Earth Day for HOAs: Native Plants for the Home Garden, webinar April 21st

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Photo by Jennifer Smirnoff

Wednesday, April 21, 2021
7 pm
Registration required.

Jennifer Smirnoff will show you the transformation she has made in her yard over time and tell you how making small changes can have a BIG IMPACT. Her talk focuses on how to get started on making your property a more welcoming place for wildlife, no matter how large or small. Hosted by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

Questions: Contact info@loudounwildlife.org.

Climate Solutions 101, by Project Drawdown

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Project Drawdown brings you science and insights from global leaders in climate policy, research, investment, and beyond. Rather than rehashing well-known climate challenges, Project Drawdown sets out climate action opportunities based on its own rigorous scientific review and assessment. Climate Solutions 101, presented as a six-part video series, combines Project Drawdown’s trusted resources with the expertise of inspiring thought leaders from around the world.

Climate solutions become attainable with increased access to free, science-based educational resources, elevated public discourse, and tangible examples of real-world action.

Deepen your climate solutions commitment by taking the course–each lesson is about 15 minutes.

DC Area City Nature Challenge 2021 Training and Participation Information

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Monday, April 12, 2021
12 noon
Virtual Live Intro to the DC Area City Nature Challenge

Wednesday, April 14, 2021
7 pm
Virtual Live Intro to the DC Area City Nature Challenge

These videos and other recorded resources are available here.

Between April 30th and May 9th, people in the Washington DC metro area and around the world will be participating in a global citizen science event, the City Nature Challenge, to document urban biodiversity. We’ll be looking for signs of life in local parks, waterways, backyards, front stoops, and our neighborhoods. If you have an interest in learning more about local plants and animals, have access to a camera (and the internet), you can contribute to this exciting project. We’ll be using the iNaturalist app platform to document observations.

There will be two introductory sessions on the City Nature Challenge and how to get involved. They’ll cover Challenge basics, use of the iNaturalist app as a citizen science activity, and places to explore in the DMV. The City Nature Challenge offers a great way to connect to the great outdoors and put the Washington DC area’s amazing nature on the map. You can participate individually or with family and safely distanced friends.

These programs are organized by Capital Nature with The Nature Conservancy Maryland/DC Chapter and many other partners who are participating in the 2021 DC Area City Nature Challenge.

citynaturechallengedc.org

RESTORE THE EARTH: A Discussion of the Interconnections and Relationships Between Humans and Natural Processes, NVCC Green Festival, March 24th

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Wednesday, March 24, 2021
10 am – 3 pm
Zoom; free and open to the public
More information and registration here.

Keynote and Q&A

10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Keynote Speaker – Dr. Wallace Nichols
How Being Near, In, On, or Underwater Can Make you Happier,
Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do

11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Q&A Group Session with Attendees and Students

Afternoon Sessions

12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Beekeeping In Virginia – Martha Kiene
EAS Master Beekeeper, President – Virginia State Beekeeping
Association

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Sustainable Food, Farming & Forests – Hala Elbarmil
Greenhouse and Gardens Coordinator, GMU
Examples of Restoration and Natural Connection in an Urban Setting

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Leave No Trace – Nancy Chamberlain
Former NOVA Professor, Current GMU Professor
Leave No Trace Principles and How Individuals Interact with Nature
and the Environment

Bird Migration 2020 Brings Some Welcome Surprises, VSO recorded webinar

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Photo by Barth Bailey on Unsplash

Watch the webinar here.

Zoom lecture by Dr. Jerry Via, former Virginia Tech assistant dean. This has been an interesting year with the migration of so many winter finches. What are influences which result in the irruptions of finches and other species? Some species such as Rufous Hummingbirds seem to be off course, but are they lost? What does new monitoring technology teach us about some of the mysteries of migration, such as trans-oceanic migrants?

Brought to you by Virginia Society of Ornithology.

The Southeast’s Diverse Flora: Discoveries, Conservation & Identification with Alan Weakley webinar, April 8th

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Red Maple (Acer rubrum) ; photo by Margaret Chatham

Thursday, April 8, 2021
7:30 – 9 pm
Register here.

Alan Weakley is a plant taxonomist, community ecologist, and conservationist specializing in the Southeastern United States. He holds a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from Duke University. He has worked as botanist and ecologist for the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, and as regional and chief ecologist for The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe. He is currently Director of the University of North Carolina Herbarium, a department of the N.C. Botanical Garden, and teaches as adjunct faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill and at the Highlands Biological Station.

Dr. Weakly is author of the Flora of the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States, and co-author (with Chris Ludwig and Johnny Townsend) of the Flora of Virginia, which has received five awards, including the Thomas Jefferson Award for Conservation.

Hosted by Virginia Native Plant Society, Potowmack Chapter.

Audubon Afternoon: Native Landscape Design with John Magee, March 21st

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Sunday, March 21, 2021
3 pm
Free
Register here.

Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia as they welcome award winning landscape designer and host of The Native Plant Podcast, John Magee. 

John Magee has been designing and building landscapes in the Washington DC Metro area and beyond for the past 25 years.  After receiving his B.S. degree in Agriculture from the Ohio State University and spending a few years training and showing horses, he settled into the industry as the General Foreman of Pennsylvania’s highest award-winning landscape firm.  While in Pennsylvania, he became a volunteer at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and not only did he meet his wife there, but he was introduced to habitat gardening and the use of native plants in the landscape.  He now operates his own award-winning design firm (Magee Design) in the beautiful countryside of Middleburg, VA where he also enjoys kayaking and taking long walks with his wife and dog.  He created and hosts the Native Plant Podcast and hosts and produces the “Protecting what matters” podcast in partnership with the Department of the Interior’s “National Invasive Species Council” Secretariat.

Attracting Bees and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants, March 6th

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Agapostemon photo by Heather Holm

Saturday, March 6, 2021
11 am
Fee: $10
Register here.

Most insects have a positive impact in our landscapes. Native plants can be selected to attract specific bees and beneficial insects including predatory and parasitic wasps, beetles, flies, true bugs, and lacewings. Learn about the predator-prey relationships of these flower-visiting beneficial insects and how they help keep problem insect populations in balance. The life cycles, diversity, and nesting habitat of native bees will also be covered along with examples of native plants for different site conditions.

The program will be presented by Heather Holm, biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author.

This is a joint venture with Audubon Society of Northern Virginia and the American Horticultural Society.

Fundamentals of Avian Biology, The Study of Birds: Spring Session

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Photo: Dr. Chris Haney

March 2,4,9,11,16,18, 23, 25, 30; April 1, 13, 15
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30 – 8:30 pm
Fee: $150/member; $175/non-member
Click here to learn more and/or register.

Are you new to birding and want to learn more or just want to dig deeper into the subject? Then this class is for you! This course is designed and presented at an introductory but comprehensive university level in 6 weekly parts, with each internet-hosted video instructional session about one hour long.

The Search for Lost Birds, webinar February 25th

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Thursday, February 25, 2021
4:00pm EST
Zoom link provided upon registration

For 75 years, the Blue-eyed Ground-Dove was known only from scattered records and old illustrations. In 2016, researchers in Brazil observed the ground-dove for the first time in decades, launching an international partner effort to save the Critically Endangered species.

Like the Blue-eyed Ground-Dove, over a hundred birds around the world are considered “lost,” and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is helping to lead efforts to find and protect these species.

Jordan E. Rutter, ABC Director of Public Relations, will discuss their Lost Birds program, past and upcoming expeditions, and the urgent conservation need of finding lost birds.

She’ll be moderating the conversation with these wonderful speakers:

John Mittermeier, Director of Threatened Species Outreach and head of ABC’s Lost Birds initiative
Albert Aguiar, Project Coordinator, SAVE Brasil
Eliana Fierro-Calderón, International Conservation Project Officer and ABC lead for the Sinu Parakeet expedition