The Fairfax County Urban Forest Management Division is looking for volunteers to help out with a Water Quality Field Day. 175 Fort Belvoir 6th-grade students will come in small groups to various activities. Urban Forest Managment’s will be a game demonstrating how water moves through soil of various types.
Thursday, May 30
10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Contact Katharine Layton to volunteer: 703-324-1857 or [email protected]
Norma Hoffman Visitor Center, Huntley Meadows Park
3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria Virginia 22306
Wednesday, 15 May 2019
7:30 pm
FODM will host an informal social gathering at 7:00 p.m. before the event.
Join the Friends of Dyke Marsh to hear Geoffrey Sanders, a National Park Service (NPS) biologist, give a presentation on the impact of sea level rise on Dyke Marsh and other shoreline communities based on modeling of several scenarios. His study concluded that “significant habitat changes are likely at Dyke Marsh as a result of rising water levels,” including changes in vegetation.
From 1900 to 2017, sea levels rose about a foot and a half along the Chesapeake Bay, according to scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. An Old Dominion University study, “Climate Change, Global Warming and Ocean Levels,” assumes a mid-range estimate of a 3.7-foot increase in sea level rise by 2100. Former Governor Tim Kaine’s Commission on Climate Change in 2008 predicted that sea levels in the Chesapeake Bay region will be 2.3 to 5.2 feet higher by 2100.
The program is sponsored by the Friends of Dyke Marsh and cosponsored by the Environmental Council of Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation, and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network.
Our year in numbers, courtesy of Michelle Prysby, Director, Virginia Master Naturalist Program
2018 infographic of FMN accomplishments
Localities, pond management personnel and the general public are asked to look for a new species of Water Chestnut (genus Trapa) recently found in the Potomac Watershed. It has been spreading since 1995 so you may have already encountered this floating aquatic vegetation growing over the surface of a pond, lake or other fresh waterbody. This species is identified by the seed cases having two spines instead of four found in the Eurasian Water Chestnut. Reports of this or other invasive aquatic species can be made via a free phone app. Water Chestnut (an annual) will sprout in May 2019, spread over the water surface and then flower and fruit by July, it drops seeds all season until it senesces after a hard frost. To stop the spread, management, by harvesting the plants by mid –July, is very successful in eradicating the plants but it may take several years of effort, if some seeds lay dormant.
Walker Nature Center, 11450 Glade Dr., Reston VA
Saturday, 18 May 2019
10:30 am-12:30 pm
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, 5040 Walney Rd.,
Saturday, 25 May 2019
10 am-12 pm
Rain barrels purchased from retail sources can be expensive. As part of a regional initiative, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District offers build-your-own rain barrel workshops and distributes low-cost rain barrels to Fairfax County citizens. You will learn how to install and maintain a rain barrel and take one home! By installing a rain barrel at your home you will provide your plants with water they will love, save money and water, and protect the Chesapeake Bay! The workshop fee is $55, which includes the rain barrel for you to take home. Learn more about the program and register to attend a workshop.
Photo (c) by Barbara J. Saffir
Brion’s Grille
10621 Braddock Rd., Fairfax VA
Saturday, 11 May 2019
8:30 am
Thinking about the “wild” spaces in and around a busy metropolitan area can be difficult, but we are fortunate to have several wildlife refuges at our fingertips. How did these areas become protected and what’s next for the system? Patuxent Wildlife Refuge Manager Brad Knudsen will present “The Evolution of the National Wildlife Refuge System.” He will present information on the important wildlife resources the NWRS conserves, how the NWRS as grown in its 116 years, how legislation and public involvement have impacted the direction the NWRS has gone, and a glimpse at what the future holds.
Breakfast begins at 8:30am, $10 at the door, cash preferred. No prior registration required. Breakfast includes an all-you-can eat hot buffet with fresh fruit and coffee, tea, orange juice or water. If you have any questions, please contact the Northern Virginia Soil and Water at [email protected].
Earth Day weekend provides the opportunity to promote nature and the environment!
Hidden Oaks especially needs nature table hosts for Lake Barcroft Earth Day on Sunday April 28, 2:00pm – 5:00 pm at Lake Barcroft Beach 5.
Host the table for Hidden Oaks Nature Center with all training, materials and displays provided. Shorter hours are ok, if needed. In past years have shown tadpoles, benthic macroinvertebrates, toad, turtle, variety of backyard bugs. Flexible to volunteer’s interest. Always a warm reception. Outdoor free activity for all ages. Typically 200-300 attend.
To volunteer, contact Suzanne Holland, Hidden Oaks, at [email protected] or call 703-941-1065. Record service hours as E110: FCPA Nature Programs.
Belle Haven Park, Alexandria VA
Saturday, 20 April 2019
10 am – 12 pm
Friends of Dyke Marsh, Secret Gardens Birds and Bees, and the National Park Service will “host” live raptors. Free. Learn more.
SpringFest Fairfax
Saturday, April 27, 10 am – 3pm
Sully Historic Site, Chantilly
Assist Hidden Oaks naturalists at backyard bugs nature table and distribute live ladybugs for release. Typically many hundreds attend this free outdoor Earth Day celebration for all ages. Training provided. Parking pass provided.
To volunteer, contact Suzanne Holland, Hidden Oaks, at [email protected] or call 703-941-1065. Fairfax Master Naturalists can record their service hours as E110: FCPA Nature Programs.
James S. Long Park, 4603 James Madison Hwy (Rt. 15) Haymarket, VA 20169 Parking: Old Library parking lot (first right past the horse field)
Sunday, 28 April 2019
12-2:30 pm
Join Elaine Wilson, one of the District’s pioneer/certified monitors and her team for a spring monitoring at this beautiful site in Catharpin Creek in the Gainesville area. This site has some outstanding critters that are unique only to this site. STEM kids are welcome. Spots are limited. For more information and RSVP, contact Elaine Wilson.
