Want birds and butterflies? Plant native shrubs!

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Photo: Courtesy Plant NOVA Natives/Plant NOVA Trees (Shrubby St. John’s Wort)

This month’s newsletter article to share from Plant NOVA Natives/Plant NOVA Trees

Want birds and butterflies?

Want birds and butterflies? Plant native shrubs! When it comes to the curb appeal of our houses and other buildings, the difference between starkly naked and softly clothed is the shrubs. What is a shrub, anyway? According to famous bird expert David Allen Sibley, “If you can walk under it, it’s a tree; if you have to walk around it, it’s a shrub.” Other than being multi-stemmed and relatively short, a shrub is pretty much the same as a tree and therefore provides the same environmental benefits, albeit to a smaller degree. And the difference between a native shrub and a non-native one is that the former will not only beautify a property but will turn it into a living landscape that supports the butterflies and birds.

Many people are looking at their yards and at public land and realizing that a lot of the space is being wasted. Turf grass has its advantages for certain purposes, such as providing a place to walk or play sports, but as a non-native plant, it does nothing for the ecosystem and requires a lot of input to maintain. Chipping away at the lawn with native shrubs can quickly cover the ground at a very low cost. Beyond the initial watering to get them established, they will require little or no maintenance from then on.

For small spaces, there are some native shrubs that naturally stay short, such as Shrubby Saint John’s Wort (Hypericum prolificum) with its bright yellow flowers. There are also smaller cultivars of larger shrubs, such as Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata) with its red berries that persist into January until they finally soften up and become a food source for hungry birds. If you use shrubs whose ultimate height fits the space you have in mind, the yearly shearing task will be eliminated. These and many other native shrubs are described on the Plant NOVA Natives website, which also points to places to buy them.

Some native shrubs grow tall enough to provide shade and can be an alternative to a small flowering tree. Common Witch-hazel is an example of that. The twigs have been used for divining rods, and the leaves get cute bumps in the shape of a witch’s hat. This native shrub is also magical for the flowers that are revealed in November after the leaves have fallen off. Those bumps, by the way, are caused by the reaction of the plant to a chemical injected by a tiny insect, the Witch-hazel Cone Gall Aphid. The cone-shaped bumps provide food and shelter to the female aphids as they lay their eggs.

Native shrubs can fill in the spaces between trees. From an environmental perspective, this arrangement is ideal, providing shelter and food at multiple heights, something we have lost in many of our woods to excessive browsing by deer. (In fact, although “Nature’s first green is gold,” if you look into the woods of Northern Virginia right now, there is a suspicious amount of green, much of which is due to invasive species such as Multiflora Rose and Asian Bush Honeysuckle. The leaves of invasive plants often emerge earlier and persist later than those of our native shrubs.) In our own yards, we can take steps to protect plants from deer and to swap out invasive shrubs for native ones and thus help support our local ecosystem.

The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) is collecting data on how many trees are planted in Northern Virginia as it works toward the goal of 600,000 by 2025. For this purpose, shrubs count as trees, so VDOF is encouraging everyone to report plantings of both. A reporting form can be found on the Plant NOVA Trees website.

Is Your Elevator Speech Ready? *

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Photo by Russ Ward on Unsplash

How can it be ready if I don’t know what it is?  Imagine you’ve just stepped on an elevator with someone who doesn’t know you are a passionate Virginia Master Naturalist (or any volunteer service you work in).  The average attention span is just about 30 seconds before minds start wandering, so you may only have 30+ seconds to make a powerful first impression.  Think of this time as if you are going on an elevator ride from Floor 1 to Floor 5.  You have that sliver of time to open the door to educate.  It’s about being prepared to recruit new volunteers for our chapter or for your favorite service project. To recruit to our chapter, have the potential volunteer sign up for our newsletter on our website fairfaxmasternaturalists.org or write to [email protected].

Your pitch can include your passion about volunteering, statistics, storytelling, and an invitation to future opportunities.  Here’s a worksheet to walk you through the process.  Answer all 8 questions and you could have the basis for your elevator speech.  Put it all together – say it out loud just to yourself.  Practice it.  Practice saying it to others.  Time yourself.  Know it.  Have it in your “volunteer recruitment  toolbox.” Be ready to talk.  One volunteer who worked in Fairfax County’s Invasive Management Area program dressed as an oak tree draped with an invasive vine and died dramatically at a Halloween Party.   They created their own “elevator” opportunity!

If you are not able to answer a question today, this is a sign that you need to do some additional preparation when that next elevator speech opportunity pops up!  We suggest that you reflect on your experiences, impact and accomplishments.  Develop several possible answers so that you have the greatest chance for turning an opportunity into a new volunteer the next time those elevator doors open.

Here are some examples of members’ elevator speeches.  Add yours to the comment section at the bottom of this article.

1) My name is Marilyn.  I am a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, currently serving as Past President of the Fairfax chapter.  I manage a volunteer corps of more than 250 members on a mission to provide natural resource education, citizen science and stewardship to protect Fairfax’ natural resources.

If I need to elaborate, I say:  We recruit, develop and enable our members so they can support the natural resource projects of our sponsors and partners.  This includes projects like invasive plant management, litter cleanups, collecting data on pollinators or birds, leading nature walks or advising hometowns on landscaping for wildlife.

2) I’m Janet. I am a Virginia Master Naturalist. I’m a volunteer who’s been trained to educate the public about nature in our area, collect data for environmental research and take care of our area’s natural resources. What do I do? I’m a floater and have done a little of everything. I counted Burrowing Owls in still photos for the Global Owl Project, counted invertebrates in streams, read stories to children at a nature center and played Mrs. Claus there, removed invasive plants, grew wild celery sea grass and planted it, served on our board, and currently monitor a Bluebird Trail. I love the variety of service I can provide to care for our planet home!

*This article is adopted from Volunteer Fairfax’s Webinar: Teaching Your Volunteers the Elevator Speech, Presentation by Susan Sanow, Volunteer Fairfax, [email protected]

Let’s Rev it Up with R3

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FMN would like to re-announce a program that supports Fairfax County Schools. In fact, some schools may already be participating in this program so “Rev it Up for 2023” maybe more appropriate. At any rate, FMN has been provided with a revitalized R3 operating guide and volunteers may earn service hours for their efforts planning, planting, and maintaining gardens specific to this program.

FMN Stewardship service code –

S177: FCPS Revitalize, Restore, Repurpose (R3) Program — FCPS

The focus of this program is to provide support to Fairfax County Public School’s Revitalize, Restore, Repurpose (R3) Program.  FMN members are needed to support Fairfax County Storm Water Management (FCSWM) ecologists responsible for working with the schools on these outdoor classrooms.  FMN members will assist with educating students about stormwater management and provide support maintaining the gardens once FCSWM and the school completes the initial installation. Maintenance generally includes: providing guidance to the students and schools for long term care, and regular weeding to keep the site in good condition, cutting back dead growth to allow for new growth every winter/early spring, and to provide specialized support as needed by each school and site.

If you have questions please contact:
FMN coordinator – Jessica Fish [email protected]
FCSWM Manager – Dionna Bucci [email protected]

For general information read about the R3 program.

For information tailored to FMN participants, please contact Jessica.

Spotted Lanternfly Egg Mass Surveys– a virtual training for volunteer community scientists, February 21st

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Photo Credit: Spotted Lanternfly by Stephen Ausmus, USDA

Tuesday, February 21, 2023
12:00 – 1:00 PM EST

Brown Bag Webinar

Registration and additional details.

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect that was discovered in Virginia in 2018, and has the potential to cause significant economic and ecological impacts. Help us monitor its spread by looking for egg masses in high-risk areas. This training will cover the biology and identification of the spotted lanternfly, its current distribution, how and where to conduct egg mass surveys, and how to record data.

Presentations will be given by Lori Chamberlin and Katlin DeWitt from the Virginia Department of Forestry.

These classes are approved FMN CE.  Record hours in Better Impact under Continuing Education > All Continuing Education.  For Approved CE Organization, choose VMN-State or Chapter offered.  In Description, include the name of the class.

The Socrates Project: Poisonous Plants in Virginia

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The cover image is a watercolor created by Trish Crowe specially for this publication.

The Socrates Project: Poisonous Plants in Virginia is a reference guide to poisonous plants native to Virginia. Click the image to view the publication, or click here.

This second edition is a joint effort between the Virginia Master Naturalist Program–a statewide corps of volunteers providing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities–the Blue Ridge Poison Center at University of Virginia Health, and the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Division of Medical Toxicology – Department of Emergency Medicine.

NOTE: For immediate, expert help if you suspect anyone has eaten or been exposed to any of these plants, call the Blue Ridge Poison Center right away: 1-800-222-1222.  [Health care providers may call the dedicated provider line: 800-451-1428.

The cover image is a watercolor created by Trish Crowe specially for this publication. Learn more about the artist and her work here: Trish Crowe

The Cleopatra Project: Poisonous and Venomous Animals in Virginia

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The cover image is a watercolor created by Trish Crowe specially for this publication.

To help Virginians avoid poisonings from encounters with wildlife, a reference guide to 32 poisonous and venomous animals that live in Virginia is now available as a free, downloadable book.

“The Cleopatra Project – Poisonous and Venomous Animals in Virginia” is filled with full-color photographs and written to be an easily read, valuable reference for parents, educators, healthcare providers and the general public.

The book is a collaboration between the Virginia Master Naturalists – a statewide corps of volunteers providing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities – the Blue Ridge Poison Center at UVA Health and the UVA School of Medicine’s Division of Medical Toxicology.

Work on the book began in 2021 as a response to the hundreds of exposures to poisonous and venomous animals reported annually in Virginia. Encounters between these animals and humans typically occur when an animal reacts to an unexpected disturbance or to a perceived threat. Each document entry includes a description of the animal, its habitat and likely geographic range in Virginia, the source of poison or venom, potential physical symptoms and possible animal “look-alikes.”

The Cleopatra Project is now available at med.virginia.edu/brpc/the-learning-center/the-cleopatra-project/. It joins a companion book, “The Socrates Project – Poisonous Plants of Virginia,” which describes the 25 poisonous plants that grow in the wild in Virginia and can be downloaded at med.virginia.edu/brpc/socrates.

 

Mira, A Spectacular Variable Star

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The Online Planetarium (In-The-Sky.org) star map snap shot, showing the location of Mira (circled) at 5:00 AM on June 15, 2023 in the eastern sky. Mira might be hard to see until later in the summer.

Illustrations and article by FMN Stephen Tzikas

When does a bright star come out of nowhere, rise in the east, and attract a gathering of followers? It might sound like a familiar story about a star in the east a couple millennia ago. However, this star repeats a cycle every 11 months, and is an attention getting event in the constellation Cetus. The star is Omicron Ceti, otherwise known as Mira by its common name. It is my favorite variable star and I track it continuously when it is not behind the Sun, which makes it unobservable for a few months. Mira is unique in that its brightness varies from nearly a magnitude of 2 to dimmer than magnitude 9. This means that at its brightest, it is one of the brightest stars in the sky. At its dimmest, it is invisible and a telescope is needed to see it. One can watch it over the weeks, even as short as days, and see it growing brighter and then dimmer. Serious observers like myself will submit their observations to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). There are many other variable stars that one can observe, and some of them have cycles that are entirely naked eye. But observing with binoculars opens many opportunities. There are many reasons why a star can regularly vary in brightness.

Mira is part of a group of variable stars called long-term Mira variables, named after Mira itself, the most famous

Light curve for Mira produced by all observers, including the author. Notice the sinusoidal manner in which Mira varies in brightness over the months and years. The orange markers are the author’s contributions.

of this type of star. Mira type variable stars are red giant stars in the later stages of evolution, and they pulsate with cycles longer than 100 days, and with amplitudes greater than 2.5 in visual magnitude. They will eventually become white dwarf stars at the center of a planetary nebula, the remains of the original star’s dissipated outer envelope.

I track the brightness of Mira by comparison to the known brightness magnitudes of neighboring stars that do not change in magnitude. When at its brightest, I track Mira’s changes in magnitude visually. When it is dimmer, by binoculars. At its dimmest, I need a telescope.

Mira will be at brightest again in June 2023. Mira just passed its dimmest magnitude in January 2023. The challenge this year is that Mira will be its brightest at early dawn rising in the eastern sky. That may make it unfavorable for some people to see, but as we get into the summer months, Mira will be higher and higher in the eastern sky before sunrise and probably still a naked eye object depending on your location’s light pollution.

Light curve specific for the author’s input since 2013, with other observer contributions removed.  This contribution is thus one part of a more complete light curve.

One can check the magnitude of Mira on the AAVSO website (https://www.aavso.org/). Besides Mira there are other common naked eye variable stars that can be observed. Learn more at: https://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/variablestar/VSOIntroduction.html, the Astronomical League’s variable star program.

 

Responding to Misbehavior in Nature

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Photo:  FMN Janet Quinn

Article by FMN Laura Handley

With all the time we Master Naturalists spend in nature, most of us have witnessed some sketchy behavior out there. Perhaps you’ve seen a lady digging trillium from the forest floor, or kids pulling the wings off insects, or young lovers carving their initials into the smooth bark of a beech tree. What are we to do in such a situation? Do we cringe and walk on, averting our eyes from the misbehavior? Are we obligated to jump in and put a stop to it?

Thankfully, not the latter. As Master Naturalists, we have no duty to act when we see someone messing with nature. We also have no enforcement authority, so we’d have no more standing than any other passersby to tell someone to stop what they’re doing. And unlike park rangers, we’re not trained to enforce park regulations. Our training includes many best practices for observing nature and moving through natural areas, but it doesn’t cover the rules that apply in any particular area. Rules can differ quite a bit from one park system to another: an activity that’s banned in one place might be perfectly fine elsewhere. (For instance, the Fairfax County Park Authority is adamantly against foraging for edible plants, but Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County allows visitors to gather small amounts to be consumed within the park, and some national forests even allow commercial harvesting with the right permit.)

What we are trained to do is understand nature and share our knowledge with others. And most misbehavior toward nature is rooted in a lack of either knowledge or empathy (which often arises from knowledge). It’s safe to assume that if someone makes the effort to visit a natural area, they value nature and wouldn’t want to ruin it; they often just don’t know that what they’re doing is bad, or bad enough to make a difference. And so our best response, when we see someone doing something that looks harmful, is to start a conversation and see if we can advise them better. (Of course, we should always be careful when approaching strangers; some people can get belligerent when questioned. Use your best judgment, and remember that it’s not worth risking your safety to intervene.)

A good way to start the conversation is with a friendly, open-ended question: “What are you doing there?” Give the person a chance to explain what they’re up to. It could be that you caught them at the worst-looking moment of something innocuous, such as trampling vegetation while trying to retrieve a lost ball. It could be that they don’t know they’re doing harm, such as by walking off-trail or collecting wild seeds indiscriminately without a plan to ensure those seeds germinate and thrive. It could even be that they think they’re helping when they’re actually doing harm, such as by killing bugs that pose no threat or cutting down native vines from trees. Or–ideally–it could be that they know exactly what they’re doing and are going about it in a legal and environmentally responsible way, such as foraging the berries of an invasive plant to keep that plant from spreading, or collecting a small sample of a local ecotype of a native plant to add to their garden in place of a nursery-grown strain from out of state. (I hope this last option becomes more common as people become more aware of ecological issues and the many productive interactions we can have with our local ecosystems!)

Once you’ve established a rapport with the person, and once you’ve learned what their goals are, you can help them find a more ecologically sound way to meet those goals. If those kids are feeling bored and destructive, you could steer them away from the poor innocent bugs and toward an invasive plant that needs removal. The trillium-gathering lady might not know that most woodland wildflowers require the soil chemistry and mycorrhizal symbionts of the forest floor; once she learns those plants will almost certainly die if transplanted elsewhere, she’d probably take your suggestion to leave them be and look instead for native plants that would thrive in a garden (especially if you point her toward resources and retailers like Plant NoVA Natives and Earth Sangha). And if the lovers want to memorialize their relationship, instead of scarring an older tree, why not plant a young one that can grow along with their love? In an ideal situation, everyone can leave satisfied; if not, at least the culprit will know better and you’ll have done all you can to share your knowledge and encourage better stewardship.

While you’re talking, I wouldn’t brandish the Master Naturalist credential to convey authority, but it’s not a bad idea to mention the program or the resources on our website, especially if the person seems interested in learning more. Who knows–maybe you’ve found a new applicant for the next Basic Training!

The Virginia Geological Field Conference

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Feature photo: An outcrop showing boudinaged felsic leucosomes and quartzofeldspathic domains. The location is along the south bank of the South Anna River a few yards east of Route 673, Rockville, VA.

Article and photos by FMN Stephen Tzikas

Every autumn the Virginia Geological Field Conference (VGFC) provides geologists, university students, and the public an opportunity to participate in a geologic field excursion within the State. In 2022 the event was held November 11-12 and explored the Goochland Terrane, just west of Richmond, VA. Attendance levels usually necessitate the need for two coach buses to transport the participants to the various locations on the agenda. The event is usually hosted by universities, community colleges, and/or State organizations. The field experience is invaluable. The VGFC website provides the details and should be monitored: https://vgfc.blogs.wm.edu/

These conferences and field trips are not just found in Virginia, but they are not available in every state. Fortunately for Virginia Master Naturalists, our neighboring States have very active programs as well:

I highly recommend these State excursions as learning experiences for Fairfax Master

This is one of the many outcrops at Hidden Rock Park in Goochland, VA. These leucogranite dikes display boudinage structure.

Naturalists, even though only the VGFC excursion is applicable as FMN CE training.*  I have been to several of these and they are excellent, especially the ones found in northern states offering glacial geology exploration opportunities.

There were plenty of boudins at visited locations in the 2022 VGFC site itinerary. A boudin is a geological term for structures formed by extension (stretching), forming sausage-shaped boudins.

Photo: Close-up of the center of the outcrop in the photo to the right, above.

*Fairfax Master Naturalists: Enter CE using All continuing Ed ->Other and then make a note of the trip in the description field.

Save a Sapling: Pull Invasives

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Photo:  Plant NOVA Trees

Article by Laura Handley

One of the most satisfying moments of invasive plant management comes when you pull the last vine off a struggling native sapling, freeing it to claim its full share of sunlight and grow without restraint.

Volunteers with Fairfax County’s Invasive Management Area (IMA) program get to do just that twice a month at Idylwood Park in Dunn Loring. In a series of workdays, primarily on Saturday mornings, these volunteers have worked to clear invasives from a meadow along the park’s driveway. A wide range of people have participated so far, from scout troops to high-school students seeking service hours to venerable Virginia Master Naturalists. Several have brought family or friends to chat with as they work, taking advantage of the chance to socialize outdoors.

According to Patricia Greenberg and Gloria Medina, the coordinators of the IMA program, several of the saplings the volunteers have uncovered (including black walnuts, multiple species of oaks, and a large Honey Locust) were planted by the park service in the late 2000s. But the area around the saplings was left unmowed and unmonitored, allowing invasive vines to creep in from adjacent areas. By the time the volunteers started working, those invasives dominated the meadow.

The volunteers’ first challenge was to clear a path to the trees, which were blocked not just by the invasives but also by Poison Ivy and thorn-covered blackberry canes (both of which are native plants but which were blocking the way). Next came the delicate operation of untangling the vines from the young trees’ branches. Any vines growing out of reach were left to hang on the trees, where they will eventually die and fall down on their own. The final challenge has been maintenance: keeping the vines from re-growing to cover the trees again. After repeatedly cutting them to the ground failed to do the trick, Greenberg and Medina joined site leader Laura Handley one morning this fall to apply herbicide to the vines’ stumps. This targeted application should hopefully finish off the vines (while leaving the surrounding vegetation unharmed).

The rescued trees are often oddly shaped, their crowns pulled sideways and their trunks wrapped with spiraling vine-scars. But as they grow, now free of obstructions, they should straighten up and fill out. And by rescuing existing trees rather than clear-cutting the area, the volunteers have given the meadow a ten-year head start on the process of returning to a mature forest.

Once the meadow is clear of invasives, the group plans to spread seeds for native wildflowers over the ground they’ve bared — that is, if any of the ground stays bare. In the two years they’ve been working on the site, several native species have reappeared or expanded their footprint, including Common Milkweed, Canada Goldenrod, Wingstem, Foxglove Beardtongue, and New England Aster. This robust layer of herbaceous plants will help keep invasives from returning to the site and will serve as food and habitat for many native insects, birds, and other critters–and as the saplings grow, they’ll start to do the same.

Winter is a great time to rescue trees, since it is easier to get at them and cold temperatures are good for working. The winter workdays for this site will soon be posted to the IMA program calendar, and similar volunteer events in locations throughout Northern Virginia can be found on the Plant NOVA Trees website. https://www.plantnovatrees.org/rescuing-trees