On 15 July 2018, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust will be teaming up with their partner, NOVA Parks, to offer an interpretive, community hike at Fountainhead Regional Park hosted by NOVA Park’s Roving Naturalist, David Garcia. There are a limited number of spots, so first come, first served!
For more information and to RSVP, please email Emily Bowman at [email protected] or call 703-354-5093.
Previous date was rained out! Please join the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) for its annual Kayak/Canoe Cleanup of the tidal estuary of Cameron Run at Hunting Creek in Alexandria. NVCT will have a limited number of boats available for volunteer use, but if you have your own, please bring it to support the cause! Coffee and snacks will be offered starting at 9.15 am. Gloves, trash bags, bug spray, and a water jug for refilling reusable bottles will be provided. Please bring sunscreen, hat and water shoes and a reusable mug if you’d like coffee.
This is a beautiful landscape and precious wildlife habitat, so it is a great opportunity to help nearby nature while enjoying a morning on the water.
Hunting Creek, Old Town Alexandria
RSVP to Emily Bowman at [email protected] or (703) 354-5093 for more details, including specific location, and to reserve a boat
Saturday, 30 June 2018
9.30 am – 1.00 pm
Mason Neck State Park will be hosting 15 to 20 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington the weekend of 22-23 June. The campout gives children a wonderful opportunity to spend time outdoors fishing, canoeing, hiking and learning about nature.
The Park needs people to help set up tents on Friday evening, June 22 and to help cook meals on Saturday, June 23. Can you help? If you can, please contact the Park at 703-339-2385. You’ll be glad you did!
The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District has published an online book for those of us who live within the Virginia portion of the Potomac River watershed. The discussion on soils and plants and the references cited are all specifically related to this geographic area. This publication offers practical information to aid homeowners in the economical care and maintenance of their property. It provides a simple step-by-step approach to solving common problems found in most yards, gardens or common areas. Topics include:
And much more! Find the book here.
Caterpillars Count! is a citizen science project sponsored by the National Science Foundation for measuring the seasonal variation and abundance of arthropods like caterpillars, beetles, and spiders found on the foliage of trees and shrubs. Arthropods are an important food source for birds and other wildlife.
Climate change is affecting the timing of spring leaf out, insect activity, and bird migration and breeding. But are the plants, insects and birds all responding to the same degree? If either insects or birds are not keeping up with the shifts of the other organisms that they depend on, then further climate change may have negative consequences for their populations.
Caterpillars Count is part of a multi-university study of phenological mismatch across three trophic levels in eastern North America. The lead universities are University of North Carolina, Georgetown University, and University of Connecticut, with co-investigators from University of Florida, Institute for Bird Populations, Penn State, Evergreen State College, and Ontario Forest Research Institute.
Participants will monitor a site at the Walker Nature Center in Reston for Georgetown University. We will examine 50 leaves on each of 10 trees weeklyor bi-weekly thoughout the spring and summer. We will count and classify the arthropods we observe. Each monitoring session will take about one hour. There will be approximately 16 monitoring sessions. Volunteeers are not required to participate in every session and the timing is up to the volunteers who are participating. Volunteers must sign-up in advance for training and schedule coordination.
This project is eligible for credit for master naturalists under code C-254.
Join instructor Marc Ribaudo for an evening class and accompanying field trip that will cover identifying shorebirds. The class is recommended for anyone who would like to tackle shorebird identification on their own.
The group will spend an evening in the classroom covering identification tips for shorebirds that can typically be seen in our region. Emphasis will be on shorebirds that pose the biggest identification challenges, such as peeps.
On the Saturday following the class, the group will visit Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware to put into practice what they’ve learned in class. Bombay Hook is one of the top shorebird spots in the northeast and provides ample opportunities to view many species of shorebird in close proximity to each other. The group may also visit Port Mahon or Taylor’sDitch, depending on tide and what is being seen at the time.
Fairfax High School, Fairfax, Virginia; Bombay Hook NWR, Smyrna, DE
Thursday, 16 August 2018; Saturday, 18 August 2018
$50/member; $60/non-member
Certifying properties as “Wildlife Sanctuaries” is a volunteer-driven project of the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Audubon Society. It embraces the principles of the National Audubon Society’s Bird-Friendly Communities and promotes citizen participation in conserving and restoring local natural habitat and biodiversity.
The largest volume of acreage available for conservation and restoration of healthy green space in Northern Virginia is “at home” in our own backyards. Incentives for participation include making a difference in aiding the environment and pride in property certification and registration as an “Audubon at Home Wildlife Sanctuary.”
The program is open to residential properties, homeowner associations, schools, places of worship, parks and commercial properties and other potentially sustainable wildlife habitats, both public and private seeking.
Learn more about criteria, sanctuary species, and the certification process.
Reviewed by Marilyn Kupetz
I heard about Hoot Owl Hoot from a colleague with a 3-year-old, and I live in a neighborhood with lots of small fry who come visit. A cooperative rather than a competitive game (think oxytocin rather than cortisol) to play with my guests? Eco-friendly packaging? Nature-friendly theme? Fifteen-minute time commitment?
Had to try it out. My test subjects over several sessions were one 3-year-old, three 8-year-olds, one 33-year-old, one 56-year-old, and me.
The goal of Hoot Owl Hoot as a game is to help six young owls make it back to their nest before the sun rises. The goal of Hoot Owl Hoot as an activity is to make it possible for the players to help each other help those owls.
Because the luck of the draw tends to interfere in competitive games, in this one, any player can move any owl. In fact, the instructions suggest that players be encouraged to talk about their hands and plan their strategy together. The game dynamics otherwise lend themselves to the skills and emotional cadence of pre-school- and elementary-age children and others who are young at heart. No reading necessary as the board and pieces are graphical.
Feedback from the test group:
Pluses: if you lose a piece, Peaceable Kingdom will replace it gratis. The entire kit is biodegradable.
The game reinforces the most central message of the human role in nature and nurture: We are all in this together.
Want to review a resource? We’d love to hear from you. Instructions for submission await your click and commitment.
The Fairfax County Park Authority’s Discovery Trail Map features 12 sites across the park system that give children and adults the chance to discover each park’s special features. There’s a game built into the activities, so prizes are a possible outcome (e.g., bicycles, mini-golf, a carousel, train, tour boat, pedal boat, camping, wagon ride, RECenters and a boat rental).
This year’s free summer activities highlight the rich diversity of wildlife you’ll see in Fairfax County parks.
The sight of butterflies fluttering around on a warm day is one of the most iconic signs of summer. These beautiful insects usually only live for a few weeks as adults, but they make quite an impression while they are in their full glory. There is a large variety of butterfly species in our area and we are going to census them on June 30 during the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia Butterfly Count in and around our Occoquan Bay Count Ciricle.
In preparation, Dr. Leslie Ries will be teaching a butterfly workshop focusing on identifying butterflies in Northern Virginia. The classroom portion of the workshop is FREE and will be on Monday, 25 June.
The field trip portion will be in conjunction with the count on June 30.
National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive Reston, VA
Monday, 25 June 2018
7:00 PM-9:00 PM