Build-Your-Own Rain Barrel Workshops, various dates

Sunday, 10 March 2019, 2-4pm, Hollin Meadows Elementary School, Alexandria
Saturday, 30 March 2019, 10:30am-12:30pm, Walter Reed Community Center, Arlington
Saturday, 25 May 2019, 10 am-12 pm, Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, Fairfax

As a part of a regional initiative, the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District will once again offer build-your-own rain barrel workshops this spring. During the workshop, you will learn how to install and maintain a rain barrel and take one home! Registration is required for all programs. Learn more!

From Garlic Mustard to Japanese Stiltgrass: Non-Native Invasive ID and Control, Mar. 14th

A Talk by Patrick Whitehouse, Fairfax County Park Authority
Green Spring Gardens
4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA 22312
Thursday, March 14
7:30 – 9 pm

VNPS programs are free and open to the public.
No reservations are necessary for lectures
FMN members: Earn one hour CE

Invasive plants are non-native species that degrade our natural ecosystems. They can tolerate a wide range of habitats, generate many offspring, mature quickly and spread. They out-compete native species, reducing or eliminating them. This can lead to fewer native birds and wildlife.

Please join the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society for a talk by Patrick Whitehouse, an ecologist for the Resource Management Division for the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) who will discuss non-native plant identification and control, as well as information on the Invasive Management Program at Fairfax County Park Authority. Patrick has worked for the FCPA first as a naturalist, then as an ecologist, earning his bachelor’s degree in Forest Management from West Virginia University.

Habitat restoration such as the Invasive Management Area (IMA) project can support the success of native plant species. The IMA Project began in 2006 and now manages more than 35 acres in Fairfax County. The Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) program is another county effort that finds new invasive species through surveys, then eradicates them before they cause harm. This data on invasive species is tracked across the county. Fairfax County offers many resources about invasive plants to the general public including a pamphlet entitled Invasive Forest Plants
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/naturalcultural/invasive%20forest%20plants%20brochure.pdf

and a booklet entitled, Non-native invasive ID and control https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/naturalcultural/non-native-invasive-id-control-booklet.pdf

Native Plants: Advancing Our Dialogue with Nature, March 30th

U.S. National Arboretum Visitor Center, Washington, D.C.

Main gate by the visitor center is 2400 R Street NE, which will bring you to the R Street gate- use this address for GPS directions

8:30 am – 3:30 pm

Fee $95 ($76 for Friends of the National Arboretum members).  More information and register here.

Learn to look at cues from nature, whether it is pinpointing the best grasses and sedges to control storm water or combining natives to reduce maintenance.
Hear about newly discovered native species, visit an Arboretum restoration project, discover how pesky invasives can help produce alluring art, or learn about plants toughing it out in some unexpected places.

Talk Topics/Speakers 

LOOKING to NATURE for BEAUTY with LESS MAINTENANCE
C. Colston Burrell, principal,  Native Landscape Design and Restoration,

THE NEW WORKHORSES of the GARDEN: Native Grasses & Sedges
Shannon Currey, marketing director, Hoffman Nursery

TWO SIGNATURE NATIVES: Leather Flower & Wake-robins
Dr.Aaron Floden, botanist, Missouri Botanical Garden.

Concurrent sessions:

ALIEN WEEDS: Art from an Insistent Abundance
Patterson Clark, senior graphics editor, Politico Pro

SPRINGHOUSE RUN RESTORATION
Max Fedeli & Angela Magnan, staff, U.S. National Arboretum

FINDING NATURE in ALL the WRONG PLACES
Dr. Brett McMillan, science teacher, The Bryn Mawr School of Baltimore

Native plant sale: 8:30 to 1 pm.

Apply for Summer internship to support Heritage Habitat by March 15

It’s an age-old dilemma. College graduates get their diplomas and apply for their first jobs only to find that most jobs require experience. But how do you get experience if no one will hire you?

Virginia Cooperative Extension internships give you the opportunity to explore careers in nutrition, agriculture, environmental science, natural resources, family and consumer sciences or community and youth development. And you get paid.

This summer, the National Park Service, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and Virginia Department of Forestry are jointly sponsoring a summer internship to support the Heritage Habitat project.

Major responsibilities will include field-work, program development & delivery on the Manassas Battlefield National Park and the Conway Robinson State Forest in support of the Heritage Habitat Trails program, a LEAF site in cooperation with Virginia Master Naturalists.

This 12-week internship pays $12/hour. Applications due March 15.

For more information contact: 

Adam Downing (540) 948-6881 [email protected]
Bryan Gorsira (703) 754-1861 [email protected]
Sarah Parmelee (540) 347-6358 [email protected] 

Pull additional details from the flyer

Send us your success stories

Have you been working on a service project that has a goal?

Have you accomplished the goal or made progress toward achieving it?

Have you been working in concert with others?

Can you recount the accomplishments of your team?

Can you include measures?

Nope, you don’t need to have solved world hunger or addressed climate change all by yourself. Some successes are simply incremental steps toward outcomes that benefit the environment in Fairfax County and northern Virginia.

Every year, FMN reports stories of success to Virginia Master Naturalists. We’d like to share yours.

Whenever you are ready, please compose up to 500 words that relay (in whichever order best suits your story):

  • The name of your project and the service code
  • Its purpose, goals, and current objectives
  • Who’s working on the project–they don’t all have to be FMNers
  • What have you accomplished to date?
  • How do you measure those accomplishments beyond hours spent (e.g., if you planted a pollinator garden, what did it attract over what period of time that’s different from what used to visit that area? In addition to creatures that fly or crawl, did you attract human visitors? helpers? funding to continue? How many? How much?)
  • How much help do you need from chapter members?
  • What might we learn?
  • Why is this activity worth the investment of time?
  • How does it bring you pleasure? Would we have fun, too?

Please send the story and 2-3 photos with captions to [email protected]. A member of the FMN Communications team will be in touch within a few days, and your story will be posted to this site.

Yes, the time you spend on the story counts toward your service hours.

Questions? Again, [email protected]

Green Breakfast, Mar. 9th

Brion’s Grille – 10621 Braddock Rd, Fairfax, VA 22032
Saturday, 9 March 2019
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am, $10 at the door, cash preferred.
No prior registration required.

(Part One) How to Avoid Being Bad, When You’re Trying to Do Good!*
Brandy Mueller, Environmental Compliance Coordinator, Fairfax County Land Development Services

Even the most well-intentioned conservation efforts can sometimes lead to unexpected challenges, when necessary permissions are not received or limits pushed…even those in our own backyards. When we only see the end vision of our projects and backyard or community conservation retreats, we don’t often think of them as land-disturbing activities, certainly not in the same vein as traditional development. But, they can be. A little planning ahead and a general understanding the rules and regulations that are in place and why they exist can help to make your projects great successes.

This is part one of a series of breakfasts in which Brandy Mueller, Environmental Compliance Coordinator with Fairfax County’s Land Development Services will provide a brief overview of the current program and share the vision for the future. Ms. Mueller will discuss some logistics for filing complaints and resources and information that are available online. The complaint response program is undergoing changes in 2019 and Ms. Mueller is interested in your ideas about other information and resources that you may need to support individual and community projects to help make them a success.

Later in 2019, Ms. Mueller will be back to share the lessons-learned and describe updates to the program.

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 Conservation District at [email protected].

  • This program was originally scheduled for the 12 January 2019 Green Breakfast.

What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World, by Jon Young

 

Reviewed by Ann DiFiore

Jon Young is an expert on bird language. Growing up near New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, Jon became fascinated with the wildlife outside his door. Under a local naturalist’s tutelage, he learned to recognize birds, their various calls, and the role they played in their habitat. He has since studied with San Bushmen in the Kalahari and indigenous peoples all over the world, learning techniques for tracking and observation, as well as their philosophies towards wildlife, the natural world, and our place in it.

Today he lives in Northern California and teaches seminars on bird language. Birds, he believes, are the watchers and sentinels of the natural world. Understanding bird language and behavior is key to learning how to access, connect with, and understand nature.

By learning the primary, or baseline, forms of vocalization—songs, companion calls, territorial aggression and adolescent begging—we can recognize alarm calls that break the pattern. Young has his students establish a daily “sit spot,” a place to observe bird activity and calls each day, becoming familiar with birds, feeding patterns, habits, and vocalizations. That familiarity opens up a new world of understanding and awareness: “…ultimately the birds will yield to us the first rite of passage:  a close encounter with an animal otherwise wary of our presence” (p. 173). 

Young’s insights into the complexity of bird language (chickadees vary alarm calls to indicate a specific predator, its proximity and approach), the uniqueness of each species and its behavior, infuse the reader with new appreciation for birds and all wildlife. 

In What the Robin Knows, Young discusses human impact on wildlife and suggests we adopt a routine of invisibility, an attitude of awareness, respect, and calm that minimizes disturbance. Heedless humans are responsible for bird plows—an alarm shape or form taken by birds when fleeing predators. While the humans may not mean harm, predators take advantage of disoriented songbirds, swooping down as they flee, using a technique called “wake hunting.” 

Master Naturalists will find Young’s information on bird communications and behavior fascinating. The techniques he uses to promote nature awareness and connection would be valuable to educators and interpreters. 

A section of the book that I found especially enjoyable and eye-opening related to observations of companion calls between mated pairs of cardinals’ daily visitors to my bird feeder. Their basic exchange is a “chip…chip” uttered every five seconds. I learned that what seemed like a bird version of humming is actually a means of checking on each other’s safety:

“Are you there?” 

“Yes, are you okay?”

“Everything’s fine, are you?”

When a “chip” goes unanswered, the mate will follow up with a more insistent “CHIP!” and then go to investigate. Young witnessed a concerned male fly towards his lady’s last “chip” to find her rocketing towards a shrub, a sharp-shinned hawk in hot pursuit. The male flung himself in front of the sharpie, spinning the hawk off course and saving his mate—a true Valentine’s Day cardinal’s tale. 

As Young observes, “If we learn to read the birds. . .we can read the world at large” (p. 173). What the Robin Knows is a great primer.

 

Want to review a resource? We’d love to hear from you. Instructions for submission await your click and commitment.

Participate in CaterpillarsCount! this spring

Learn about the Fairfax Master Naturalist citizen science project, CaterpillarsCount! (Service code C254 if you’re an FMNer), including the results from last year and plans to continue the project this year. 

FMN efforts are part of a larger study to determine whether seasonal activity of plants, insects, and birds are all responding synchronously to climate change. 

CaterpillarsCount! is part of a National Science Foundation-funded study with University of North Carolina, Georgetown University, and University of Connecticut as lead universities.  Additional volunteers are needed to continue to collect data this year during spring and summer. 

Guest presenters: Elise Larsen, PhD, Georgetown University and Don Coram, PhD, Fairfax Master Naturalist. 

Location:  Walker Nature Center, Reston, VA. 

Date and time:   April 23, 7:00 – 8:00 pm.

The presentation counts toward FMN continuing education credits

Nature photography on the National Mall: Birds, Butterflies, & Tarantulas

The group, led by Barbara Saffir, nature photographer and author, will meet at the FDR Memorial book store/visitor center on the Tidal Basin on Sunday, 24 February 2019 at 8 am, approximately. Then they’ll hike about 4ish miles total — with lots of stops — first along the Tidal Basin looking for snazzy-looking wintering ducks & then onto Constitution Gardens on the National Mall for more ducks and other birds. Perhaps they’ll even stumble upon an albino squirrel, a red fox, or other capital critter. Afterward, our “adults-only” group will head to the Smithsonian’s National Museum for Natural History for its live insect zoo and live butterfly exhibit. The museum opens at 10 am and you need to BUY IN ADVANCE your own individual butterfly tickets for 10:30 am ($7 to $7.50) . The tarantula feeding is at 11:30 a.m. Butterfly tickets are here:
https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1006103/butterfly-pavilion-entry-washington-butterfly-pavilion

If they aren’t tuckered out by then, they can optionally stop for lunch at the National Gallery of Art’s Pavilion Cafe by the ice skating rink. https://www.nga.gov/visit/cafes/pavilion-cafe.html

Snow/ice cancels entire event. Rain just cancels the hike but they’ll still go to the Smithsonian and then to the indoor U.S. Botanical Garden.

Parking on Ohio Drive should be plentiful at 8 am. National Park Service may have installed meters, as threatened, so read the meters carefully to see if parking is free. Closest Metro is Smithsonian. https://www.wmata.com/rider-guide/stations/upload/evacuation/20.054.pdf

You might want to bring both short and long camera lenses. Also, it is 80° and humid inside the butterfly exhibit. They will be in the museum for about a half hour before we enter that room, but you might want to bring a bag to prevent condensation on your camera before or after.

Register here.

Spotted turtle field technician wanted

Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) is seeking one field technician to assist in a conservation project studying spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) movement and population demographics at the Fort Belvoir U.S. Army Installation. The technician will be assisting with a Ph.D. study, that is embedded within a larger effort to develop a decision support tool for species management at landscape and regional scales, which, ultimately, would increase viability of threatened/endangered species.

Technician duties will include visual encounter surveys, hoop-net trapping, VHF radio-telemetry, capturing and marking turtles, blood collection, vegetation surveys, and data entry. This is a four-month position, starting March 5th, 2019 and ending on July 2nd, 2019. Start and end dates can be flexible within reason.

Housing will not be provided, and transportation to and from the installation is not provided. Salary will be $11.00-$12.00/hr dependent upon qualifications. Additional compensation for mileage will be available.

Successful applicants will demonstrate communication skills, be able to work independently, and be comfortable working on an active military base. The student will be exposed to field conditions including extremes of temperature, humidity, and rain. In addition, field work involves long days/nights traversing through swamps, streams, and other wetlands. The student must be comfortable with catching amphibians and reptiles, and wading in waist-deep waters. Previous experience with identification, capture, and marking of amphibians and reptiles is helpful, but not required. Previous experience with VHF radio telemetry is preferred, but not required.

Applicants must have current eligibility to work in the U.S, a valid U.S. driver’s license, and will need to pass a background check before hiring. To apply, submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references in one pdf file to [email protected] (Ellery Ruther). Please indicate the following in your subject line, “2019 Turtle Technician”. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. If you have any questions please email Ellery Ruther at [email protected].