The Richardson Bay Audubon Center has a long and rich history on the Tiburon Peninsula, and Elizabeth Terwilliger is an integral part of that history. “Mrs. T,” as she was known by her students, taught children to love nature, and much of her teaching occurred at the Center. Whether it was looking for crabs on the shoreline, finding bugs in the meadow, or learning how to identify animal tracks in the mud, Mrs. T.’s kids got up close and personal with nature and developed a life-long love for it.
Belvedere resident Joanie Bekins was a parent when she recognized that Mrs. T.’s techniques for making nature studies fun and memorable could be taught to other volunteers, and the Terwilliger Nature Guide program was born. After Mrs. T. retired, the Terwilliger Nature Guides became part of WildCare’s education department. Thus it is fitting that WildCare’s Family Nature Day, an annual event to honor Mrs. Terwilliger, be held at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center where she spent so much time teaching. This year the Belvedere Community Foundation was proud to join the celebration by awarding a grant to WildCare to fund the event.
Family Nature Day, held on April 26, was enthusiastically enjoyed by over 200 children and adults who got close to animals, birds, and reptiles both alive (the WildCare ambassador animals) and taxidermied, dissected owl pellets, made pendants out of clay, got their faces painted, and enjoyed exploring the forest, meadow, and shoreline with the nature guides. Local conservation groups such as the Marine Mammal Center, One Tam, Marin County Parks, Bird Rescue of Sonoma, and and International Bird Rescue also offered a variety of activities.
Terwilliger Nature Guides greet visitors at the entrance
Another beautiful day in Tiburon
Sequoia the owl checks out the visitors