Help Tackle Invasive Plants, Dec. 7th and 21st

Photo: Ned Stone, A Dyke Marsh inlet.

 

Saturdays, Dec. 7th and 21st, 2024
10:00 am to 12:00pm

If you wish to participate, please send an email to [email protected]

Meet at the Haul Road trail entrance bench.

Haul Road Trail directions and parking: GPS coordinates: 38.777739, -77.050540 South of Alexandria off the GW Memorial Parkway at
the sign for Dyke Marsh Nature Preserve and Belle Haven Marina. Click here for directions.

Help protect native plants by pulling and clipping invasive plants. Members of the FODM will train volunteers to identify the five or so target plants. They kindly ask that you not bring pets. Invasive plants can threaten and outcompete native plants.

Bring gloves, hand clippers and water. Instructions, examples and trash bags will be provided.  Wear long sleeves and pants and sun protection. Some tools will be available to share. They will cancel if lightning or severe storms are anticipated.

For sessions beginning at 10 a.m., if it is raining at or after 9 a.m. on the day of the session, the session will be cancelled.

For more information: Volunteer/Help – Friends of Dyke Marsh

Help Northern Virginia Bird Alliance Plant Natives Donated by Earth Sangha, November 20th and 23rd

Photo: Donated plants, Bill Browning

Earth Sangha is a key partner in the Stretch Our Parks habitat restoration corridor currently active between Upton Hill Regional Park and the Dominion Hills Area Recreation Association. They made a sizable donation of wild plants to the project and Northern Virginia Bird Alliance needs to get these youngsters in the ground! Please come help build deer exclosure cages and plant these gifts. Sign up, and get more details, via the links below.

Lockwood/Elmwood Senior Housing Complex (Wednesday, November 20, Meet at 8:50 AM)

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050D48AFAC23A6F85-46970234-invasive#/

Dominion Hills Area Recreation Association (Saturday, November 23, Meet at 9:00 AM)

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040A4BA9A92CA31-powhatan1#/

Hidden Oaks Seeks Party Volunteers; Training October 26th or 27th

Photo: Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Hidden Oaks Nature Center
7701 Royce Street, Annandale VA
Training: Saturday, October 26, 2024 Noon – 1:30 pm
OR Sunday, October 27, 2024 3 – 4:30 pm

Hidden Oaks Nature Center (Annandale) is looking for volunteers to help with birthday party nature programs on weekends, mornings or afternoons. Birthday parties are generally held on Saturdays and Sundays, at 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-3:30 p.m.

Join them to learn more about this fun volunteer role at Hidden Oaks. Whether you’re newly interested in becoming a volunteer at our birthday party programs or have been doing them for a while, this training is important to learn of some new processes and activities that they will be implementing at the parties.

Hidden Oaks is excited to roll out their eco-friendly, low-waste birthday party option where party guests can use the center’s re-usable dish ware; you’ll be an integral part of making this environmentally sustainable initiative work. They’re also streamlining their outside on-the-trail time with new scavenger hunts that volunteers can lead, so you’ll get to lead a naturalist activity if you’re comfortable. All are invited to come learn about the expectations and opportunities for the Birthday Party Volunteer role on Saturday, October 26 from noon to 1:30 p.m. OR Sunday, October 27 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Please RSVP to [email protected].

Photo: Fairfax County Park Authority

Hidden Oaks Habitat Management Work Day, November 9th

Saturday, November 9, 2024
9 am – 12 pm
Hidden Oaks Nature Center
7701 Royce St., Annandale VA

Help Hidden Oaks get rid of invasive plant species! After a brief introduction on how to identify specific plant species of concern, how to remove them, and why they’re doing this, participants will split up into groups and tackle designated areas of the park.  Bring work gloves and clippers if you have them, wear sturdy shoes, and dress for the weather. They’ll provide trash bags; restrooms available.

Canceled if inclement weather.  Contact Kristina Watts at [email protected] or 703-941-1065 to let her know you’re coming.

October Citizen Science Survey Opportunities: Butterflies and Dragonflies

Photo by Ana Ka’ahanui, Halloween pennant dragonfly

Butterfly and dragonfly surveys are carried out in temperate months (April-October), normally on Friday mornings, at one of four sites around Occoquan Bay, all within the 15-mile diameter circle established for the annual North American Butterfly Association’s Annual Count.

Survey: Occoquan Bay NWR Butterfly and Dragonfly

Friday, October 4, 2024
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Occoquan Bay NWR
13950 Dawson Beach Road
Woodbridge, VA, 22191

Survey: Metz Wetlands Butterfly and Dragonfly

Friday, October 11, 2024
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Metz Wetlands
15875 Neabsco Road
Woodbridge, VA, 22191

Survey: Occoquan Regional Park Butterfly and Dragonfly

 

Friday, October 18, 2024
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Occoquan Regional Park
9751 Ox Road
Lorton, VA, 22079

Survey: Dyke Marsh Butterfly and Dragonfly Survey

 

Wednesday, October 23, 2024
8:30 AM 12:00 PM

Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve
George Washington Memorial Parkway and Tulane Drive
Belle Haven, VA, 22307

 

Survey: Meadowood Butterfly and Dragonfly Survey

 

Friday, October 25, 2024
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Meadowood Recreation Area
10406 Gunston Road
Lorton, VA, 22079

George Mason University Forager’s Forest, October 11th

Photo by: Ayman Rashid/Creative Services/George Mason University -Fruits of labor

Friday, October 11, 2024
4:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Anyone interested in volunteering should register for shifts on the University Sustainability volunteer portal (you will need to create an account, but it’s easy): https://gmufacilities.knack.com/sustainability-volunteer#my-events/

Project Description
Help sustain a new food forest on Mason campus! The stewardship activities will focus on the Foragers’ Forest and nearby riparian forest at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus. This includes weeding, mulching, planting, etc. in the Foragers’ Forest; and invasive plant removal in the riparian forest.

The Foragers’ Forest is a 100% locally native food forest that was installed in 2023 by Mason students and faculty. The space can best be described as part food forest, part rewilding experiment as it incorporates the Miyawaki method of reforestation. The Foragers’ Forest is adjacent to a recently restored stream and riparian buffer forest.

Important Information for Volunteers
Volunteers should wear pants, long sleeves, and closed toed shoes, and bring water. You may bring your own gardening gloves and loppers/pruners if you have them. We’ll provide gloves and tools if you don’t have them.

Volunteers will meet at one of the Forager’s Forest groves. The groves are located directly across the street from the Aquia Building (4461 Aquia Creek Lane, Fairfax, VA 22030) in the large lawn area. If you have trouble finding he location, call Sarah at 832-917-4024.

The best nearby parking option is the Mason Pond parking deck. Please note this is paid parking and we’re not able to cover parking costs. We will cancel the shift in the event of dangerous weather during the shift (e.g., thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, extreme heat, etc). We’ll try to notify you as soon as possible if we’re cancelling for weather. 

FMN Activity Code Catalog Updates

A few changes were recently made to the catalog of Activity Codes volunteers use to record service hours. Oh man – I can feel the eyes rolling now! Bear with me … it’s not that bad. Only two new codes, with one prompting a few others to be renamed to align code names with functionality. And of course, a few activity titles required updates because of the recent name change of Audubon Society of Northern Virginia to Northern Virginia Bird Alliance. Both new codes and all name changes mentioned below are in effect as you read this article.

The Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy unveils it’s Forragers’ Forest at the Forest Walk. Photo by: Ayman Rashid/Creative Services/George Mason University

The first new code is S600: George Mason University Stewardship Projects, created under Habitat Creation and Restoration. The focus of this activity is to help maintain the GMU Foraging Forest by promoting sustainable gardening. In part, these unique habitats contain a native food forest and a riparian forest. Both require planting native forbs, graminoids, herbaceous and woody plants, weeding, mulching, and other standard demonstration garden maintenance practices. Additional activity details are found in the BI activity code description, along with how to register for work days. Since this is a collaboration, registration will be facilitated via a GMU signup link found in the BI activity description. Go to the Opportunities List in BI to find the description.

This activity is a first for FMN, in that, it is a collaborative effort between the GMU campus community, ARMN, and FMN.

The second new activity code is also catalogued under Habitat Creation and Restoration. This activity was created to group stewardship activities for sites within the municipality of Fairfax City:
S210: Fairfax City Stewardship Projects — City of Fairfax
Description – This service code covers a broad range of activities associated with the creation and preservation of natural resources on City of Fairfax municipal grounds and within City of Fairfax Parks and Rec domain.
S210 code has a link in the description that points to Fairfax City Parks and Rec site, to easily identify Fairfax City park names

Because of the new code for Fairfax City, it made sense to rename a few other existing activity codes to simplify locating stewardship activities for all independent municipalities in Fairfax County.
Municipality Codes : (old name followed by *new name)
S124: Restoration of Vienna Township Parks — Town of Vienna
*S124: Vienna Township Stewardship Projects — Town of Vienna

S200: Falls Church Habitat Restoration — City of Falls Church
*S200: Falls Church City Stewardship Projects — City of Falls Church

S303: Habitat Creation and Restoration — City of Alexandria
*S303: Alexandria City Stewardship Projects — City of Alexandria

S215: Arlington County Park Stewardship Projects — Arlington County
*S215: Arlington County Stewardship Projects — Arlington County

Inactivated:
S199: Stewardship Projects at Long Branch Nature Center — Arlington County
(Merged with S215: Arlington County Stewardship Projects — Arlington County)

E253: Leading Reston Dragonfly Class & Count — Reston Association
(Zero hours in 2024; merged with E150: Walker Nature Center – – Reston Association)

NVBA logo – courtesy of NVBA

Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (NVBA)

Activity Code names required change due to the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) name change to Northern Virginia Bird Alliance. Basically, the acronym ‘NVBA’ replaced ‘ASNV’ in activity names along with similar description updates. No code numbers were changed. Please read the new descriptions to see updates.
Birds
C029: NVBA Christmas Bird Counts — Northern Virginia Bird Alliance
C036: NVBA Waterfowl Count — Northern Virginia Bird Alliance
Community Outreach
E117: NVBA Education and Outreach Projects — Northern Virginia Bird Alliance

Wildlife Surveys

C205: NVBA Wildlife, Bird, and Insect Surveys – – Northern Virginia Bird Alliance

In addition, two codes that formerly addressed ASNV’s Audubon at Home functions were modified. Collectively, ‘Audubon at Home’ is now referred to as ‘NVBA Wildlife Sanctuary Program’.
Community Outreach
E208: NVBA Wildlife Sanctuary Program Directors & Coordinators — Northern Virginia Bird Alliance
Habitat Creation and Restoration
E030: NVBA Wildlife Sanctuary Program Ambassadors — Northern Virginia Bird Alliance

There you have it – a summary for membership’s awareness. There is no action required by volunteers. No need to move hours or anything like that because none of the code numbers changed.

No Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) or Fairfax County codes were changed during this realignment exercise.

Annually, a majority of FMN volunteer hours are contributed to our parks, county, and municipal facilities. Hopefully, these changes help simplify locating stewardship activity codes for the independent municipalities in Fairfax County. This code realignment also helps FMN provide accurate annual reporting that reflects how we support our community and important chapter partners.

Acknowledgments:

Liz Train and Tom Blackburn: content for NVBA.

Cover photo: “a new day dawns” by Jerry Nissley

Hidden Oaks Nature Center Seeks Volunteers

Photo: FMN Jerry Nissley

Hidden Oaks Nature Center
7701 Royce Street, Annandale VA
Contact volunteer coordinator [email protected]

Front Desk

Wednesdays, 9am to 1pm or 1pm to 5pm

If you love nature and enjoy talking to people, consider volunteering at Hidden Oaks’ front desk. You will welcome visitors, orient them to the park, answer questions, and check in program participants. This is an opportunity to learn about the natural resources of the county and share your knowledge. Training provided.

Animal Care Helper

Fridays

Help with the care of animals on display at the nature center, including feeding and watering turtles, snakes, toads and other animals and cleaning their enclosures. Learn about the natural history of reptiles and amphibians. Training provided.

They are also looking for adult volunteers for a variety of other tasks, including helping with programs.

Help Count Butterflies for the NABA Butterfly Count , September 15th

Photo By David Illig, Variegated Fritillary (NABA Butterfly Count)

Sunday, September 15, 2024
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Alexandria Area

REGISTER : Deadline to register is Thursday, Sept 12 at 9:00 PM

Organized by:  Northern Virginia Bird Alliance

The Butterfly Count is an ongoing program of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) to census the butterflies of North America (United States, Canada and partially Mexico) and to publish the results. Volunteer participants are assigned a count area with a 15-mile diameter. The volunteers conduct a one-day census of all butterflies sighted within that circle.

Volunteers are encouraged to attend the butterfly identification webinar on Sept 3 (FREE for NVBA Members; $10 for non-members).

Volunteers of all experience levels are welcome! Every team will be led by an expert. Participants are encouraged to stay with their team for the duration of the event.

This count is organized by Larry Meade.Deadline to register is Thursday, Sept 12 at 9:00 PM so you can be assigned to a team on Friday. Teams will each meet at their designated count locations.

Larry Meade is president of the Northern Virginia Bird Club and a member of the NVBA Adult Education Committee. He is a frequent bird walk leader and has been involved in numerous Audubon Christmas Bird Counts and NABA Butterfly Counts. He is the compiler of the Alexandria Circle NABA Butterfly Count.

Earth Sangha Wild Plant Nursery Workdays

Photo: Earth Sangha

Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays
9 am – 12 noon
6100 Cloud Drive, Springfield VA
Register here.

Earth Sangha propagates local ecotype native plants for sale and distribution in Northern Virginia.  They are a non-profit and rely heavily on volunteers to keep their plants growing.  They have plenty of repotting to do, in addition to weeding, watering and labeling.  With the summer heat in full effect, summer workdays wrap up at noon rather than 1 pm.