Winter Animal Tracking with Ranger Emily Jones, January 24th

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Photo: Courtesy of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, inset – Ranger Emily Jones

Tuesday, January 24, 2023
7:00 – 8:00 PM

Virtual Program

ASNV Members-$15.00 (Non-members $25.00)

Click here for registration details.

Winter is a great time to practice your detective skills. While many mammals are nocturnal, they do leave behind evidence of their activities such as footprints and scat. Join this informative webinar to learn how to identify tracks and scat of our common Virginia wildlife. Ranger Emily will also lead the class through some interactive tracking mysteries to help you practice your observation and naturalist skills. Do you have a photo of some mystery tracks? Email it to [email protected] and iy may be covered during the presentation!

 

Emily Jones is a Natural Resource Specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir with over 2.5 years’ experience as an Outreach Park Ranger managing partnerships, coordinating the water safety program, and facilitating educational programs for groups of all ages with a range of topics including animal track ID, watersheds, hydropower, wildlife, forestry, and water safety. Emily also is a Virginia Master Naturalist with the Southern Piedmont Master Naturalist Chapter. By focusing on connecting people with nature Emily has been able to put her MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (American University and University for Peace), BS in Environmental Studies, and BA in Civic Innovation (Emory and Henry College) to good use. Over the years, Emily has garnered recognition as an outreach park ranger earning the 2021 South Atlantic Division (SAD) Water Safety Employee of the Year Award and multiple SAD Quarter Environmental Education Awards. When not working as a park ranger or volunteering as a Master Naturalist, Emily enjoys traveling with her friends, gardening, stand-up paddle boarding, and spending time with her cats.

 

Birding the Blue Ridge Center, January 28th

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Photo: Luke High

Saturday, January 28, 2023
8:00 AM

Where: Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship Education Center; 11661 Harpers Ferry Road Purcellville, VA 20132 United States
Members: FREE
Non-members: FREE

Click here for Registration.

The Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship (BRCES) is a beautiful 900-acre preserve in northwestern Loudoun County. With its diverse wildlife habitats, including meadows, streams and heavily forested slopes, BRCES draws a wide variety of birds and other creatures. Join Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy on their monthly walk and see what’s there! Meet at the Education Center; bring binoculars if you have them. BRCES is located just north of Neersville at 11661 Harpers Ferry Road (Rte 671).

Ducks and Waterfowl Identification with Greg Butcher, February 2nd

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Photo: Duck Box by FMN Jerry Nissley

Thursday, February 2, 2023
7:00 – 8:30 PM

Virtual Event

ASNV Members ($10.00 + $2.05 Fee)
Non-ASNV Members ($15.00 + $2.33 Fee)
Click here for Registration and Tickets.

 

Join Greg Butcher, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) board member and recently retired migratory species coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, for an introduction to waterfowl identification. Get to know many of the species that winter in the open waters of our region. You’ll learn how to tell a Bufflehead from a Hooded Merganser, and, you’ll learn the features (and hear the call) of the beautiful Tundra Swans that winter in Northern Virginia. Strategies will include identification by shape and color pattern. After the presentation, you will have an opportunity to test your identification skills with a Kahoot!

This event will be helpful for those participating in the Winter Waterfowl Count on Feb 11-12 but is open to anyone who would like to know how to identify winter waterfowl!

There is an optional field trip for a limited number of participants , but we encourage you to do your own independent field trips to see winter waterfowl! Some good locations to see waterfowl in NoVa are Huntley Meadows, Dyke Marsh and Mason Neck State Park.

Winter Waterfowl Count, February 11th and 12th

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Photo: Huntley Meadows ducks by FMN Ana Ka’ahanui

Saturday and Sunday, February 11-12, 2023
7:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Where: To be Announced
Members: FREE
Non-members: FREE

Registration required.

The Winter Waterfowl Count is a citizen science effort organized by Audubon Society of Northern Virginia to track data about winter waterfowl. This survey complements the Christmas Bird Count, and the data is shared openly with the public. When it started in 2008, ASNV volunteers covered the Potomac River from Algonkian Regional Park in Loudoun County to Quantico Marine Base in Prince William County, as well as many inland bodies of water. In 2020 ASNV expanded the survey by to include areas along the Potomac River in King George and Westmoreland Counties down to the mouth of the Potomac River where it empties into Chesapeake Bay. See the results from last year’s count here.

Although we expect many veterans from past years to return, we can always use new volunteers. Beginners are welcome but we strongly encourage them to attend the Duck and Waterfowl Identification webinar on February 2 and participate in the field trip on February 4. Each volunteer will be assigned to a team led by an experienced birder. Each team determines the start time, which will vary between 7 and 8:30am. End times may also vary depending on assigned survey locations.

This count is organized by Larry Cartwight. The deadline to register is Thursday, February 9 at 9:00 PM so that you can be assigned to a team in time for the count on Saturday morning.

Larry Cartwright is an avid birder and leads several avian related surveys in Northern Virginia. He lectures on birds and birding for the Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern Virginia Community College. His lecture topics have included the evolution of birds from feathered theropod dinosaurs and birding in the Alaskan tundra. Larry has received several awards from scientific and conservation organizations, including the Virginia Society of Ornithology’s Jackson M. Abbott Conservation Award for 2013.

For FMN’s: Record service hours under ASNV– C036: ASNV Waterfowl Count – Audubon Society of Northern Virginia.  Please include project details in the notes section when entering service hours.

Green Breakfast Events – Medicines from the Soil, presented by Dan Schwartz, Soil Scientist at NVSWCD, January 14th

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Image: Courtesy of the NVSWCD

Saturday, January 14, 2023
9:00AM

Virtual Event

Did you know that many (if not most) of our medically important antibiotics are derived from soil organisms? With antibiotic-resistant “super bugs” becoming an increasingly common and worrying problem, researchers are digging through the soil again in the hopes of discovering the next blockbuster antibacterial. Please join us for the January Green Breakfast, Medicines from the Soil, with guest speaker Dan Schwartz to learn more about these exciting advances in soil science!

Dan Schwartz holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Maryland and Virginia Tech, respectively. Since 2003, Dan has worked as a soil scientist for the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD). His first years with the District were spent outdoors doing field work to update the Fairfax County soils map. Since then, his work responsibilities broadened to include outreach and education, technical consultation to county agencies, soil and stormwater research, erosion and drainage assistance to Fairfax County homeowners, and implementation of the District’s residential cost-share programs.

No registration is required, you can join the webinar here

Address questions to [email protected]

To receive updates about Green Breakfast speakers or join an upcoming virtual Green Breakfast, please register for the Green Breakfast newsletter. Please direct questions to NVSWCD.

You can view the Green Breakfast YouTube playlist here.

Geology of the Piedmont Driving Tour, February 25th

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Image: Courtesy of the Clifton Institute

Saturday, February 25,2023
9:00 am – 4:00 pm

The Clifton Institute
6712 Blantyre Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187

Cost: $30 ($25 for Friends of the Clifton Institute)

Registration is REQUIRED

 

Come dig a little deeper into Fauquier County (and beyond) in the 2nd annual Geology Tour guided by The Clifton Institute’s Habitat Specialist, Andrew Eberly! Hitch a ride on the edge of the North American plate as it sails across the globe and watch neighboring continents come crashing in then break free again as mountains and oceans rise and fall. Visit rocks over a billion years old, born when the continents were plantless deserts. Hear stories of buried volcanoes and look for clues written in everyday rocks about landscapes of the long distant past. The forests of Northern Virginia are hiding a rich and varied display of geologic forces. This is an opportunity to practice a new way of reading the landscape and glimpse what lies beneath the trees and soil. For those who attended last year, the tour will be visiting new sites this year. Participants will also be travelling by individual cars (with the opportunity to carpool) instead of by van. Please bring your own picnic lunch, but snacks, hot drinks, and plenty of rocks to smash open will be provided!

For more information and registration details please click here.

Wetland Dynamics through the Seasons, March 1st

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 Photo: Mason Neck Wetlands by Stephen Tzikas

Wednesday, March 1, 2023
7:00 pm
Online Zoom program

Join the Friends of Dyke Marsh (FODM) on March 1, 7 p.m., for an online Zoom program, when Dr. Colin Rees, a zoologist and biodiversity expert, will discuss nature’s dynamics throughout the seasons in a freshwater tidal marsh. He is the author of Nature’s Calendar, a book that explores the ecological connections and adaptations of wetland organisms. Register in advance at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMudOqgqzkvG93aDK-7mOekcoGc1vAgqc3I. This will also be FODM’s annual meeting at which we will elect 2023 officers and members of the Board of Directors.

Trash Cleanup Along the Potomac River Shoreline and in Dyke Marsh, January 16th

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Photo: A Dyke Marsh inlet by Ned Stone.

Help collect trash along the Potomac River shoreline and in Dyke Marsh on Martin Luther King Day of Service, January 16, at 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Register at https://forms.office.com/g/rPAPXU4DLV

On January 16, go to one of two check-in stations:  one near the Belle Haven Park south parking lot and one at the Haul Road trail bulletin board. The National Park Service and the Friends of Dyke Marsh (FODM) will provide some gloves, tools, trash bags and hand sanitizer.

Wear a pair of sturdy shoes, long pants and sleeves, gloves and sun protection. Bring water.  FODM kindly ask that you not bring pets.

Help Control Invasive Plants with the Friends of Dyke Marsh – January, February and March

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Photo: Earth Sangha

Join the Friends of Dyke Marsh (FODM) at 10 a.m. on these dates and help tackle invasive plants: January 7 and 16, February 4 and 18 and March 4 and 18.

Meet at the Haul Road Trail entrance bulletin board. Bring water, gloves, hand clippers and a lopper, if you have one. FODM will supply instructions, examples of targeted plants and trash bags. They will have a few hand clippers and loppers to share. Wear long sleeves and pants and sturdy shoes.

Sign up by sending an email to [email protected] and put “Invasive Plants” in the subject box. Indicate your preferred date(s). They kindly ask that you not bring pets.

Team Table Time

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It was a great way to spend a day – collaborating behind the Nature Forward Table at the Hybla Valley Community Center.
Hybla Valley is designated as an Opportunity Neighborhood in Fairfax County. United Community, a non-profit organization, hosted the holiday season outreach event handing out 100s of toys, a nutritional lunch, and a tremendous amount of information on community area services (police, health, assistance) to 700+ visitors.

The Nature Forward tables focused on the Little Hunting Creek watershed area that runs through Huntley Meadows Park and the Hybla Valley area out to the Potomac River. The tables included a Macro-invertebrates game and display to emphasize the importance of clean water in the neighborhood. A native leaf rubbing station for the kids, resource information for the adults and, boxes of free kid nature and seasonal story books. We counted 306 visitors to our table; I think the ‘bugs’ drew in a lot kids and their families.

Jo working the floor. Photo Jerry Nissley

The coordinator for Nature Forward was the gracious Renee Grebe and it was great to work with ARMN volunteers Eileen Miller and Eric Weyer. The team was rounded out by FMN reps Jo Doumbia and Jerry Nissley.

The team set up Nature Forward’s macro-invertebrates spin-wheel game, along with resin macro cubes (encasing real macros!), talked up their Water Keepers of Little Hunting Creek programming, and handed out flyers as the visitors streamed by.

Santa, of course. Photo Jerry Nissley

Renee was very appreciative to have FOUR master naturalists at the table that could talk specifically about macro-invertebrates and how they are an indicator species of water quality. Macro-invertebrates are literally one of Eric’s specialties and he could tell a good story. Eileen and Jo had both helped with Nature Forward in the past and were very familiar with their objectives and messaging. They are all wonderful communicators and Jo provided additional benefit by being able to translate materials for the predominantly Spanish speaking guests.
Toys, Santa, buena comida, joy, and bug science! A lot of smiles left the building that day.