For seven years, the Headwaters Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists has organized wildflower walks on Shenandoah Mountain in the George Washington National Forest that cuts across the western side of Augusta and Rockingham Counties. What started as a cohort project, has grown into a tradition for some families and groups of friends. It offers a…
April 22, Earth Day, with warm sunny weather, was an appropriate time for three Headwaters Master Naturalists and guests Mike Smith of the local PATC Chapter and Roger and Cynthia Barouti of Allegheny Highlands Master Naturalists to explore rare plants at four area shale barrens and a couple other locations. Jay Shaner, a well- known…
Our chapter is starting a new Citizen Science project to locate and monitor vernal pools in our region. In support of this, we had a training session on Saturday, April 6 that started at McKinney Science Center at Bridgewater College and ended at Deep Run Ponds Natural Area Preserve. Dr. Anne Wright, director of Life…
Every Chapter Has Fantastic Photos: Should It Be So Hard to Find Them? This year’s VMN Photo Contest has not only simplified technical and submission requirements, it features more categories to show off your photographic work and will be judged by amazing photographers. This is the year that every chapter should enter the VMN Photo…
As a means of introducing her to our Chapter, HMN Stephanie Gardner recently corresponded with our newest member, Jean Stephens, to see if she’d be willing to let us know a little about her. Jean transferred to the Headwaters Chapter from the Richmond area’s Riverine Chapter last January. She brings our “transferee cohort” up to…
Wildflower Walks on Shenandoah Mountain Saturday, April 27, 2019 Please join the Headwaters Master Naturalists for our annual rediscovery of the springtime beauty in the forests of our backyard mountain. After a long winter, what better way to celebrate warmer days than to hit the trails in search of spring wild flowers. And really there is…
Liverworts are grouped with the mosses and hornworts forming the Bryophytes. All of the Bryophytes reproduce by spores and Liverworts are considered to be the simplest true land plants from which it is thought that all land plants evolved. As Liverworts have been understudied in the state of Virginia, the plant record database overseen by…
The Headwaters Master Naturalists had a great time at the Cyrus McCormick Research Farm in Raphine on Saturday, March 16! Led by Sandy Greene, Master Naturalists Derek Blyer, Peggy Plass, and myself (Emily Fugate), along with two guests, set off on this unexpectedly cold morning to plant trees along the short but beautiful path on…
Sunday, March 10 turned out to be a beautiful, warm, spring-like day for 14 Headwaters Master Naturalists and five guests who enjoyed a very informative outing to Maple Flats Ponds near Sherando with James Madison University Instructor in Biology Billy Flint. Billy’s hope was that we would see at least 6 to 8 species of…
Last spring on the annual wildflower walk, I encountered a beautiful vernal pool at Reddish Knob, complete with gorgeous masses of eggs belonging to ….someone. No idea what species had left those eggs. This April, Headwaters is kicking off a new project for vernal pool monitoring with a day-long seminar which will empower participants to…
Our growing Chapter was successful in gathering a healthy cross section of our membership on Saturday, January 26 for socializing, eating, meeting, voting, learning, and more. Many thanks to the Blue Ridge Community College for providing perfect, spacious and well-equipped meeting rooms for us on their campus in Weyers Cave. We also owe a debt…
The Headwaters Chapter’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, January 26 featured HMN Kate Guenther, Cohort I, presenting about her work to connect wildlife in rehabilitation with their natural-state “wild” foods through her website Wildfoods4Wildlife.com. Note from Kate: Thank you all for allowing me to share my passion for animals and plants with you at the annual…
