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KINGSTON TWP. — Ava Argento, 6, will be starting school on Tuesday, but not before she had one more opportunity this weekend to enjoy the outdoors while spending time with family.
Dad Jon Argento, of Forty Fort, said he brought his daughter to the “Whose Nest is That?” activity at the amphitheater at Frances Slocum to share his love for the outdoors with her in a recreational environment.
Ava seemed to not only enjoy learning about nests, the wildlife they sheltered and how each was carefully crafted, she also seemed to like getting her hands a bit dirty as she plunged into the woods with about 10 other attendees to gather materials for their own nest.
Some children preferred sticks and some preferred leaves, but all carefully placed the natural materials into clay, imagining what type of animal might raise its young there.
Matthew Engle, 5, of Wilkes-Barre, might have designed a small nest, but he had big dreams for it.
Engle, who recently started kindergarten, pictured squirrels living in the nest, which he said was made mostly from ferns.
Kathy Kelchner, of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, distributed markers to the children as they gathered around a picnic table, asking them to draw a line from the animal to the nest in which it might live.
Gabby Miller, 4, said she was coloring the beaver brown, striving to be accurate.
“Beavers are always brown,” she said. “I saw them on television.”
Ann Smitka, 3, was coloring all her animals pink.
“It’s my favorite color,” she said smiling.
Karchner, an environment education specialist, encouraged them to have fun and to think as they colored and drew.
Many participants and attendees said the nests were much more fascinating than they expected.
Of great interest was a black and white hornet nest, which was bigger than a basketball and intricately designed.
When asked about the honeycomb-like material that was inside the nest, Karchner was quick to reach in and remove parts from inside.
She held attendees rapt attention when she told them about the cycle of life present in the nest.
As queen bees age, said Kelchner, other bees can no longer smell the pheromones she puts out and begin to prepare several other bees to be queen.
Of those several bees, one will emerge as queen, killing all the other potential queen bees.
Karchner’s love for her job is obvious, as she took care to learn the names of all of the attendees, and excitedly described the nest event and others held during the Labor Day holiday weekend.
“Before this,” she said, “we were searching for salamanders. The kids really loved that too.”
Many attendees said they were looking forward to several activities throughout the weekend.
“Tonight, we’ll be learning about the heritage of the native American Indian,” said one parent, referring to an event held Saturday night. “We love it all.”
