When: June 5, 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 focus is salamanders. How are lizards different from salamanders? How many species of salamanders live in WNC? Do they live on land or in water? Since salamanders can be tricky to find at Welch Farm, we will spend about half this event viewing and discussing a variety of live, captive salamanders, then take a brief nature walk to demonstrate how you can hunt for salamanders on your own time. As always, though we will be focusing on salamanders during this event, we are open to discussing any naturalist topics you may be interested in!
This event is free and open to the public, and registration is not required to attend. Just bring yourself, your water bottle, and your curiosity! We’ll meet at the trailhead of Welch Farm Preserve just before 5:30pm on Thursday, June 5th. See the map at the bottom of the page for exact location. The walk will take about an hour and a half and will be on mostly even, level ground. There are some stepping hazards at Welch Farm, like roots or mud in the trail, but there is no elevation gain. We will be back at the trailhead by sunset.
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 Skye with any questions.
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 teacher
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 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.
