Fireflies: Hosting Nature’s Light Show into Your Garden, Mar. 23rd

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Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (just off the combined Routes 50 and 29 in Fairfax)
3810 Meredith Drive, Fairfax, VA. 22030
Monday, 23 March 2020
7:30 pm

Lightning bugs (aka fireflies) are part of the magic of growing up in the eastern U.S., yet most people know very little about them. Nature education specialists Kris and Erik Mollenhauer have studied fireflies, seen “blue ghosts” and “synchronizing fireflies,” and explored some of the dark secrets of the Night Country. This program explores the “fairies of the night” and how we can create habitat in our gardens to keep them flashing for years to come.

BIO: Erik and Kris Mollenhauer are retired educators but committed volunteers. Erik taught high school science for 15 years, then worked as an educational program developer for 24 years. He developed a program with Costa Rica based on songbird migration as well as an international teacher exchange program that led groups to several countries, including Russia, Australia and Japan. For 5 years he helped National Geographic improve geography education in NJ schools; for 30 years, he’s used a portable planetarium to teach the night sky to people of all ages in the US, Canada, Russia and Japan.

Kris was an elementary school teacher for 14 years, then spent 12 years as a Reading Recovery teacher, teaching struggling students how to read. Working with the Monarch Teacher Network, the Mollenhauers have taught monarch butterfly workshops across the US and Canada for the past 20 years and guided groups to the winter monarch colonies in Mexico and California. They’ve also developed many educational projects together, including the East Coast Vulture Festival, the Mad Hatter’s Tree Party, the Gloucester County Bird Quest and, most recently, the Gloucester County Firefly Festival.

Green Breakfast: Three Things You Can Do to Change the World, Mar. 14th–CANCELLED!

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In an abundance of caution and uncertainty over the spread of COVID-19, this event is cancelled. The speaker will make her presentation at the July 11, 2020 Green Breakfast.

Brion’s Grille
10621 Braddock Rd, Fairfax, VA 22032
Saturday, 14 March 2020
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am, $10 at the door, cash preferred.
No prior registration required.

Ever wonder what you can do to make the biggest impact locally and globally? The scale of environmental issues can be overwhelming and make it difficult to convince ourselves that any changes we make will make a difference. How do our individual efforts contribute to a collective impact? Join Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District for a warm breakfast and hear from Jen Cole, Executive Director, Clean Fairfax, who will share three things you can do to reduce your local and global footprint, including ways of reducing dependency on disposable items.

Clean Fairfax began as a litter control task force in 1978, established by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to implement an anti-litter campaign. In 1985, the organization became a private nonprofit.

Funding for the program comes from statewide taxes provided by manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors of 15 product categories. As a recipient of a non-competitive state grant, Clean Fairfax Council educates the citizens of Fairfax County, Virginia on litter prevention and control, supports the county recycling program, discourages graffiti, promotes sustainability and provides environmental education to residents, businesses and students.

Breakfast includes an all-you-can eat hot buffet with fresh fruit and coffee, tea, orange juice or water. No prior registration required. If you have any questions, please contact the Northern Virginia Soil and Water at [email protected].

Huntley Meadows: Preserving Native Plants, program April 9th–CANCELED!

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Photo: Barbara J. Saffir (c)

Green Spring Gardens
4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria
Thursday, 9 April 2020
7:30 – 9pm

David Lawlor will discuss the recent Natural Resource Management activities at Huntley Meadows Park including the newly revised Natural Resource Management Plan based on Natural Vegetation Communities found in the park. He will review the quality and types of Huntley Meadows Park Natural Vegetation Communities, as well as the monitoring and protection efforts for the rare plant communities and rare plants found in the park. David will also speak about the surveys and research being conducted at HMP to enhance the understanding of the ecosystems being protected.

David Lawlor is a native of Fairfax County growing up in Annandale, VA. He graduated with a B.S. in Biology from George Mason University. David has over 20 years of experience in the field of Natural Resource Management planning and implementation. David worked as the Fairfax County Assistant Wildlife Biologist for six years and has been the Natural Resource Manager at Huntley Meadows for over 15 years.

Presented by Virginia Native Plant Society, Potowmack Chapter.
Lecture is free and open to the public.

Creating A Flood-Free Paradise: Managing Water in the Garden, program Mar. 2nd

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Falls Church Garden Club
American Legion Hall
400 N. Oak Street, Falls Church VA
Monday, 2 March 2020
7:30 pm

Falls Church and Fairfax County have faced more than their share of flooding. Award-winning landscape designer and Falls Church resident Elisa Meara, founder/owner of the Native Plant Landscape Design Corp., will share before-and-after stories and photos of properties that have undergone conservation landscaping to manage stormwater and prevent erosion. She also may touch on rain gardens, infiltration trenches, swales and other approaches to water management, as well as provide a list of plants suitable to a wide variety of conditions.

Elisa Meara grew up in the Dominican Republic, where nature and plants always played a big role in her life. Living in a country where the weather allows people to enjoy the outdoors year-round, she became interested in the beautiful array of textures, colors, forms, fragrances and shades of the Dominican flora. This was the beginning of her passion for beauty and design. During the last fifteen years she has lived in five different countries. In each place, she faced the challenges that come with working with unfamiliar plants, soils, and weather, but says that the difficulties were always more than compensated for by the joy of learning and the adventure of working with things new and exotic. While living in England, Meara trained at the Inchbald School of Design, one of the most demanding and prestigious garden design programs in the world. As a certified Virginia Master Gardener who has worked as a landscape designer in England and Italy, she aspires to create personalized garden designs that support the local ecosystem. Her Native Plant Landscape Design Corp., launched in Falls Church in 2013, received the 2019 Virginia Conservation Assistance Program Leadership Award and has won Best of Houzz Service Award from 2016-2019. In 2019, the Chesapeake Stormwater Network awarded her 2nd place for Best Residential BMP in the Bay for a local project that captures and treats 100% of the runoff from the property.

Piecing Together Nature’s Puzzle with Alonso Abugattas, March 12th–CANCELLED!

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Green Spring Gardens
4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria VA
Thursday, 12 March 2020
7:30 – 9 pm

Nature is intricately interconnected. While we certainly don’t know how all the pieces fit, we can have some informative fun trying to put them together. Virginia Native Plant Society, Potowmack Chapter presents an interesting look at how pieces of the “nature puzzle” fit together, focusing on our native flora and wildlife of course. Get a peek at just how interdependent are plants, fungi, insects, wildlife, and even humans can be and try to piece together some parts of our local nature puzzle. Take a look at host plants, oligolectic bees, ethnobotany, and other wildlife interactions. You may not look at our natural world the same way again. 

Alonso Abugattas is a well-known local naturalist, environmental educator, and storyteller in the Washington, DC area. He is the Natural Resources Manager for Arlington County Parks, VA and the longtime Co-Chair for the Beltway Chapter of Region 2 of the National Association for Interpretation, the professional association for naturalists, historians, and docents. He was awarded their Regional Outstanding Interpretive Manager Award in 2018 and the national Master Interpretive Manager in 2018. He has been trained as a Master Gardener, was made an honorary Virginia Master Naturalist for his role in starting 2 chapters, and serves as an instructor for both.

Alonso is a co-founder of the Washington Area Butterfly Club and has held several offices (including President) for the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society. With numerous mentions and appearances on television, radio, and the press, he invites you to check out his NAI Interpretive Section Thomas Say Media Award winning FaceBook Group “Capital Naturalist”, his Capital Naturalist Blog, @CapNaturalist on Twitter, and the Capital Naturalist YouTube Channel.

Be a Citizen Scientist at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts! Bluebird and Purple Martin monitors needed. Training March 15th

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Orientation and Training
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
1551 Trap Road, Vienna, VA 22182
Sunday, 15 March 2020
1:00 to 3:30 pm

The National Park Service and Friends of Wolf Trap, would like to enlist the help of a team of volunteers who would form a Bird House Monitoring Team to monitor and maintain the Bluebird boxes and Purple Martin housing at the Park. No experience is necessary, as volunteers would be provided with training and guidance by our lead bluebird trail volunteer, Mr. Dale Thornton. Volunteers would learn about Bluebird stewardship efforts, including how to monitor the nest boxes, nest identification, and collecting and reporting nesting data to track population trends. In addition, volunteers would receive training from Mr. Mike Bishop of the Northern Virginia Purple Martin Initiative who will provide an overview of the Purple Martin and the process for monitoring and maintaining the colony.

The bluebird and purple martin monitoring season typically starts in late March and continues through August.  Nests are monitored on a weekly basis during the spring/summer nesting season and volunteers will help with box repair and maintenance during the off season, on an as-needed basis.  A team of trained monitors who will work on a rotating basis throughout the season and continue next year and into future seasons.  Ideally, each trained volunteer would be on a three- or four-week rotation; however, the monitoring schedule and associated details will partly depend upon how many people choose to volunteer.

The interested volunteers should be adults who have received the appropriate training and hands-on experience monitoring bluebirds on the Wolf Trap bluebird trail.  Children under the supervision of the trained volunteer monitor are welcome to assist the volunteer while they are conducting their monitoring duties.

Interested volunteers please sign up here. For more information, contact Allen Hoffman (Friends of Wolf Trap and FMN)

Master Naturalists may receive service hours at S263, Wolf Trap Stewardship Projects.

Derelict Crab Traps and How Volunteers Can Help

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2020 VMN Continuing Education Webinar Series

When: Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 12:00 pm

Meeting Number: 863-745-357

Link to Join: Join Webinar

Link for recordings of this and past webinars:

VMN Continuing Education Webinar page

Reminder – We still have our February webinar on February 25, discussing feral swine management. Information on that is on the CE Webinar page.

Description
Derelict fishing gear represents a major challenge to marine resource management through deliberate abandonment or accidental loss. Derelict crab traps in particular have significant negative effects, both economic (e.g., reduced fishery harvest from ghost fishing and reduced efficiency of active gear) and ecological (e.g., crab, fish and other animal mortality). This webinar will discuss the derelict crab trap issue in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay, the recent commercial waterman removal effort, and how volunteer Citizen Scientists can help.

Volunteers who are interested in participating in this project in the 2020 season should request approval from their chapter now, because the period for marking and removing traps ends March 14, 2020. Volunteers must register with the project, be 18 years of age, have a smartphone, and have an email address. For additional information and registration, visit the Crab Trap page. We have a project proposal form that you can take to your chapter available here.
Presenter
Kirk Havens received his B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Oceanography from Old Dominion University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University. He is a Research Associate Professor, and Assistant Director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. He also serves as a collaborating partner in the William & Mary School of Law, Virginia Coastal Policy Center. His research has spanned topics as diverse as hormonal activity in blue crabs to tracking black bears and panthers using helicopters and thermal imaging equipment. His present work involves wetlands ecology, adaptive management processes, marine debris, micro-plastics, and biopolymers. He hosts the VIMS event “A Healthy Bay for Healthy Kids: Cooking with Virginia’s First Lady” and the public service segments “Chesapeake Bay Watch with Dr. Kirk Havens”. He serves as the gubernatorial appointee to the Chesapeake Bay Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and is a past chair of the Committee. He was originally appointed by Gov. Warner and re-appointed by Governors Kaine, McDonnell, McAuliffe and Northam. He also serves as the chair of the Leadership Council for the North Carolina Albemarle Pamlico National Estuary Partnership. He lives in King & Queen County, Virginia with his wife, Karla, and son Kade where he serves as the chair of the County Wetlands Board.

Ornithology Topics: Avian Biology, Spring Session (The Study of Birds)

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National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Tuesdays, 24 March – 5 May 2020
7 – 9 pm
Cost: $250 ASNV members, $275 non-members

Join Dr. Chris Haney for a new class, “Ornithology Topics: Avian Biology, Spring Session.” There is no prerequisite for this course and it does not repeat the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia’s fall session of Ornithology but offers all new material.

This course is designed and presented at an introductory, university level in 6 parts, with each classroom session 2 hours long. Ornithology Topics: Avian Biology will feature major underpinnings to ornithology within the fundamental context of U.S. national history. Topics covered in Part 2 of this class will encompass: bird song; avian diet and foraging; mate selection and social behaviors of birds; breeding biology (incubation, chick-rearing, post-natal care); bird populations; and avian conservation and sustainable management. Instructional presentations will include PowerPoint slides, auditory or video supplements, and some in-class participatory exercises. Each night’s classroom lecture will be made available to all participants in PDF format by the following day.

Required textbook: Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function, 1993, Procter and Lynch, ISBN-10: 0300076193

Optional textbook: Handbook of Bird Biology (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 3rd edition, 2016, Lovette and Fitzpatrick, ISBN-10: 1118291050

Recommended supplement: The National Geographic Society’s Field Guide to the Birds of America, The Sibley Guide to Birds, or a similar guide for field identification

Register here.

February Author Lecture: Dr. Doug Tallamy

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February 23, 2020 03:00 pm – 05:00 pm

Location: Manassas Park Community Center, 99 Adams Dr, Manassas Park, Virginia

Join the Prince William Wildflower Society for February’s Author Lecture, given by renowned entomologist and ecologist Doug Tallamy. Dr. Tallamy will have his new book available for signing, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. (Timber Press, Available February 4, 2020) 

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 95 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 39 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014.  Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, and the 2018 AHS B.Y. Morrison Communication Award.

For more information, click here.

Simple composting for the whole family, Mar. 7th

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Belvedere Elementary School
6540 Columbia Pike, Falls Church VA
Rooms 136/138; Enter at Door #2
Saturday, 7 March 2020
10 – 11:30 am

Curious about composting? Learn how it can work for you and your family. There is something for the children too!

In this family-friendly workshop presented by the Fairfax Food Council, learn how your food waste and shredded office paper can save you money and enrich your property. Fairfax County Extension Agent Adria Bordas will demonstrate the basics of home composting, including how to build simple, inexpensive composters if you don’t want to buy one.

Environmental educators Ivy Mitchell and Stacey Evers will entertain children in the adjacent room, providing hands-on activities with worms, worm composting and gardening basics. Organic waste is the second largest contributor to landfills, so come find out how easy it is to be part of the solution!

Questions? Email Stacey Evers at [email protected].

Please register for this workshop by March 1st.