Nature Experienceship - Wild Edibles with Tom Smith

“Think of it as a tuition rebate.” Dr. Smith told us, as we ate sweet yew berries straight off of the bushes outside the Jesse Knight Building on BYU campus. Students passing by stared as we plucked clover and munched on flower petals.  Last Saturday, Dr. Smith took us all over campus, showing us a dozen different varieties of edible plants that most people see every day, but would never think of eating. As part of the Wild Edibles Nature Experienceship we tasted plants like pansies, nasturtiums, wild sumac, Oregon grapes, yew berries (the flesh of the berry is not poisonous) and more. Some of the plants we tasted, like the wild sumac, were edible, but as Dr. Smith explained, not very tasty alone, so we learned how to turn them into tasty drinks and dishes.

After we’d collected all sorts of berries, leaves and flowers we made some of the tastiest things I have ever had. Acorn flour muffins, purslaine casserole and wild sumac lemonade were some of our favorites. By the end of the morning, we had learned a ton about wild plants that are not only edible, but really tasty, too! We were really lucky to have an enthusiastic expert on edible plants with us to show us things that we would normally never try. Thanks Dr. Smith!
Keep your eyes peeled for future wild edibles trips and join us Saturday, October 20th at 8 AM for a tour of aspen forests with Sam St. Clair!

Shanna, Museum Educator

Nature Experienceship – Birding with Merrill Webb

September 15, 2012

What an excellent birding adventure with Merrill Webb! We had the opportunity to see 34 different species of birds!!! We drove to different preselected sites around the Provo area. It’s incredible what amazing animals are around our own backyard. Merrill Webb discussed the details that differentiate each bird from one another. We were taught specific sounds different birds make. For example, the Killdeer sings its own name…truly amazing! We had the opportunity to watch a Red-tailed Hawk soaring around looking for food. We saw two large, graceful Sandhill Cranes. We even had the opportunity to see an Osprey (Merrill Webb’s favorite bird of the day). What a unique and fun experience it is to have an enthusiastic and experienced birder (Merrill Webb) guiding us through this fun adventure. Make sure you join us this upcoming winter as Merrill Webb takes us on another fun birding adventure. Who knows, this experience may just give you the desire to embark on your own “Big Year”! Join us on the 29th of September for Wild Edibles with Tom Smith or on October 20th for Aspen Forests with Sam St. Clair! Sign up HERE

Michael Silva, Museum Educator

For more pictures, visit our Facebook Page HERE

Here is a short video:

Here is a list of all the birds we saw during our birding adventure:

1. Canada Goose
2. Northern Shoveler
3. Green-winged Teal
4. Eared Grebe
5. Western Grebe
6. American White Pelican
7. Double-crested Cormorant
8. Great Blue Heron
9. Black-crowned Night-Heron
10. White-faced Ibis
11. Turkey Vulture
12. Osprey
13. Northern Harrier
14. Swainson’s Hawk
15. Red-tailed Hawk
16. American Kestrel
17. American Coot
18. Sandhill Crane
19. Killdeer
20. American Avocet
21. Franklin’s Gull
22. Ring-billed Gull
23. California Gull
24. Caspian Tem
25. Eurasian Collared-Dove
26. Northern Flicker
27. Black-billed Magpie
28. Common Raven
29. Tree Swallow
30. Barn Swallow
31. American Robin
32. European Starling
33. White-crowned Sparrow
34. Yellow-headed Blackbird

Our website mlbean.byu.edu is back up and functional. Please request a live animal show here.

Starting June 18th, the Bean Museum will give a weekly Wildlife Hour at your local library. Check the poster below for the day of the week that we will be at your library. These classes will have everything from learning something to getting to see a real live animal. Children from the ages of 6 to 12 are encouraged to come, but everyone is truly a child at heart.

Click on the poster for a better view of the dates.

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

Last Saturday, April 14, 2012, we saw almost 40 species of birds on our Nature Experienceship with Mr. Webb. Out near Utah Lake we watched birds and learned some of the characteristics that help to differentiate between species, called a ‘field mark.’ Mr. Webb was quick to find all sorts of birds by their calls and markings. We observed Sandhill Cranes dancing and learned that Snipe’s do actually exist. We finished off the trip with a Mr. Webb tradition, naming everyone’s favorite bird seen that day.


We saw the following birds:
American Wigeon
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Redhead
Clark's Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
White-faced Ibis
Osprey
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Willet
Wilson's Snipe
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
White-crowned Sparrow
Brewer's Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird


Paige Bryson, Museum Educator

Nature Experienceship - Aspen Forests with Sam St. Clair

Saturday morning we went up and around the Aspen Loop to look at aspen and pine trees. Sam St. Clair our gide was determined for everyone to LOVE plants by the end of the experienceship. He talked about adaptations and defences that trees naturally have. Fir trees have sap 'pustules' that squirt out sap when squeezed to deter pine beetles and other insects. He said that a big reason there is so much loss of pine forests to the beetles is because the drought prevented the trees from making the sap packets and the beetles were free to burrow in the bark. Aspen trees have chlorophyll in their bark which means that their trunks can photosynthesize even after they have lost all their leaves, and aspens have a waxy layer you can rub on your skin which acts like sunscreen. The experienceship was a blast and I walked away loving trees!

Paige Bryson, Museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

We identified about 30 species of birds around the south end of Utah Lake last Saturday. Mr. Webb could spot any bird in the sky and name it, and by the end we could name a few birds ourselves. Mr. Webb taught us about the niche interactions of different species, specifically the White Faced Ibis and Snowy Egret who can coexist in the same niche because they are not competing for resources. The Ibis probes the mud using its long beak for insects and larvae, while scaring up fish for the Egret who uses its beak to catch them. I definitely left with an appreciation for the diversity of birds in the area, and how they have adapted to living together in the same ecosystem, managing resource and space competition.

Paige, museum educator

Species List (September 10, 2011):

White Faced Ibis
Barn Swallow
Yellow-headed blackbird
Marsh Wren
Sora
Osprey
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Double-crested Cormorants
Snowy Egret
American Pelican
Black-necked stilt
Ring-billed gull
Greater Yellowlegs
Violet-green Swallow
Tree swallow - blue back
Mallard
Clark's Grebe
American avocet
Killdeer
Cinnamon Teal
Franklin's Gull
American Coot
Marbled Godwit
Willet
Turkey Vulture
Caspian Tern
Sandhill Crane
Red-tailed Hawk