Eco-adventure awaits with these outdoor (and indoor) explorations

I'm still coming off of that post-Earth Day high. Life's got me feeling very environmental these days and I want to share all my green thoughts with the world. These events will turn you into, as Aretha Franklin sang, a natural woman or man.

Enjoy the sights and sounds of all the native Bristol, PA birds. Every Saturday this month, join the Silver Lake Nature Center at 7:30 a.m. for a bird walk.

From now through Friday, May 30 the roses at Wyck Historic House and Garden are in full bloom and they need an audience. I was thinking you'd go and feast your eyes on the rose gardens during their business hours, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

If you feel more at home in a wooded environment, the Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve's native plant sale will allow you to speak with experts in order to decide what shrub would work well in your space. Are you a woody plant person? What's the difference between a woody plant and an herbaceous one? Get all that knowledge and more at this New Hope, PA sale, running from Saturday, May 10 through Sunday, June 1 (except Mondays) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

When the weather doesn't cooperate with your outdoor plans, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the great outdoors, indoors. Artist Peg Dittmar's exhibition "Nature's Best" shows in Great Bay Gallery in Somers Point, NJ from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. from Wednesday, May 14 through Saturday, May 17 and Paul Harryn's "Essence of Nature" features abstract interpretations of natural environments from Wednesday, May 14 through Sunday, May 18 at Allentown Art Museum. The museum opens at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at noon on Sunday. Likewise, Malvern, PA's Jam Gallery currently holds an exhibit running through Sunday, June 1 called "Eco Art," where contributing artists use recycled materials and focus on nature. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Sundays at 11 a.m. and noon on Sundays.

The birds will come out to play on Friday, May 16, Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 for NJ Audubon's 37th Annual Spring Birding Festival. Let the Cape May Audubon Center's guides share with you all the information about these fowl as they migrate back to the Jersey Shore. The exploration sessions run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. all weekend long.

It's a weekend devoted to shoebird and horseshoe crabs at Wetlands Institute and Museum in Stone Harbor, NJ where on Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 tours will be given along the beach and guests will watch these crustaceans in their natural habitat. The festivities run from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. both days.

If outdoor survivalist Bear Grylls from Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild is your inspiration, attend Brandywine Creek State Park's shelter building seminar as a part of their Wilderness Survival Series. During this two-hour talk, starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, you'll learn how to build a sturdy shelter that's Survivor-worthy.

Explore the Pine Barrens courtesy of Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, DE on Saturday, May 31. Tour guides will show you different environments and the variety of species that inhabit the forest from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

I suppose I should advise all you explorers to pack your sunscreen and bug spray—and stay away from poison ivy. Now embark on your journeys