Dragonflies From the Arctic to the Tropics, May 20th

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Photo: Dr. Jessica Ware – by Denis Finnin

Tuesday, May 20, 2025,
7:00pm – 8:30pm

Webinar
Advance Registration Required

Event Details


Dragonflies, damselflies and their ancestors were among the first creatures to fly—before birds, bats or pterosaurs. On May 20, explore the origins of the Odonata insects with Dr. Jessica Ware, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History. Using a large genomic dataset, scientists are unlocking their evolutionary history. By studying the tree of life of Odonata, scientists are beginning to understand how flight first evolved in these enigmatic insects. Part of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s 60th anniversary webinar series.

This event will be hosted entirely online, and it will be recorded! Closed captions will be available at the live event and on the recording. By signing up on Zoom, you’ll be able to watch live and receive a link to the recording a few days after the event.

Sign up on Zoom to watch live or on demand

About The Speaker: Jessica Ware

Dr. Jessica Ware is a curator at the American Museum of Natural History, where she serves as Chair of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology. Dr. Ware’s research focuses on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Dictyoptera (termites, cockroaches, and mantises). Dr. Ware holds a B.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers, New Brunswick. She was awarded a PECASE medal from the U.S. government for her work on insect evolution. Dr. Ware served on the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America for 3 years. Dr. Ware is the past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association and the past president of the Entomological Society of America. She is president-elect of the Society of Systematic Biologists. Dr. Ware is co-founder of Entomologists of Color and serves on the board of Black in Natural History Museums. Photo by Denis Finnin

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Get Your Early-Bird Ticket to Ornithology 101, Starting May 26

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Photo by Research Graphics at UMBC – Course Instructor, Kiersten Newtoff

When: 10 Sessions starting Monday, May 26, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: Virtual
Member Ticket: $160 Early Bird through 4/27; $175 after
Non-member Ticket: $185 Early Bird through 4/27; $200 after

Learn more and register here.

Are you fascinated by birds and eager to learn more? Join us for Ornithology 101, a beginner-friendly, 5-week virtual course designed for bird lovers of all backgrounds! Whether you’re a budding birder or simply curious about the avian world, this interactive series will introduce you to the fundamentals of bird biology, behavior, identification, and conservation – as well as ways you can get involved locally to help protect birds and their habitats!

Sign up by April 27 and you’ll benefit from the early bird price, and as a bonus you’ll get a special list of NVBA’s favorite insider birding spots to help you find migrating spring warblers during peak migration time in early May.

The course will cover the following topics:

  • Week 1: Introduction to Birding and Ornithology (Monday, May 26; Thursday, May 29)
  • Week 2: How A Bird Works, Anatomy (Monday, June 2; Thursday, June 5)
  • Week 3: Reproduction and Life Cycle (Monday, June 9; Thursday, June 12)
  • Week 4: Bird Migration: Benefits and Risks (Monday, June 16; Thursday, June 19)
  • Week 5: Habitats and Climate Change (Monday, June 23; Thursday, June 26)

Each session will be 90 minutes long, for a total of 15 course hours. This course will take place virtually. The sessions will be recorded and videos will be shared with all registrants.

The course includes several optional in-person field trips to locations in northern Virginia. Information about how to register for these is coming soon – if you are interested, please select the free ticket ‘I’m interested in local field trips’ when you check out. Dates for field trips: May 31, June 7, June 21.

Kiersten Newtoff is an associate professor of biology at Montgomery College, a community college in Maryland. Over the past 8 years, she has been teaching her students about the local avifauna, which led to the development of the campus nestbox trail where over 300 fledglings have called Montgomery College their home. Recently, Kiersten has started a PhD in Biology at UMBC to better understand the impacts of urbanization on Eastern Bluebird reproductive success. She holds a Master Banding Permit to explore her research. When she’s not working on teaching or research, she can be found doing yard work, playing boardgames (like Wingspan!), or creating a fun cocktail.

Birding Day Trip – Warblers of the Blue Ridge, May 6th

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Photo: Matt Felperin -Yellow-throated Warbler

Tuesday, May 6th, 2025
7:00 am return by 4:00 pm.

Walker Nature Center
11450 Glade Center Dr
Reston, VA 20191

Cost: Bus transportation and any park fees, is $50 for Reston Association members and $65 for non-members.

On Tuesday, May 6th, Reston’s Walker Nature Center has scheduled a trip to the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area in Fauquier County to search for migrating songbirds.  GR Thompson is well known for its Trillium Trail, so we will also keep an eye out for trilliums, lady slippers and other spring wildflowers.  After a morning at GR Thompson, we will head to Sky Meadows State Park for lunch and more birding. This trip includes walking on uneven terrain and gentle slopes.
 
The trip will be led by one of WNC’s naturalists and is open to Reston residents and non-residents.  Cost, which includes bus transportation and any park fees, is $50 for Reston Association members and $65 for non-members.  We will depart the Walker Nature Center (11450 Glade Drive) at 7:00 am and are scheduled to return by 4:00 pm.  The time spent birding and observing wildflowers is eligible for FMN CEUs.
 
Register by May 3rd.  If you are familiar with the reston.org WebTrac system, you can register there (search on the keyword “birding”).  Otherwise, you can contact the Walker Nature Center directly at [email protected] or 703-476-9689. 

Stream Monitoring Citizen Science & Training Opportunities, April and May Dates Available

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Photo: By FMN J. Quinn, Stream monitoring

Are you interested in obtaining a Virginia Save Our Streams Stream Monitoring certification? This certification is not required for the workshops, but it allows you to monitor your own site if you wish. The certification consists of three parts – watching online webinars, passing an online macroinvertebrate ID exam, and taking an in-person field protocols exam. The next field protocol exam will be offered at the end of the spring monitoring season, likely in June. Please reach out to the stream monitoring coordinator, Ashley, with any questions.

 

Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD) Spring stream monitoring season is in full swing! They hope you’ll be able to join them at one of the upcoming stream monitoring workshops.

Little Difficult Run Stream Monitoring Workshop

When: Sunday, April 20, 3:00-6:00pm
Where: Fred Crabtree Park/Fox Mill District Park, Herndon

This small stream is in a peaceful wooded park a short hike away from the parking area. Little Difficult Run often scores very highly on our macroinvertebrate index because its watershed lies almost completely within the protected parkland. Reaching this site requires hiking through the woods and over uneven terrain. Learn more and register for this workshop and others here.

 

Pohick Creek Stream Monitoring Workshop

When: Sunday, May 4, 9:00am-12:00pm
Where: Pohick Creek Stream Valley Park, Springfield

The stream monitoring site on Pohick Creek is located on the cross-county trail, popular with runners, dog walkers, and families. This is the largest and deepest stream monitored in these public workshops. This is an accessible stream site, which can be reached by wheelchair and/or other assistive tools over a paved path (there may be some uneven spots). Learn more and register for this workshop and others here.

 

TBD Stream Monitoring Workshop

When: Saturday, May 10, 1:00-4:00pm
Where: TBD

Organizers are holding this space as a rain date for another workshop, or perhaps to explore a new stream to add to the monitoring roster. Although they don’t have any more details yet, they wanted to share this placeholder with you, with more info to follow in the May newsletter.

 

Quander Creek/Dyke Marsh Muddy Bottom Stream Monitoring Workshop

When: Thursday, May 15, 10:00am-12:00pm(ish)
Where: Mount Vernon District Park, Alexandria

 

Volunteers will monitor a small tributary of Dyke Marsh twice this spring in partnership with the Friends of Dyke Marsh. This is NVSWCD’s only muddy bottom stream, all others use the rocky bottom protocol. This is great opportunity for new and certified monitors alike to see a different stream habitat. They also see a lot of cool crane fly larva and dragonfly larva here! Reaching this site requires walking through the woods and over uneven terrain. Space at this workshop is limited. If you’re interested in participating, please email Ashley.

 

TBD Stream Monitoring Workshop

When: Thursday, May 22, 3:00-6:00pm
Where: TBD

Organizers are holding this space as a rain date for another workshop, or perhaps to explore a new stream to add to our monitoring roster. Although the they don’t have any more details yet, they wanted to share this placeholder with you, with more info to follow in the May newsletter.

 

The 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 the organization on the Clean Water Hub.

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

 

 

Butterfly Gardening, Supply Side with Margaret Chatham, May 8th

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Photo: Margaret Chatham, Virginia Native Plant Society – Potowmack Chapter

Thursday, May 8, 2025
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Virtual

Free – Registration required.

Margaret Chatham will discuss larval host plants for an array of local butterflies.

Margaret Chatham is a Fraser Preserve Volunteer Visitation Committee Member who removes invasive barberry shrubs in winter and wavyleaf grass in summer and knows the preserve intimately. She is also editor of the VNPS Potowmack News newsletter, a volunteer at the VNPS propagation beds at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, and an Arlington Regional Master Naturalist.

Building Resilient Soil for a Changing Climate with Dan Schwartz, April 10th

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Photo: Dan Schwartz

Thursday, April 10, 2025
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Via ZOOM

Free – REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

Dan Schwartz is a Soil Scientist with the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District. He is a member of the soil survey update team and provides soil information to the public and agency staff. He also helps organize county-wide watershed clean-ups in the fall and spring.

The Clifton Institute Presents – Warbler Song Bootcamp, April 11th

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Image: The Clifton Institute Warbler Song Bootcamp

Friday April 11th, 2025
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
This event is Free! But if you are able, there is a suggested donation of $10.00

Virtual Event
Registration is REQUIRED.

*This is a virtual event. Registration will close at noon on April 10 to make sure everyone gets the Zoom link. If you have not received a Zoom link by that time please email Eleanor at [email protected]. If you would like to register at that time, you can email Eleanor, but she may not see your email in time. *

Brush up on your warbler songs just before the migrants arrive in droves. You will listen to the songs of each of the migratory warblers that pass through our region in spring, while looking at spectrograms to help visual learners identify differences in similar songs. You will also briefly discuss habitats where breeding warblers can be found in our area and cover a handful of other migrants such as vireos and thrushes. This workshop will be of interest to birdwatchers of all skill levels. It will definitely be more fun than listening to a warbler song CD in your car! This event will take place over Zoom. A Zoom link will be emailed to participants shortly before the event.

Cost: Free! But if you are able, there is a suggested donation of $10. All proceeds from The Clifton Institute programs go directly to funding their education programs, restoration work, and research projects. Thank you for your support!

Age: All ages.

 

Backyard Bird ID Workshop, March 20th

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Photo: Cerulean Warbler by Matt Felperin

Thursday, March 20, 2025
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Virtual

Free – RSVP now and start birding!

Sign-up for this exciting backyard bird identification workshop, where you will dive into the fascinating world of local birds and seasonal visitors! Whether you’re watching from your window, patio, or garden, you’ll gain the confidence to identify and appreciate the birds around you.

During this workshop, we’ll cover:

  • Common backyard bird species you’re likely to see year-round

  • Migratory warblers that might pass through your yard this Spring

  • Essential birding tools—from field guides to apps and binoculars

  • How to use Merlin to identify unfamiliar birds

  • How to use e-bird to report birds you observe

  • Tips for creating a team and participating in Birdathon

This is also a great opportunity for Wildlife Sanctuary Program participants to brush up on how to identify the Sanctuary Species that visit their yards. You need to document 10 sanctuary species to get your certification! Board Member Betsy Martin will join workshop to speak about that program and how you can make your yards friendlier to birds.

March Green Breakfast, In Person, March 8th

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Image: Fairfax County

Saturday, March 8, 2025
9 am
Ornery Public House, 3950 University Dr., #106 Fairfax VA

Register here.

Join Sara Girello with Fairfax County Government’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) for the first in-person Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District Green Breakfast since 2019! Come learn more about climate action in Fairfax County and the county’s work to “Sustain Fairfax”. They will highlight the county’s climate plans, programs, and progress and what you can do to save money, reduce your emissions, build resilience, and help our community.

This Green Breakfast is IN-PERSON and includes actual breakfast! Please register here so NVSWCD can let the restaurant know how many people they need to plan for. The cost will be $15, payable in cash at the door.

If you have questions, please email [email protected]

Did you miss their last Green Breakfast? They’ve got you covered! View the recording of our January 2025 Green Breakfast with Carolyn Wilder of the Wildlife Rescue League here.