When: September 18, 2025 @ 5:30 pm
Walk through the seasons with Mainspring!
Once a month, spend your Thursday evening taking a casual stroll with a naturalist! We’ll amble through one of Mainspring’s preserves, taking the time to appreciate and learn about this season’s happenings. Our schedule changes with the seasons; this month’s special focus is birds! How do we identify birds by sound? Which birds live here year-round, and which birds are just passing through on their fall migration? Where is the best habitat to find birds? Are there any species that are unique to this region? Binoculars will be available to borrow during this event.
This event is free and open to the public, no registration required. Just bring yourself, your water bottle, and your curiosity! We’ll begin meeting at 5:00pm at the parking lot of Tessentee Bottomland Preserve and be ready to go just before 5:30pm on Thursday, September 18th. See the map at the bottom of the page for exact location. The walk will take about an hour and a half. Trails at Tessentee are natural-surface and vary from wide and flat to narrow and sloped.
This event is weather-dependent; we will update this listing and our social media with any scheduling changes. Please leave pets at home. Location changes per month, see the schedule below. Email Alina with any questions: [email protected]
2025 SCHEDULE:
February 6th, 4:00pm-5:30pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Winter Wildlife
March 6th, 4:30pm-6:00pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Early Spring Flowers
April 3rd, 5:00pm-6:30pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Birding
May 1st, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Wildflowers
June 5th, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Welch Farm in Andrews: Salamanders
July 10th, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin, 9:00pm-10:00pm: Full Buck Moon
August 7th, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Mushrooms
September 18th, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Birding
October 16th, 5:00pm-6:30pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Fall Foliage
November 6th, 3:30pm-5:00pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Mosses
December 4th, 3:30pm-5:00pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Winter Tree ID
Meet your Guide
As Mainspring’s Conservation Outreach Associate, Alina Martin aims to encourage the protection and appreciation of land by connecting communities to the birds, plants, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles that share our home here in the Southern Blue Ridge. Her birding adventures up and down the east coast have introduced her to a wide variety of habitats, and those experiences inspire her to continue nurturing her understanding of wildlife and plant ecology. Armed with her identification knowledge and ever-increasing wonder, Alina leads a variety of educational programs here at Mainspring, and finds something curious and new each time. She is a life-long birder, all-around naturalist, and avid user of eBird and iNaturalist.
