Celebrate Virtual Earth Day with Wildlife Center of Virginia, April 22

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April 22, 2020

8:45am – 5:00pm

Join us for a virtual Earth Day — a day-long celebration, with interactive discussions, a variety of activities, and live video programs to help you connect  with nature and the outdoors. Join us for one, some, or all of the events — it’s up to you!

Tune in to www.wildlifecenter.org/EarthDay2020 for a variety of live discussions and events. The schedule will continue to be updated — stay tuned! 

8:45 am – 8:50 am: Earth Day Welcome
Join us as we kick off this special Virtual Earth Day program with an introduction to the day’s events!  

9:00 am – 9:30 am:  Yoga with Jackie Howell of Peaceful Hands Massage & Yoga

10:00 am – 10:30 am: What is Earth Day? 
Lauren, the Center’s outreach educator, will lead a discussion about the beginnings and meaning of Earth Day.

11:00 am – 11:30 am: Recycled Craft Activity 
Let’s make an owl out of a toilet paper or paper towel roll!  Grab a pencil, some construction paper, markers, and your leftover rolls for a simple, easy craft that honors a special type of bird. Recycled crafting is the best crafting!

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: A chat with WCV Co-founder and President Ed Clark! 
Join Ed for a talk about the founding and growth of the Wildlife Center of Virginia … and some of his memories of Earth Day! 

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Break for outside time!  
Check back here for a variety of bingo sheets, natural scavenger hunts, and other activities — then head outside!  We are encouraging everyone to use this break to connect with the outdoors, and then come back to your computer feeling refreshed.  Tell us about what you did during the break, submit photos of your projects, and share your Earth Day Resolution on our moderated discussion! 

2:00 pm – 2:45 pm: Eagle Chat with Congowings
Join volunteer Congowings as she discusses Bald Eagles on our Critter Cam moderated discussion.

2:45 pm – 3:15 pm:  Meet Gus, the Center’s Barred Owl ambassador! 
Whoo loves owls? We do! Join us for a virtual program all about owls and meet the oldest, longest-serving education ambassador at the Center!

3:45 pm – 4:30 pm: Art with Kayla! 
Grab a pencil and some paper and join Kayla, the Center’s office administrator and resident creative genius, for a guided sketch session of Buttercup (the Center’s Black Vulture ambassador). We’ll also just have some casual chit-chat about all things wild with Kayla and Lauren!

5:00 pm:  Earth Day reflections
Join Wildlife Center of Virginia’s staff and members of the Critter Cam community as we wrap up the day with a discussion about what nature/wildlife means to us, how the outdoors are helping us cope with quarantine/physical distancing, and general reflections of our Earth Day event!

Earth Day at the Wildlife Center of Virginia

From Atlas Obscura: How to Help Scientists Without Leaving Home

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Gaze out the window or at your computer, in the name of data

BY JESSICA LEIGH HESTER

Atlas Obscura readers are spending time at home to stay safe and healthy, so the organization is sharing ways you can be awestruck anytime, no matter where you are. 

“THE NATURAL WORLD DOESN’T SLOW down just because humans have to. Outside, buds burst from branches; high, high above them, distant objects traverse the solar system. And while the world keeps going, science does, too. If you have a computer, a phone, and a window, you can help with these citizen science projects.”

Check the article for scores of links to citizen science projects you can do from home. Then, if you are a master naturalist, check the service or continuing education calendars to see which are approved for credit. If you don’t see them, please be kind and add them to help your fellow naturalists get credit for making the world a better place.

On April 22, Tune into Earth Day Online

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Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

The world’s largest civic event is going digital for the first time in its history. The organizers ask that leaders take science seriously, listen to their people and push for action at every level of society to stop the rising tide of climate change. People can make a better world for everyone; tell everyone you know about April 22 and come back here to be a part of it.

From the organizers:

“On Earth Day, April 22, 2020, we have two crises: One is the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The other is a slowly building disaster for our climate.

We can, will and must solve both challenges. The world was not prepared for the novel coronavirus. But we still have time to prepare — in every part of the world — for the climate crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic does not shut us down. Instead, it reminds us of what’s at stake in our fight for the planet. If we don’t demand change to transform our planet and meet our climate crisis, our current state will become the new normal — a world where pandemics and extreme weather events span the globe, leaving already marginalized and vulnerable communities even more at risk.” 

Find Digital Events

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Learn about Spring Warblers on line through ASNV, April 15, 16, 22 and 23

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Get ready for spring by learning about the largest and most colorful family of birds who visit the Washington area. Warblers are some of the most challenging birds to identify – they are often small and fast moving with distinctive but easily confused calls and songs. This 4-part FREE Audubon Society of Northern Virginia webinar will help you learn warbler plumages, behaviors and vocalizations. Each webinar will start at 7 p.m. and last about an hour. 

Instructor: Bill Young is a writer who lives in Arlington. He is the author of The Fascination of Birds: From the Albatross to the Yellowthroat (Dover, 2014). He is the co-creator of the MPNature.com website, which contains information about birds, plants and other aspects of the natural history at Monticello Park in Alexandria. Bill also makes nature videos, and his YouTube channel has had over half a million views.

Class 1 – Plumage (Wednesday, April 15)
Learn about the appearance of the 30+ species of wood warblers who visit during the spring.

Class 2 – Behavior (Thursday, April 16)
Learn about the behavior of the 30+ species of wood warblers who visit during the spring.

Class 3 – Vocalizations Part 1 (Wednesday, April 22)
Most warblers are heard before they are seen. Learn how to identify their vocalizations so that you will be better able to find them in the field.

Class 4 – Vocalizations Part 2 (Thursday, April 23)
Most warblers are heard before they are seen. Learn how to identify their vocalizations so that you will be better able to find them in the field.

The series was recorded and can be accessed here.

Conservation Poster Contest for K-12 Students–Entries due August 14th (deadline recently extended)

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Calling all student artists! The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District is seeking students to design posters to submit to the 2020 Youth Poster Contest. The theme for this year is Where would we BEE without Pollinators? 

ABOUT THE POSTER CONTEST

The Youth Poster Contest is a national competition sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts, and offered locally at the district level. District winners advance to the state level. Only Local Soil & Water Conservation Districts can forward their local winning poster entries to the VASWCD office for consideration at the state level. Virginia state winners will advance to the National Contest. National winners are recognized each year at the NACD Annual Meeting. The contest is open to the public, private or home school students, girl scout/boy scout troops, etc. 

Any Girl Scout  or Boy Scout who creates a poster and submits it to their local SWCD for judging can earn the VASWCD Poster Contest Patch.  When submitting a poster to earn the Poster Contest Patch, be sure to check the box on the entry form.  Please note that poster patches are distributed in December each year.

ABOUT POLLINATORS

Resources for Where would we BEE without Pollinators? are offered by the National Association of Conservation Districts and include booklets, activity sheets, storybooks, K-12 lessons and activities, coloring pages, and additional teaching materials. You can access these materials here.

Pollinators form the foundations of a healthy and sustainable future for food and the environment, but in recent years, they have shown concerning signs of decline. It’s important that we work to help them prosper by enhancing native pollinator habitats and protecting against pollinator declines. The Pollinator Partnership is one of many great resources when learning about pollinators. 

HOW TO ENTER

Entries from Fairfax County must be submitted to the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District by Friday, August 14, 2020.

The local NVSWCD competition follows the NACD national guidelines. 

Posters should be submitted digitally as a .jpeg, .png, or similar file format. Posters and images may be of any size. When photographing or scanning your poster for submission, be sure that the entire poster is clear and visible, the image is appropriately cropped, and the photo accurately reflects the original poster. 

Submit entries to Ashley Palmer, Conservation Education Specialist. An entry form should accompany your entry; download the entry form here. 

Local winners receive recognition and a prize from NVSWCD. 

VMN Annual Report Response for 2019, Fairfax Chapter

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Our parent organization, Virginia Master Naturalists, has created an infographic of our chapter’s work from the annual report posted earlier.

Vegetable Gardening for Earth Renewal

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Article by Plant NOVA Natives

Now is the time to renew the Earth – and yourself, while you are at it! Most of us are aware of the benefits to ourselves of eating chemical-free vegetables, and to the environment of growing our own food and thus reducing our use of plastic and our share of the impact of shipping and refrigeration. What we may not realize is that home vegetable gardeners also can play an important role in our collective effort to reconnect our landscapes in a way that provides sanctuary for the birds and butterflies.

A home vegetable garden is not just a little grocery store. If we give back to the Earth what we take out, we create a system that is truly sustainable in the sense of being self-sustaining and friendly to the surrounding environment. The first principal of organic gardening is to grow the soil by avoiding damaging chemicals and adding compost, which we can make ourselves from yard and kitchen scraps. Soil is very much a living thing, full of living beings who have their own intrinsic value. It is also the place where many creatures such as fireflies spend a substantial part of their lives before emerging into the air where we become aware of them. Fungi in the soil extend the reach of plant roots and provide a network for exchanging nutrients, water and information between plants. The less we disturb (or poison) the soil, the better for the living world.

An equally important principal of organic gardening is that we need to build the ecosystem infrastructure to support a balance of insects. Sometimes people mistakenly understand that the way to do that is to purchase ladybugs or praying mantis egg cases, a practice that is not only futile (since they typically just fly away) but harmful, as the species for sale are usually Asian ones. Instead, the way to achieve a balanced ecosystem is to start with the plants that support it, namely locally native species. Although it is possible to intersperse annual vegetables with native perennials, what most gardeners do is plant them in separate beds. Ideally, we can plant a pollinator garden nearby, filling it with a diverse array of native flowers that bloom in succession from early spring to late fall.

Vegetable gardens will be relieved to find that a pollinator garden is a whole lot less work than what they are used to, since there is no need to improve the soil in most cases, less weeding is required, and cleanup simply consists of a little tidying in the spring of the dead leaves, stalks and seed heads that supported life all winter. Unlike zinnias and marigolds that need to be replanted every year and that have limited benefits, native plants not only provide nectar and pollen to the pollinators but also provide the food needed by their larvae. Over a few year period, a yard with many native plants will attract enough predatory insects to keep down aphids or other pests. Toads will eat the slugs, dragonflies will eat the mosquitoes, and crop yields will increase.

On top of all these benefits, any sunny space occupied by a garden is one less area of lawn contributing to stormwater run-off and degradation of our local streams and water quality.

To learn more about using native plants to support the ecosystem, visit the Plant NOVA Natives website and the section on Vegetable Gardening for Earth Renewal. And for a quick pick-me-up, enjoy our one minute video on getting closer to nature in your garden while social distancing.

Get Started With Budburst!

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Budburst brings together researchers, horticulturists, and citizen scientists on a shared journey to uncover the stories of plants affected by human impacts on the environment. Budburst tells these stories through data collection, data sharing, education, and personal connections.

Budburst citizen scientists work together with research scientists, educators, and horticulturists to answer specific, timely, and critical ecological research questions by making careful observations of the timing of plant life cycle events, also called phenophases. These life events differ depending upon the type of plant, but usually include leafing, flowering, and fruiting phases of plants as well as leaf color and senescence.

Learn more and get started

Becoming a Culturally Responsive Interpreter, April 13 & 14

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Two-day course
13 & 14 April 2020
12-2:30 pm each day
NAI members $75/Nonmembers $100
Register here

The National Association for Interpretation presents a program to discuss the question, how can we be more effective interpreters with participants from cultures other than our own? Interpretation has both the opportunity and a responsibility to be more inclusive of all communities and to question dominant and privileged cultural perspectives. In this interactive virtual session, participants will examine privilege and bias as it pertains to interpretive planning and programming. Participants will reflect on individual and organizational practices and develop strategies for creating engaging and meaningful programming for diverse audiences.

*Reflect upon how personal values, biases and assumptions can impact the quality of programming that we create.
*How to identify Bias in instructional materials.
*Strategies for creating a culturally-responsive programming.

Parker McMullen Bushman is the VP for Community Engagement, Education and Inclusion at Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, CO. Parker’s background in the interpretation, conservation, and environmental education fields spans 22+ years. Parker has a passion for justice, accessibility, and equity issues. In addition to Parker’s role at Butterfly Pavilion she is also the founder of a DEI consulting firm called Ecoinclusive, the creator of Earth KWEEN and the founder of Summit for Action.

Face the Wolf

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Jerry Nissley

“I scarcely know where to begin…”: The opening line in Jack London’s, Sea-Wolf. This 1904 story develops around a self-indulged, self-professed gentleman of the times, Humphrey van Weyden, who decides to visit a relative across the bay. The fateful day he boards the ferry from Sausalito to San Francisco, the bay is shrouded in dense, preternatural fog. So much so that boats could only navigate using compass, speed, and distance –“a mathematical certainty“, right? Ergo the inevitable transpires–in spite of, or perhaps because of, the cacophony of navigational bell buoys and ship’s fog horns, the ferry is suddenly struck amidships by a steam schooner crawling in against the tide.

Chaos prevails and young Humphrey barely has time to secure his life jacket before he jumps/falls from the fast sinking ferry into the frigid waters of the bay. Hypothermia is a cruel, uncaring beast, and the weak, water-logged human bobber is quickly carried towards the Golden Gate by fast-moving current caused by the ebbing tide. Despair and hopelessness lead to delirium and unconsciousness; yet at the last possible moment Humphrey is plucked from the water by a passing sealing schooner, the Ghost, on its way to Japan. The Ghost’s intractable captain, Wolf Larsen, does not return Humphrey to shore but instead indentures him for the duration of the voyage.

I love classical symbolism. I recalled that story while I was on a four-hour kayak trip the Monday before our current executive order to lock-down. To me the opening scene in Sea-Wolf is analogous to the Corona-virus situation we are in today. Our carefree lives have been hit amidships by a runaway schooner-virus; knocked into treacherous waters and after floundering for a time, we now find ourselves confined to our boat-houses under incommodious restrictions. Are we all now symbolically Humphrey van Weyden indentured by a viral personification of Wolf Larsen? Will we all be better versions of ourselves once we endure this indentured servitude?

I scarcely know how to continue… for alas, I did not sit down to write specifically about Humphrey van Weyden or Wolf Larsen. I sat down to write about how through all of the prevailing current events, spring continues to flourish and how I am encouraged by Nature’s example of fortitude. An example worth emulating. 

Prior to restrictions, I was able to visit both Huntley Meadows Park (HMP) and Mason Neck State Park (MNSP) several times as a volunteer and as a casual visitor/user. At HMP I observed the hoodies and the woodies, the pins and the shovelers, the muskrats, osprey, snake-heads, spotted salamanders, assorted reptiles and migrating birds continue the cycle of life directly up in the face of the “Wolf“. 

Wood Duck

Kayaking at Mason Neck State Park, I observed that emergent vegetation is starting to show through the mud in Kane’s Creek. Spatterdock, cattails, pickerel weed and swamp mallow are starting to form along the water’s edge. Hopefully kayak tours will start up again in the summer months. Whether that happens or not, osprey, eagles, red winged blackbirds and beaver continue nesting/lodging rituals as if they plan to stay another year. I floated up to copious painted turtles adorning the logs like jewels, soaking in vitamin D. In the coves I sensed the sibilant swirl of pre-spawn fish around fallen trees in search of food and nesting sites. They, too, are planning to stay for the year.

Beaver Lodge

Oh yes indeed — our kindred spirits, Flora and Fauna, embrace us. They show us there is a great deal of beauty and emerging hope all around. Perhaps we need to use our God-given senses to discern this — hear and distinguish the cries and calls, taste the Coral honeysuckle, smell the Sweetspire, see and perceive changing patterns, touch the morning mist. We need to be smart, stay safe and get through our “indentured servitude”. Our short-term restrictions do not even compare to Mr. van Weyden’s protracted ordeal and he, “… discovered his own legs and learned to stand on them“.

As a closing solicitude, consider Mr. van Weyden’s own contemplation as the crew emerged from a particularly trying ordeal at sea, “One thing I was beginning to feel, and that was I could never again be quite the same man I had been. While my hope and faith in human life still survived Wolf Larsen’s destructive criticism, he had nevertheless been the cause of change in minor matters. I had learned to look more closely at life as it was lived… to emerge from the realm of mind and idea and to place certain values on the concrete and objective phases of existence.“