Archive for category: Success Stories

‘Natura Longa, Vita Brevis’ – this aphorism literally translates to ‘nature is long, life is short’. Meaning that nature will be around forever and we as human caretakers (and naturalists) have but only our lifetimes to nurture it. As John Muir wrote in his journal, My First Summer in the Sierra:

“What pains are taken to keep this wilderness in health, — showers of snow, showers of rain, showers of dew, floods of light, floods of invisible vapor, clouds, winds, all sorts of weather, interaction of plant on plant, animal on animal, etc., beyond thought!”

Of course, John Muir was journaling about how natural forces are in constant motion as a systemic, cyclical process of self-preservation but as the aphorism implies, we must be stewards of nature and take pains to ensure those natural processes stay in motion by actively sustaining the health and vitality of our earth’s natural mechanisms.

To that end, Cathy Ledec (FMN 2017) has worked tirelessly for many years to “keep this wilderness in health” and will be honored on November 20th with the 2020 Sally Ormsby Environmental Stewardship Award recognizing her 17 years of volunteer service at Huntley Meadows Park (HMP) and for the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA). The award will be presented at the 2020 Elly Doyle Virtual Awards Ceremony.

As the award letter points out, “Cathy’s outstanding leadership and volunteerism, including President of Friends of Huntley Meadows Park (FOHMP), have contributed significantly to the long-term preservation of natural resources at Huntley Meadows (HMP) and throughout Fairfax County. Her advocacy on behalf of the Fairfax County Park Authority has successfully educated many about the importance of a healthy environment in maintaining Fairfax County’s high quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors. Her work is firmly focused on improving the environment and on protecting and restoring irreplaceable natural resources, including native wildlife.”

Cathy has contributed to a wide spectrum of high-impact causes such as supporting FCPA budget proposals, defending parkland from development, hands-on field projects, and serving on advisory boards or commissions that influence policy as well as others of a simpler type, such as the one I personally took advantage of as I walked the trails at HMP – the donation of a trail side bench.

Karen Sheffield, Park Manager (HMP) wrote, “Cathy is a citizen steward. Cathy became a park volunteer at Huntley Meadows in 2003 monitoring bird nesting boxes for species presence and breeding success. Cathy also volunteers at the Norma Hoffman Visitor Center front desk, welcoming visitors, listening to visitor’s park experiences and answering questions, and sharing her expertise and stories with them. Environmental stewardship is one of Cathy’s main messages when interacting with visitors. Cathy also volunteers on large natural resource projects and leads community group projects, like tree plantings. Cathy’s 17-year service to the park has made and continues to make a positive and lasting impact, not only on the natural resources in the park but also on the visitors and volunteers she interacts with. Cathy truly embodies Huntley Meadows Park’s mission: To inspire community engagement through mindful management and meaningful encounters.”

Mary Cortina, former Park Authority Board Liaison to Friends Groups added, “There are so many smart, educated, talented, and passionate people in Fairfax County and it is truly an inspiration to serve in this County, if only to get to know a few of them.  Cathy Ledec stands out because she just works so hard and keeps at it – long after everyone else has called it a day – she’s there with one more letter to write, another tree to plant, another meeting to attend, another park to save, another community to build.  Cathy Ledec is truly a champion for the environment and parks in Fairfax County. We LOVE Parks in Fairfax County, and all the people who work on their behalf, including the staff and volunteers, deserve our gratitude for improving our quality of life.  Thank you for the service you provide to Fairfax County and for recognizing the important contributions of these special volunteers in our community.”

Cathy’s unique ability as an advocate and planner for our county parks coupled with her passion for nature and humble spirit make her a true steward for nature. She encourages others to first identify areas of personal interest and then find out how to get involved in those areas. She suggests checking out web sites such as Friends of Huntley Meadows Park (FOHMP), Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA), Volunteer Fairfax, Leadership Fairfax and others as launching points for your volunteer journey. Engaging with fellow VMN colleagues and reviewing the FMN service catalogue are additional resources to identify volunteer service opportunities.  Do you have a favorite county, state, or national park? Perhaps one that is in your immediate vicinity. Starting in your local neighborhood park cuts down on travel and enables you to witness immediate improvement to your community. To expand your horizons, most county and state parks have an associative ‘Friends Group’ that can be joined; this can lead to more service or advocacy opportunities. A Friends Group is not officially sponsored by a park but collaboration is frequent as well as mutually supportive and beneficial. Of course, most parks can be contacted directly to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Another good option would be to join a non-profit board through Volunteer Fairfax for example.  Once opportunities are identified we need only to take the next step to begin our own personal journeys.  Links listed at the end of this article are good examples to get you started.

Cathy’s leadership journey to the Sally Ormsby Award serves as a motivational model that others can follow.  Ledec says, “it is important that each of us find our passion and shape our volunteerism around this.  Learn from every volunteer experience and along the way you will meet many that inspire you to ramp it up to the next level.  Expand your base of knowledge and embark on new adventures.  Along the way you will meet, be inspired by, and learn from others.  Fill your journey with experiences that build on prior activities.  Lead by example and with enthusiasm.  Before you know it, you’ll be the next Sally Ormsby Awardee!”.

Example resource links:

FOHMP – http://www.friendsofhuntleymeadows.org/

FOMNSP – https://friendsofmasonneckstateparkinc.wildapricot.org/

Volunteer Fairfax – https://www.volunteerfairfax.org/

Volunteer FCPA – https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/volunteer

Volunteer VA – https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/volunteers

By Michael Walker

This past winter I had a wide variety of birds at my feeder including several charming Carolina wrens. For their size, they often “ruled the roost” and I was interested in having them nest in my yard, so I created some brush piles and bought two small “wren” houses. I was never a Boy Scout skilled at making bird houses and I knew my dad would be disappointed that I did not make the houses myself but being concerned about the loss of a finger on the power saw, I went unpainted pre-fab.

In mid-January, I hung each birdhouse with wire in shrubs about 4 feet above the ground since I read that wrens like to nest “low.” They were about 25 feet apart, one in a viburnum and the other in a magnolia. Over time I noticed some black-capped chickadees took an interest in one house and the other bird house was filling up with small sticks though I never seemed to be able to determine what bird was doing this work. I had lots of chickadees and Carolina wrens at the feeder along with cardinals, juncos, tufted titmice, nuthatches, blue jays and even crows. But the tenants of this property remained a mystery despite by best detective work.

As late spring approached, I finally identified the elusive residents of the other house: house wrens! For about two weeks they were very active, shuttling food into the box opening. Despite my best efforts, I never did get to see any of the baby birds. I hope they all fledged safely.

When activity ceased, I decided to clean out each birdhouse in the event another tenant wanted to have a go at family life. Each birdhouse has a convenient slide out base. When I carried each bird house to the table to remove the base, I was astonished to find that both houses were still fully occupied! Dozens of small angry ants were crawling out of the birdhouses onto my hands and arms. In addition to a healthy ant colony the chickadee birdhouse was filled with beautiful soft green moss. It looked like the moss one would find on the forest floor in Canada. No twigs or straw only this beautiful moss and lots of it for such a tiny bird couple to gather.

The vacant wren house, also loaded with thousands of ants, had no moss but was filled nearly to the top with twigs and feathers. After the ants made their frenzied escape, carrying away eggs and larvae, I pulled apart the nesting material to do a citizen science inventory of the sticks and twigs. There were over 460 sticks and twigs. Some as long as six inches

An enviable magic trick for a tiny bird, small nest box opening and no exterior perch! Of additional interest were the more than 50 feathers, some pure white, others black that were obviously not house wren feathers.

And the ants! To get into the bird houses they had to climb up the branches of the shrub and carefully navigate a Wallenda-like high-wire into the nest box. Which ant explorer looked up from the dirt to see the empty bird house hanging in the air, beckoning exploration like we see with the moon or mars. Which ant pioneer was the first to cross the thin wire? How do they find their way up the tree without Google maps? How many individual trips did each ant make from ground to nest during the duration of the colony?  And what could we learn from the altruism that guides the cooperative spirit of these tiny relics from the Cretaceous?

Much, much to ponder on a summer evening on day 108 of the 2020 pandemic!

By Beverley Rivera

When the gyms closed because of Coronavirus, I started pacing around my local trail instead. The trail angered me because of the prevalence of invasive plants. There are acres of lesser celandine, which were all in glorious bloom at the time, groves of Chinese wisteria, areas where all you can see is English ivy and bamboo, and impenetrable thickets of multiflora rose. But what really bothered me as I stomped around the trail yanking out armfuls of garlic mustard, was the number of tiny shrubs and trees that were completely overrun with honeysuckle and oriental bittersweet; our fledgling future forest was being girdled, smothered and out-competed by invasive plants.

At that time, very few of the tiny trees actually had leaves; but the bittersweet and honeysuckle start early, snaking to the top of the plants and then branching into an anchor before spreading and flourishing. What appeared to be a healthy leafy plant was actually a tiny stick of a seedling smothered with invasive vines.

Like most Master Naturalists, I suddenly had time on my hands due to the cancellation of many volunteer opportunities, so along my walks I started untangling the tiny plants and cutting back the vines. I knew it was a temporary measure, the invasives would be back, but my rationale was to give the seedlings a season to grow unencumbered and when invasive workdays resume, try to get back to do a more thorough job.

Making a Difference: I was reminded of that old story where someone walks along a beach and discovers thousands of starfish have been washed up and are dying. The person starts picking them up and tossing them back into the ocean. A passer-by comments that there are so many that it was impossible to make a difference; to which the starfish tosser replies, ‘Made a difference to that one’.

Walking the trail now, I am amazed by what a difference one person can make, I see healthy young trees and shrubs leafing out and it inspires me for what can be achieved when it is safe to resume our regular invasive management workdays again.

Planning Ahead: Careful planning is something that doesn’t always happen during the chaos of my everyday life. But instead of just jumping in and trying to get things done, I now have the time to plan: ‘How could I turn this into a learning experience for a school group?’ ‘When is a good time of year for inexperienced volunteers to be removing certain plants?’ ‘How could this seemingly impossible situation be made to work?’

Cultivating Patience: Last year I was involved in setting up an invasive management program at Lake Accotink Park and we were just at the point of getting a steady group of volunteers and making significant progress, when the Fairfax County Park Authority asked us to halt all activities until it is safe to have large gatherings again. Like other Master Naturalists, this also meant that many of my other events were cancelled. So, I have had to develop a patient attitude; things will get done, just not right at the moment. It was a major adjustment, but my frenetic exercise program has turned into enjoyable strolls where I notice things that I never noticed previously, a hillside covered with may apples, bluebirds, a fern I’ve never seen before. It’s allowed me to step back and enjoy the things that make us Master Naturalists in the first place.