Why Bird-Friendly Cacao Is the Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift, Webinar, February 10th

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Image courtesy of American Bird Conservancy

Thursday, February 10, 2022
4 – 5 pm
Online.
Register here.

Americans are expected to buy more than 58 million pounds of chocolate the week of Valentine’s Day. Production of chocolate’s main ingredient, cacao, can have a huge environmental impact, but there are ways to produce it that conserve and restore habitat for birds.

Join American Bird Conservancy to learn all about cacao production in Central America and the Caribbean, and how it impacts migratory birds. In this webinar they’ll discuss the new Bird Friendly cacao certification that will be launched this spring by Smithsonian, and show on-the-ground efforts that are helping birds and farmers.

Finally, they’ll provide some tips so when you’re buying chocolate you get the best possible for birds.

Stop Mowing, Start Growing: Native Plants for Beginners and Beyond! February 12th

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Photo courtesy of Virginia Native Plant Society

Saturday, February 12, 2022
9 am – 2:30 pm
Online
Fee: $15
Register here.

Whether you are new to native plants and what they can do for your property or you are looking for alternative landscaping ideas, this event is for you! Native plants can:

Create a beautiful yard
Save time so you can enjoy other activities
Create habitat for birds & pollinators
Save money on fertilizer & pesticides
Improve Water Quality
Curb Erosion

Keynote: Natural Plant Communities, Native Plants, and You, presented by Matt Bright of Earth Sangha. Natural Plant Communities exist all around us and are the fundamental way plant species arrange themselves in a natural setting. By understanding these arrangements and mimicking them in our own gardens and built environments we can maximize ecological value and retain a sense of place in the landscape. Matt will introduce the many resources that exist to decode the natural landscape around us including Earth Sangha’s Native Plant Compendium, Glenn Tobin’s Natural Ecological Communities of Northern Virginia, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Natural Heritage program and other resources for regions farther afield.

See the whole schedule, learn more or register here.

Bald Eagles: A Conservation Success Story, a March 2 Talk

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Photo (c) Barbara Saffir

Wednesday, March 2, 2022
7 pm
Online
Register here to receive Zoom link.

Bald and Golden Eagles will be the focus of this presentation by Jeff Cooper, a Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) wildlife biologist. Cooper will explore eagle biology, recent research, the Bald Eagle’s recovery and the importance of the Chesapeake Bay region to Bald Eagles.

For over 30 years, Cooper has worked with many bird species, such as raptors, vultures, passerines and marsh birds. He has done extensive work in Virginia on Bald and Golden Eagles, including the delisting of the Bald Eagle from the federal threatened and endangered species list. He has investigated winter ranging behavior of Golden Eagles and worked to minimize wind energy risks, among many other projects.

The sponsors of this program are the Friends of Dyke Marsh, the Friends of Huntley Meadows Park, the Friends of Mason Neck Park, the Northern Virginia Bird Club and the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia.

DO NOT USE THIS PHOTO AFTER 8/17/22

Spring Spectacles: When & Where to Find Jaw-Dropping Birds, Blooms & Beasts in the Mid-Atlantic, March 15th

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Photo (c) Barbara J. Saffir

Tuesday, March 15, 2022
7 – 8 pm
Webinar
Register here.

Learn when and where to find some of the Mid-Atlantic’s most jaw-dropping plant and animal life, with nature photographer and Virginia Master Naturalist Barbara Saffir. In this joyful spring jaunt, she’ll reveal wildflowers worthy of Monet; a bounty of beasts; and close-up encounters with cobalt-blue, sunflower-yellow and ruby-red breeding birds that visit the DMV each spring. More than half of this “virtual safari” will focus on birds, with award-winning photographs of migratory and resident birds that capture their cool behaviors. Other animals and wildflowers will also make an appearance. You’ll learn about curious critters—such as backyard squirrels that “fly” and dazzling bugs typically overlooked by their human neighbors—and wildflower spectacles, including acres of blush-pink blossoms; pink, yellow, and purple native orchids; and miles of perky bluebells meandering along curving creeks.

This webinar will be recorded! By signing up on Zoom, you’ll be able to watch the live event and receive a link to the recording a few days after it airs. Closed captioning will be available at the live webinar and on the recording. The Earth Optimism lecture series through the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) airs live on Zoom every third Tuesday of the month.

See more past and upcoming SERC science talks.

WINTER STREAM LIFE

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Photo: Courtesy of the Fairfax County Park Authority (Ellanor C. Lawrence Park)

WINTER STREAM LIFE

When: Saturday, 02/12/2022 1:00 pm

Where: ELLANOR C. LAWRENCE PARK LOCATION
Pond Shelter
5235 Walney Road
Chantilly, VA, 20151

Cost: $8 per person.

Click here for activity details or call 703-631-0013.

Registration is online.

Event Description:

Explore Walney Creek with a naturalist to meet some of the small creek critters (macroinvertebrates) that call it home. Learn why so many different types of macroinvertebrates are active in winter streams. The naturalist will demonstrate winter collecting and participants can help pick, sort and learn to identify these magnificent critters. The program at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park runs from 1 to 2 p.m.

Natural History Field Study: Night Sky for Naturalists, Wednesdays, February 9th – March 16th

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Photo by Andy Holmes on Unsplash

February 9 – March 16, 2022
Wednesdays, 6 – 8 pm
Class is hybrid with both Zoom lectures and in person field trips.
$200/ANS members; $250 nonmembers
Register here.

This Audubon Naturalist Society course provides a basic introduction to astronomy that emphasizes appreciation of Earth’s relationship to the universe. Topics covered include the celestial sphere, celestial navigation, motions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, telescopes, timekeeping, phases and motions of the Moon, tides, and eclipses. Field trips will provide hands-on experience with telescopes at the Montgomery College Astronomical Observatory, including both solar and nighttime observing.

EcoSavvy Symposium – Restoring Urban Forest, February 19th

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Saturday, February 19, 2022
8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Online or in person at Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria
Registration  703-642-5173 or online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes (enter code H7T.BET2)

Help restore our urban forests, one yard at a time. This program will help you understand the ecological imperative to preserve and grow our tree canopy. Learn what you can do to help improve the issue of tree canopy decline throughout the region, and learn steps you can apply in your community and in your own yard to reverse this disturbing trend. A Zoom link will be emailed before the event. This virtual program is also available in person.

Keynote Speaker: Eric Wiseman, PhD, Associate Professor of Urban Forestry and Director of Virginia Big Tree Program

Also featuring Jim McGlone, PhD, Virginia Department of Forestry, and Casey Trees of Washington, DC

Presented by: VCE Green Spring Master Gardeners.

Restoration of the American Shad in the Potomac River, February 12th

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Photo:  Courtesy of Friends of Mason Neck State Park

Friends of Mason Neck State Park’s Annual Meeting
Saturday, February 12, 2022
2 pm
Online. Free.
Register here.

The Friends of Mason Neck State Park will hold their Annual Meeting via Zoom. They’ll have a brief business meeting at which they summarize their activities for the year and elect a Board of Directors. Following the business meeting, they’ll have a presentation by Jim Cummins, a biologist and river ecologist who has played a key role in the efforts to restore the Potomac River’s shad population.

The American shad was once one of the East Coast’s most abundant and economically important fish. Unfortunately, by the 1970s water pollution, over-harvesting, and the blocking of spawning habitat by dams led to their decline. In 1983 a harvest moratorium on American shad was put into effect on the Potomac River but over a decade later, even with a much cleaner river, the shad population was still showing no signs of recovery. In 1995, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) began an 8-year American shad restoration program, with the assistance of local watermen from Mason Neck and the involvement and support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

Jim Cummins’ talk will cover the success of that effort, the current status, how the Potomac contributed to subsequent and ongoing shad restorations in many other rivers in the midAtlantic, the involvement of regional schools, and a special description of the historic importance of Mason Neck to the Potomac’s remarkable shad fishery.

 

Birds and Words with Bill Young, February 15th, 17th, and 22nd

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Photo:  William Young

Tuesday, February 15, Thursday February 17, and Tuesday February 22, 2022,
7-8 pm
Online.
Register here.

How have bird words infiltrated the English language? What is the basis for the common and scientific names of birds?

These and many other questions will be answered in this three-part workshop. Bill Young will address these and many other questions in Birds and Words. Bill is the author of the book The Fascination of Birds: From the Albatross to the Yellowthroat. He also is the co-creator of the MPNature.com website, which is a comprehensive resource for people who visit Monticello Park in Alexandria, Va.

Great Backyard Bird Count Workshop and Kahoot!, February 3rd

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Thursday, February 3, 2022
7 – 8:30 pm
Online.
Register here.

Save the date! The next GBBC is February 18 – 21. Bird enthusiasts of all ages count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are ranging. Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.

Now, hundreds of thousands of people, all ages and walks of life worldwide, join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.

This FREE workshop will cover the history of GBBC, its purpose, tips for identifying birds, and the protocols to be followed while counting.

After the presentation, theyll test your identification skills with a Kahoot!