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Lula Lake Birding and Botany
April 19 @ 9:00 am - 12:30 pm
About the hike: This moderate hike is approximately a 3.5 mile loop on our beautiful Core Preserve property, which will be closed to the public. Two guides will share their expertise on birding and flora.
Botany: as we walk along the trail we will be identifying common wildflowers and trees such as rhododendrons, mountain laurels, and tulip poplars. We will also be learning about their ecology and the relationships that exist within the flora of the forest. The guide will teach you skills on plant identification that you’ll be able to take with you on your next hike!
Birding: this time of year is migratory season so it’s more likely that we could see some birds we wouldn’t usually find here. Our guide will help us identify common species such as Carolina wrens, Carolina chickadees, and Northern cardinals! We’ll have many quiet stops throughout or 2-3 mile hike so the birds can acclimate to our presence which will allow them to be more vocal and visible. We will narrate our sightings/sounds and will answer as many questions as possible for bird species identification purposes, and also demonstrate how to look and listen so you can take these skills with you on your next hike!
About the Guides: Julia Prins is currently working to earn her Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a focus in botany. She has gained her knowledge on the identification and ecology of Tennessee plants through working under Dr. Joey Shaw. Her thesis research focuses on assigning conservation status ranks for all TN plants and she has conducted additional research completing a flora to identify all plant species in Booker T. Washington State Park.
Chloe Smotherman (she/her) is currently working to earn her Masters in Environmental Science from UTC. She has her B.S. in Biology from the University of Tennessee in Martin, where she enrolled in her first ornithology course and developed her passion for birding. Since then, she’s had the privilege to study under Dr. David Aborn and further expand her Southeast US bird knowledge.
Date: Friday, Apr. 19th
Meeting Time: Please arrive no later than 8:45am ET at Lula Lake Land Trust located at 5000 Lula Lake Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA 30750. The gate will open at 8:30am ET and will close at 8:50am ET as the hike will leave from the meadow promptly at 9:00am ET. Directions to the meadow will be provided upon check-in.
