warner Parks