Winter Symposium & CVNLA Short Course: Gardening for the Future, February 14th & February 15th

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Photo: FMN Jennifer Pradas, Pollinator garden

Wednesday, February 14 & Thursday, February 15, 2024
9:00 am – 3:50 pm

In-Person OR Virtually, via Zoom

In-Person Tickets: $100/day or $180 for a 2-day ticket (includes light breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and all-day hot beverage service)
Virtual Tickets: $55/day or $100 for a 2-day ticket (includes access to recorded presentations for a limited time)

Click here for additional information and registration details.

Gardening for the Future

Solving the complex challenges of designing a future that supports the health of our ecosystems and the thriving of all living things on Earth will require collaboration and thoughtful solutions from all corners of the green industry (and beyond!). This year’s symposium explores some of these innovative approaches that are being researched and implemented across the green industry with the goal of moving together toward a resilient future. 

Join this year’s symposium on Wednesday, February 14 and Thursday, February 15 to hear a variety of exciting speakers including Chris Ludwig (Flora of Virginia co-author), Ekene Tharpe (Babylon Micro-Farms), Andrew Freiden (NBC12), Jazmin Albarran (Seed Your Future), Josh Cerra (Cornell University), Richard Olsen (U.S. National Arboretum) and many more.  

The Sounds of Nature: How Natural Sounds are Made and Why They Sound Like They Do *Virtual*, February 22nd

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Image: Courtesy of the Clifton Institute

February 22, 2024
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

**This is a virtual program**

FREE

Registration is REQUIRED.

As mostly visual creatures, we often take sound for granted, but there is a whole incredible world of vibrations going on around us. In this Zoom program, Co-Director Eleanor Harris, Ph.D., will explain how natural sounds are made and how both human and non-human animals hear them. From why birds sing in the morning to how insects hear with their legs, thinking about sounds in nature might change the way you see and hear the world around you. A Zoom link will be emailed to participants shortly before the program.

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can open your spot to someone else.

By registering for this event, you are affirming that you have read and agree to the Clifton Institute liability release policy.

Spotted Salamander Walk, February 13th

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Image: Courtesy of The Clifton Institute

February 13, 2024
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

The Clifton Institute
6712 Blantyre Rd
Warrenton, VA 20187

FREE

Registration is REQUIRED.

Once a year, salamanders leave their homes in the woods and head toward vernal pools, temporary ponds created by spring rains and melting winter snow. The conditions must be just right, a warm night with rainy conditions. The males arrive first and lay sperm sacks around the pond. The females come later and absorb these sacks, which causes them to lay their eggs, about 50-100 per female. Join this walk to the vernal pools to witness this spectacle of nature.

It will be necessary to watch the weather closely to adjust the time and date that looks most promising for the group to see this wonderful migration. For now, this date is a best-guess placeholder for the walk. You will receive an email closer to the date with information about when to meet.

Please bring a flashlight. As you will likely go out in the rain, the recommendation is to wear a raincoat and waterproof shoes.

Age:  Adults and children ages 12 and up, accompanied by an adult.

COVID-19 Information: This program will be entirely outdoors (an outside porta potty will be available). It is required that everyone have a mask with them in case the class needs to go inside during inclement weather, to administer first aid, or for other reasons. Please do not attend if you are experiencing or have experienced in the last two weeks any symptoms associated with COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, etc.).

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let the Clifton Institute know as soon as possible so that they can open your spot to someone else.

Before attending this event, please read the information included on the Clifton Institute liability release form (click here).

How to iNaturalist, February 3rd

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Image: Courtesy of The Clifton Institute

February 3, 2024
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The Clifton Institute
6712 Blantyre Rd
Warrenton, VA 20187

FREE

Registration is REQUIRED.

Cost: Free!

iNaturalist is a powerful tool for people to learn about nature and to contribute to science, but there are lots of people who are not sure how to use it. In this program, Co-Directors Bert and Eleanor Harris will give a brief introduction to the iNaturalist app and website and some background and why it is loved it so much. Then you will go outside and practice how to take pictures and upload them to have the best chance at having your observation identified. Please download the iNaturalist app onto your phone before you arrive.

Age:Adults and children accompanied by an adult.

Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall).

COVID-19 Information: This program will be entirely outdoors (an outside porta potty will be available). Please do not attend if you are experiencing or have experienced in the last two weeks any symptoms associated with COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, etc.).

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let the Clifton Institute know as soon as possible so that they can open your spot to someone else.

By registering for this event, you are affirming that you have read and agree to the Clifton Institute’s liability release policy.

 

Behavior, Society and Sex in Adolescent Birds with Liam Taylor, February 8th

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Photo: William Young, Great Horned Owlet

February 8, 2024
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Virtual Seminar

ASNV Member ticket: $15 (Non-member ticket: $20)
Registration details

Most birds have some growing up to do before they start to breed. Despite reaching full size within weeks or months of hatching, some species will not raise offspring for years, or even decades. Liam Taylor explores the strange things that some birds need to do before they reproduce—from meeting a fishing buddy on a rocky island to finding a dance partner on a rainforest floor. Looking back through millions of years of evolution, Taylor uncovers how behavioral, social, and sexual development continues to create new challenges and opportunities for adolescent birds.

Liam Taylor is a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. He studies how social development influences, and is influenced by, the life history and evolution of birds, with a focus on delayed reproduction and delayed plumage maturation in colony-nesting seabirds and lekking Manakins.

Ducks and Waterfowl Identification with Greg Butcher, January 25th

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Photo: FMN Jerry Nissley

 

Thursday, January 25, 2024
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Virtual Presentation
FREE, but registration is required!

Join Greg Butcher, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) board member and 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.

This event will be helpful for those participating in the Winter Waterfowl Count on Feb 3rd and 4th but is open to anyone who would like to know how to identify winter waterfowl!

Some good locations to see waterfowl in Northern Virginia are Huntley Meadows, Dyke Marsh and Mason Neck State Park.

Bird Friendly® Certified Coffee (and how you can help) Webinar, January 18th

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Photo: Courtesy of the Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification

Thursday, January 18, 2024
7 – 8 pm
Webinar
Free but registration required.

Did you know that the coffee you drink can affect the birds in your backyard? The Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification does more than any other certification program to conserve habitat for birds and other wildlife on coffee farms. Bird Friendly Program Manager Kirstin Hill will describe the link between coffee and conservation, discuss what makes Bird Friendly certification the gold standard in biodiversity protection, and share ways to get involved in the movement to “Drink Bird Friendly.” Your coffee is stronger than you think! Currently, we know of no coffee shops in northern Virginia where you can buy a fresh hot cup of bird-friendly coffee – and we want to change that! We are looking for volunteers who are inspired by this program to help us with coffee shop outreach.

Climate Extremes: What’s the Forecast for Invasive Species?, Webinar, January 16th

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Photo: Julia Blum

Tuesday, January 16, 2024
7 pm
Webinar
Register here.

As the planet heats up, non-native species all over the U.S. are pushing north to follow the warmer weather. But the simple narrative doesn’t end there. Dr. Andy Chang, lead marine biologist for Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s California branch, has tracked the movement of species introduced by human activity to San Francisco Bay and the California coast for the past two decades. In addition to northward and upstream migrations in warmer years, his team has also noticed species getting wiped out in years of intense rainfall. In this talk, he’ll reveal how climate change and extreme weather like droughts and floods are changing the seascape for invaders. He’ll also highlight how countries can use this knowledge to help stop nascent invasions before they get a foothold, in San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay and around the world.

Winter Tree Identification at The Clifton Institute, January 13th

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Image Courtesy of The Clifton Institute

Saturday, January 13, 2024
1:00 – 3:00 pm
Program is Free

Registration is required!

6712 Blantyre Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187

Winter is a great time of year to learn how to identify trees and to practice looking at bark and twigs. The program will start with a brief presentation indoors about the tips and tricks to identify the most common trees in the forests. Then instructors will take participants on a mile-long walk in the woods to practice. This program is meant for beginners. Advanced botanists are welcome! If you would like to start practicing now or if you would like to bring some resources with you, we recommend the book Winter Tree Finder by May Theilgaard Watts and Tom Watts and the Flora of Virginia app.

The How and Who of Urban Wildlife Conservation with Dr. Charles Nilon, January 7th

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Sunday, January 7, 2024
3 – 4 pm
Virtual
FREE but registration required.

Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia for a virtual Audubon Afternoon that features the first of their Stretch Our Parks Lectures featuring Dr. Charles Nilon, an ecologist and professor from the University of Missouri.

Dr. Nilon’s decades of research and service have combined two of his lifelong passions – understanding how to safeguard urban biodiversity and making conservation biology more inclusive. He has been a lead researcher on projects combining data from more than 150 of the world’s cities to assess how ecological and socioeconomic factors influence birds in urban environments. He will share his ideas about what actions cities and towns might take to protect biodiversity as human density increases, and why making conservation efforts more diverse, inclusive, and just is paramount to their success.

Stretch Our Parks is a community-based conservation initiative. Given that northern Virginia is increasingly urbanizing, with more than a million new residents added since 1990, and that the diversity of our residents also has increased, it is fitting that Dr. Nilon presents the first Stretch Our Parks Lecture.

Dr. Nilon has a B.S. in Biology from Morehouse College, a Masters of Forest Science with an emphasis on wildlife from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Ecology/Wildlife Ecology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Dr. Nilon was awarded the Ecological Society of America’s Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award in 2014. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Audubon Center at Riverlands, a Migratory Bird Sanctuary approximately 20 miles north of St. Louis.