As children do, the members of the Naturalist Club at Lehigh Gap Nature Center grew up and went off to jobs or colleges. Consequently, a Junior Naturalist Club was formed on April 19.

Fifteen children registered for the first meeting. A few additional children showed up with their parents."Wow, we have lots of people. This is a great problem to have," said center director Dan Kunkle as he brought in more chairs.Kelci Knirnschild, Nathan Cunfer and Wyatt Trantham from the Naturalist Club returned to help form the new club. Adults Deb Siglin, Doug Burton and Barb Egerton are the leaders.The agenda for the day was scheduling and activities, Kunkle said. It was decided that meetings would be once a week on summer evenings and one Saturday a month during the school year.Every Thursday at 10 a.m. there is a 4-B Nature Walk: Butterflies, Bugs, Birds and Blooms open to anyone.Kunkle asked what the children wanted to learn about in natureThe answers came quickly and included trees, birds, spiders, amphibians, rivers and ponds, reptiles including turtles, berries, bats, mammals, bacteria, and plants."We'll try to hit as many of those as we can and maybe include a pretty long hike and see what we find along the way," Kunkle said.He had bird books by Bill Thompson. The book was recently updated and the old ones were to be thrown away by the publisher. Instead some were given to places like the center. The young naturalists each received one. There was also a tree book for each.Everyone moved outside and lined up along the porch. They were given Swarovski binoculars and had a lesson in using them before dividing into three groups to see what they could find along the trails.Caddis flies were everywhere because they were just emerging from the river. They could be recognized because they form a tent with their wings.One thing everyone found was tree swallows, which were active that day."May is a wonderful time of year to be outside," Kunkle said.The next meeting will be held 9:30 to 11 a.m. May 17. Everyone in grades two to six is invited.