Photo courtesy of the Fairfax County Park Authority
Thursday, August 4, 2022
12:00 pm
For more information and to register, click here.
This webinar is part of the Ask the Alliance series hosted by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Bees are all the buzz. Join Savannah Lightcap, Green Infrastructure Projects Assistant for the Alliance, as she shares how you can identify bees, plant bee habitats, and rehome unwanted bees. Then, Brittany Smith, Pennsylvania Agriculture Projects Manager, will share her very own bee colony.
Photo by J. Quinn
Below is a list of Stream Monitoring Citizen Science, Workshops, and other monitoring opportunities in the area for July and August.
*NVSWCD Workshop
Pohick Creek Stream Monitoring Workshop
When: Sunday, July 17, 10:00am-12:30pm
Where: Hidden Pond Nature Center, Springfield
This is the workshop site of a recently-retired stream monitor and is currently up for adoption. Come join us at this beautiful county park! Space is limited, please register for the workshop here.
*NVSWCD Workshop
Holmes Run Stream Monitoring Workshop
When: Saturday, July 23, 9:00-11:30am
Where: Holmes Run Stream Valley Park, Falls Church
This workshop site is an easily-accessible location just downstream of Lake Barcroft. Come explore this beautiful spot in the Cameron Run watershed! Space is limited, please register for the workshop here.
*NVSWCD Workshop
Difficult Run Stream Monitoring Workshop
When: Sunday, August 21, 10:00am-12:30pm
Where: Difficult Run Stream Valley Park, Great Falls
This quiet site is known for numerous macros and a relatively high stream score. In spring we found a high number of midges – will we find the same this visit? Space is limited, please register for the workshop here.
*NVSWCD Workshop
Horsepen Run Stream Monitoring Workshop
When: Saturday, August 27, 9:00-11:30am
Where: Horsepen Run Stream Valley Park, Herndon
This stream site parallels the park trail and is a favorite with local runners, bikers, and dog walkers! This site scored higher in the spring monitoring than it had in past years – join us to see if this positive trend continues! Space is limited, please register for the workshop here.
*Northern Virginia Water and Soil Conservation District
Creek Critters Count and Catch Program
When: Sunday, August 28, 1:00pm
Where: Chapman DeMary Trail, Purcellville
Join the Purcellville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Purcellville Tree and Environment Sustainability Committee and Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy to get up close and personal with the creek critters living in the South Fork of the Catoctin Creek at the Chapman DeMary Trail. Loudoun Wildlife Stream Team members will discuss the natural history of these critters, help participants learn how to identify them, and explain how they can help us determine the health of a stream. Registration required through Purcellville Parks and Recreation website. Learn more here.
More Training and Stream Monitoring Opportunities
The Northern Virginia Water and Soil Conservation District (NVSWCD) is very excited to contribute their stream data to state and national datasets. If you’d like to see data from all the NVSWCD regional stream monitoring team’s active sites, you can find our organization on the Clean Water Hub. Keep in touch with NVSWCD on our Facebook and Instagram.
Latino Conservation Week is from July 16-24, 2022. Fairfax County will be celebrating the Latino community’s love of nature. Modeled after the Hispanic Access Foundation’s Latino Conservation Week, the Fairfax County Park Authority together with Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, Defensores de la Cuenca, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, and other community partners will provide free bilingual (English/Spanish) conservation-themed programs, nature activities and recreational opportunities at parks around the county throughout the week.
To kick off the week, there will be activities at three parks on July 16, 2022, including Hidden Oaks Nature Center, Frying Pan Farm Park and Eakin Park. There will be a capstone event at Justice Park on July 24, 2022. Other Fairfax County Park Authority parks and partners will also offer programs that embrace Latino Conservation Week themes, while working with the Latino community.
Highlights include:
To find additional information about the Latino Conservation Week events, please visit the Latino Conservation week webpage.
Click here for event flyer in Spanish.
Click here for event flyer in English.
Photo: Pacific Whale Foundation
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
7 pm
Register here.
Biologist Stephanie Stack from the Pacific Whale Foundation will share tales from her 10 years of research on humpback whales. Humpback whales are a conservation success story, having largely recovered from the threat of commercial whaling, but they still need our help. Stephanie will discuss the most urgent threats to whales today, why whales are critical for a healthy ocean, and the actions needed to protect these ocean giants.
This is a Smithsonian Environmental Research Center monthly science talk from the Virtual Earth Optimism lecture series.
Feature photo: The arranged fruits of the Osage Orange tree into a happy face caught my attention and consequently initiated my interest to write this article.
Article and photos by FMN Stephen Tzikas
Osage Orange has a tough “stomp-proof” fruit that will not be crushed with foot pressure. It is grapefruit sized, about 4 inches in diameter, with an outer surface that looks like “brains.”
In December 2021, while on a trail review for the Birdability website (https://www.birdability.org/), I came across a most unusual tree. I had traveled throughout the US and the World, and walked many trails in Fairfax County, but never have I seen this type of tree. It’s commonly called an Osage Orange tree, but also goes by many other names, including its scientific name Maclura pomifera. As I approached it, I saw grapefruit sized yellow fruits on the ground beneath it, with a pile of them arrange in a happy face configuration, as if beckoning me toward them. I looked at those fruits in greater detail, and I thought to myself that the exotic fruit looked like brains, because of the convoluted nature of it.
The bark of the tree has scaly ridges with irregular furrows.
I asked a passer-by if he knew what kind of tree it was. He told me it was a “Monkey Tree,” so that became the basis of my internet search. Indeed, the fruits are also known as “Monkey balls” and “Monkey brains.” The Osage Orange tree is originally native to parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Today the tree has spread to much of the United States and Canada. Male and female trees have different flowers. Only the female tree bears fruit, but it is not edible. The early settlers of America had many uses for this tree and a lot of information on the tree and it uses can be found on the internet. The bark pattern on the tree has a characteristic deeply furrowed, scaly nature. Its twigs have thorns.
Fort Ward is a pleasant place to have a walk, with many ADA amenities. It also has a small museum on its grounds.
The location of the Osage Orange tree is just beyond the historic gate. Notice the Corp of Engineer’s insignia logo (castle) on top of the gate.