River Farm – Spring Garden Market

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American Horticultural Society (AHS) HQ at River Farm
Spring Garden Market – American Horticultural Society

Grab a rocker and take in the back porch view – photo Jerry Nissley

In 2024 AHS contacted VMN – Fairfax Chapter (FMN) specifically to help rebuild the nest boxes along their bluebird trail. FMN Susan Farmer became the liaison for this and other activities on location. She organized a team of stalwart FMN volunteers to help River Farm rebuild their bluebird box trail. Eight new boxes replaced ten sad old boxes, which were then salvaged for parts. She organized trail monitoring training and managed the seasonal monitoring schedule. The monitors observed/reported 11 eggs. Eleven volunteers reported 90+ hours in 2024 to River Farm opportunities.

Combined FMN and NVBS table – photo Jerry Nissley

In 2025, River Farm asked FMN to continue trail support, which started in March. FMN was also invited to set up a chapter table and participate with approximately 35 vendors and organizations at their annual showcase event, “River Farm Spring Garden Market” April. We were able to provide information on VMN, the bluebird trail, and Northern Virginia Bluebird Society (NVBS) in general. We emphasized the importance of native plant habitat, and enlightened the community to VMN’s mission of conservation of natural resources in Virginia, Fairfax County, and the Potomac River.

The weather could have been better but we were honored to be part of River

Walkway from house to outdoor vendor area. Photo Jerry Nissley

Farm’s showcase spring event – and the grounds were spectacular with seasonal blooms. It was encouraging to see the plant vendors offer only organic starter vegetables, Virginia native flowers, shrubs, and trees. In addition, several artisans were on site selling crafts, nature photography,  soaps, and even a mystery writer with his new novel of intrigue in Old Town Alexandria.

FMN and others will be meeting at River Farm to include species found in the new AHS native garden for The City Nature Challenge on Friday, April 25th at 10:30 followed by a picnic lunch. Contact Susan Farmer (susanfarmer6365@gmail.com) for more information. All are welcome!

Thank you to the following FMNs for their continued contributions at River Farm:
Susan Farmer, Donna Stauffer, Sarah Glassco, John Fagan, Monica Hoffman, Rachel Roll, Amanda Kay, Elaine Kolish, and Jerry Nissley.

Urban Forest Photo Contest

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Photo: Courtesy of City of Fairfax Government

Welcome to Fairfax City’s 2025 Urban Forest Photo Contest!

For Details and Submission information click here.

The Urban Forest Photo Contest is an opportunity to showcase the diversity of our urban forest through the perspective of community members.

Whether captured on a digital camera or your phone, we hope you’ll help us celebrate the powerful role trees play in making our City of Fairfax community more beautiful, healthy, and vibrant. Photographers of all skills and ages are encouraged to participate!

All photos submitted to the contest will have a chance to be featured in the future Urban Forest Master Plan. One winner from each of the four categories will receive a $50 Fairfax City Flex Card to spend at city businesses. Photos must be taken in the City of Fairfax, VA.

Categories

Each entrant can submit up to three photos per category. Each photo may only be submitted to only one category. You do not need to submit a photo to all of the categories to participate. Each individual file size must be less than 30 MB. Please do not watermark photos; credit will always be provided to the photographer. By submitting one or more photographs, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the contest.

Life in the Urban Forest

The urban forest includes all the trees in the city, from those in parks, yards, and other greenspaces to trees along our streets and sidewalks. Photos in this category should capture the ways people interact with and benefit from trees as we go about our daily lives. How do we live, work, and play in the urban forest? Pets welcome!

Beautiful Trees

Few things enhance a landscape like a magnificent tree. Photos in this category should celebrate the trees that you find beautiful.

Trees & Wildlife

Many wildlife species depend on trees for food, water, cover, or places to raise their young. Photos in this category should depict wildlife in forest habitats. Remember, backyard habitats and street trees are also part of the urban forest!

Treescapes

Fairfax City has been recognized as a Tree City USA since 1986. Photos in this category should highlight the tree-filled landscapes that help define our community’s unique character.

Photo Contest Terms and Conditions

All images must be taken within the City of Fairfax, VA. Images must be obtained legally. The photographer is responsible for obtaining the permission of any individuals depicted in images who are the subject of the photo and/or identifiable (or permission from their parent/guardian if they are under 18). Images must be the original art of the entrant, and the original artwork may be displayed in public and entered into the photo contest. Images do not have to be taken between April 1 and May 31, 2025, to be entered into the contest.

Please reach out to Sophia Chapin, Urban Forestry Stewardship Coordinator, at sophia.chapin@fairfaxva.gov with any questions. Thanks for participating!

 

27th Annual Eagle Festival, May 10th

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Photo: Courtesy of Eagle Fest at Mason Neck State Park

May 10, 2025
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Mason Neck State Park,
7301 High Point Rd.,
Lorton, VA 22079.
Visitor Center Lawn

All events for the festival are free for everyone to enjoy!
Click here for additional information.

Join this full day of live animal shows, hands on educational opportunities, and outdoor recreation clinics that all aim to highlight the rich natural history of Northern Virginia and foster stewardship of our environment.

 See live wildlife up close

 Learn about our resident bald eagles and see them fly overhead

 Visit exhibits from our many conservation partners

 Enjoy live music, food, and more

Special thanks to the Friends of Mason Neck State Park for their continued support of the park and this event, and thanks to all our Peninsula partners and sponsors that make this event possible.

Parking for this event will be located off site and free shuttles provided to the festival. 

Follow the Spring Bird Migration with the BirdCast Migration Dashboard!

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Photo: Purple Martins, Keith Kingdon/Audubon Photography Awards

The new BirdCast Migration Dashboard provides summaries of radar-based measurements of nocturnal bird migration, including estimates of the total number of birds migrating, their directions, speeds, and altitudes. This tool depicts migration patterns in near real time or as a summary of a whole night after nocturnal periods end (2021-present); this includes additional historical information (2013-2021) as well as previous nights’ movements. Note that the dashboard currently provides data for counties and states in the contiguous US, complementing the existing forecast and live migration maps but allowing you to explore nocturnal bird migration in ways that were previously impossible. As your explorations begin, discovering interesting, new and previously unknown patterns will be, perhaps, the most exciting aspects of the new tool!

This tool presents a number of different measures of bird migration, and the descriptions below provide some basic information and guidance for interpreting these appropriately. Type in the county or state of your choice in the contiguous United States, select a date during migration seasons in 2021 or 2022, and begin! If you are new to BirdCast, get acquainted with the basics: How to use the BirdCast Migration Dashboard to experience your local migration in detail.

BirdCast is a consortium of interdisciplinary researchers, primarily from three organizations at present, with a growing list of collaborators, supporters, and partners.

Core Partners: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst
Core funders: National Science Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, and Amazon Web Services
Other support: NOAA, US Geological Survey, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NASA, Microsoft
Other partners: Houston Audubon Society, Perot Museum, Dallas Zoo

 

 

Clean the Bay Day, June 7th

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Saturday, June 7, 2025
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

This short, three-hour annual event has a massive cumulative impact. Since the event began in 1989, this Virginia tradition has engaged more than 165,500 volunteers who have removed approximately 7.18 million pounds of debris from our land and waterways.

The 36th annual Clean the Chesapeake Bay Day event takes place on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 9 a.m. to noon at sites all across the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Virginia. Volunteer registration will open in April. If you would like to be contacted when registration opens, join the email list.

Clean the Bay Day could not be the huge success that it is without everyone joining together and lending a hand. Check out the photo album. Watch the video to see why so many people participate.

Ready to go one step further? Each cleanup site needs a Zone Captain. It’s easy! You simply check in volunteers and report back data. Webinar training and other resources will be provided. Contact us at ctbd@cbf.org if you would like more information.

In 2024, more than 3,680 volunteers and 60+ CBF partners gathered at over 200 sites across Virginia. Thanks to their hard work more than 82,200 pounds of debris were removed from parks, beaches, rivers, streets, and lakes.

Spring 2025 Native Plant Sales

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Photo: Courtesy of Plant NOVA Natives

Why Native Plants?

  1. Naturally beautiful! Native plants will add beauty to your garden. Not convinced?

  2. Made for here! Native plants are adapted to local conditions. Planted in the right place, native plants need less water and other care than our non-native lawns. 

  3. Good for the Earth! Unlike non-native plants such as turfgrass, native plants support butterflies, birds and pollinators AND healthy water!

If you are looking for particular plants, in most cases you can contact the vendors ahead of time to ask them to bring them for you.

Friends of Riverbend Park – Saturday, April 5


10:00am

Friends of Riverbend Park Bluebell Sale
Riverbend Park
8700 Potomac Hills Street
Great Falls, VA 22066
Bluebells will be sold on the deck of the Visitor Center in conjunction with the Bluebell festival​​

 – and –

 Saturday, April 12
10:00am

Friends of Riverbend Park – Pickup for Native Plant Sale
Riverbend Park Educational Pavilion
8700 Potomac Hills Street|Great Falls, VA 22066
For presale of native plant orders and details, go to Friends of Riverbend Park

 

Walker Nature Center Native Plant Sale – Saturday, April 12

Saturday, April 12
9:30am-1:00pm pickup

Walker Nature Center Native Plant Sale
11450 Glade Drive
Reston, VA 20191

Pre-orders are due by March 28 at 5pm.
Online form for pre-orders is available.
See naturecenter@reston.org for other details.

 

Town of Vienna Conservation and Sustainability Commission Native Plant Sale –  Saturday, May 3


8:00am-12:00pm

Town of Vienna Conservation and Sustainability Commission Native Plant Sale
Vienna Community Center
120 Cherry St.
Vienna VA 22180
Vendors include Hill House Farm & Nursery

 

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Walker Nature Center Spring Festival –  Saturday, May, 3

1:00pm-5:00pm
Walker Nature Center Spring Festival
11450 Glade Drive
Reston, VA 20191
Features native plant vendor ​Nature by Design

 

Green Spring Gardens Spring Plant Sale – Saturday, May 17

9:00am-3:00pm

Green Spring Gardens Spring Plant Sale 
4603 Greensprings Rd
Alexandria  VA 22312
Native plant vendors include Hill House Farm & Nursery and Seven Bends Nursery

City Nature Challenge – Washington DC Metropolitan Area, April 25th – May 4th

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Image: citynaturechallenge.org, Washington DC metro area

Friday, April 25 – Monday April 28, 2025 take photos of wild plants and animals

Tuesday, April 29 – Sunday, May 4, 2025 identification of what was found

Do you like observing nature? Make your observations count! The City Nature Challenge is an adventure in metropolitan areas worldwide to discover and identify wildlife. You will be looking for signs of life in parks, neighborhoods, and backyards to see what plants and animals share our environment. Join the City Nature Challenge and become a citizen scientist!

Everyone in the Washington DC metropolitan area with access to a camera and the internet can observe wildlife for the Challenge. Anyone worldwide can help with identifying your finds!

You’re Invited! Lahr Native Plant Symposium, March 29th

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Photo: Courtesy of Plant NOVA Natives: Aromatic Aster, Muhly Grass, Rough Goldenrod

Saturday, March 29th, 2025
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

PAY WHAT YOU CAN REGISTRATION (The suggested registration cost is $95 (or $76 for FONA members), but please pay what you can to attend starting at $50.)

U.S. National Arboretum
Washington, D.C.

 

Dear Native Plant Enthusiast,

I am thrilled to invite you to the 38th Annual Lahr Native Plant Symposium, taking place on Saturday, March 29th, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

This all-day event will feature engaging presentations by seven local experts, including horticulturists, scientists, and master naturalists.

Highlights of the symposium include:

  • Discovering how a historic estate is being reimagined with native plants.
  • Exploring research on the benefits of planting straight species versus cultivars.
  • Understanding the environmental impacts of proper backyard stormwater management.
  • A live demonstration of plant-pressing and its role in agricultural research and education.
  • Insights on encouraging native pollinators in your garden.

Engaging with the concept of ethical local foraging to support native landscapes.Your ticket also includes access to the Friends of the National Arboretum Native Plant Sale, where you’ll find local native plant vendors and artisans. Free lunch and snacks will be provided, with gluten-free and vegan options available.

For the full schedule of presentations and additional details, visit our ticketing page here:  38th Annual Lahr Native Plant Symposium

Please feel free to share this invitation with friends and fellow plant enthusiasts and reach out with any questions. I hope to see you there!

Best regards,

Molly Patton
she/her/hers (what is this?)
Public Horticulture and Engagement Unit
U.S. National Arboretum
Washington, DC
(207)415-1286

One Way to Support the Virginia Master Naturalist Program – Virginia Tech’s Giving Day, February 19th to 20th

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Photo Courtesy of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program

Article by FMN Debbie McDonald

As a member of our Fairfax Master Naturalist Chapter, and the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech, I am excited to share an easy and incredible program to support our Virginia Master Naturalist program statewide.  You were a big part of this last year, Virginia Tech’s Giving Day.  When we donate to Virginia Master Naturalists through this event, ALL donations go directly to VMN and provide important added funding for programs and activities.  You will hear more about it from Michelle Prysby, but it is not too early to begin planting the seeds so we are ready to grow our participation in this event.

What is Giving Day?  A 24 hour period to show support for programs connected to Virginia Tech that you are interested in and care about

How is VMN connected to this? Our program is housed in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation with the College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE) at Virginia Tech

When is Giving Day?  February 19, Noon (EST) to February 20, Noon (EST)

How can each of us participate?  Close to February 19, special links will be made available to you that will allow you to donate directly to the VMN/CNRE Giving Day funds

What is a suggested donation?   A minimum $5.00, tax deductible donation is all that is asked

Throughout the 24 hour period, there are “challenges,” which when met, can add matching dollars to what we as an organization contribute.

Here is the BIG challenge for VMN, we can receive $25,000 in challenge funds if we have 400 donors to the program on Giving Day. And we CAN do this, last year with your help, we had 448 donors, so let’s work for that extra $25,000 and 500 donors this year!

Here is a link to The College of Natural Resources and Environment to learn about all they are and do.  https://cnre.vt.edu/

I will be sending an email with reminders and the links to use closer to February 19.  It is such an honor and joy to be part of our organization and all each of you do and the differences you make.

FMN Debbie McDonald

Virginia Osprey Festival, April 12th

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Saturday, April 12, 2025
9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Town Hill
Colonial Avenue &, Washington Ave,
Colonial Beach, VA 22443

Photo: Courtesy of the National Park Service, Osprey

Virginia Osprey Festival in Colonial Beach

The 7th Annual Virginia Osprey Festival in Colonial Beach, hosted by the Virginia Osprey Foundation will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 9 am to 4 pm on Town Hill in Colonial Beach. The festival offers expert speakers including keynote speaker, Mark Smith! Mark Smith Photography – Glad I’m not a fish! (msmithphotos.com)

The festival weekend kicks off on Friday, April 11, with the 2nd Friday Art Walk in Downtown Colonial Beach where you can enjoy beautiful artwork by local artists with an emphasis on wildlife art. Enjoy live bands at the various food establishments throughout the Downtown area. On Saturday morning, the festival will offer, artisan vendors, food trucks, many exhibitors including, VIMS, Center for Conservation Biology, George Washington Birthplace National monument, Stratford Hall and many others. A nestlings’ corner with activities for our young attendees, and a critter corner featuring live raptors are favorites for young and old alike. After the festival, on Sunday, off site bird walks at several of our parks will be led by our Master Naturalists and a “Fly like an Osprey” kite flying day on the banks of the Potomac River will be held by Colonial Beach Parks and Recreation. Join us for a fun filled weekend!