On a day just beginning to turn grey with rain, Carl Droms and I slog across an already wet meadow crisscrossed with spider webs. We’re here to deploy a camera for the eMammal project, part of Virginia Working Landscapes citizen science work for the summer of 2017. We’re already an hour and a half into…
Several Headwaters Master Naturalists were among the Virginia Master Naturalists who helped research Virginia’s bees in a project that got citizen scientists buzzing with excitement earlier this year. University of Virginia environmental sciences graduate student Kathryn “Kate” LeCroy coordinated the project and is currently analyzing the data collected by volunteers in the bee house hotels…
Be a Habitat Partner© and share your passion for wildlife and wildlife habitat! Volunteer Training Offered by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries with assistance from the University of Virginia Department of Environmental Sciences Thursday, August 17, 2017 • 9:30 am – 4:00 pm Massanetta Springs Conference Center and Lake Shenandoah This workshop brings…
Thanks to the dozen or so Master Naturalists who joined us for the June 24th Naturalist Meet-up at Todd Lake. Chapter Advisor Paul Bugas provided a great history and overview of flood control dams in Virginia and the National Forests. Most recently there are efforts to decommission older dams that are in need of repair…
On June 15, HMNs Kathy Byers, Chris Bowlen and Peggy Plass joined a trio of botanists with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation for a trip to Magnolia Swamp in Augusta County. The primary target of their search was the Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra), a beautiful wildflower last seen on the property…
Our chapter draws strength from its members’ diverse talents and personalities, each deserving of their own spotlight! For this occasional post spotlighting one of our Headwaters Master Naturalists, we are featuring Dr. Eric Jones, ecologist, beloved chapter presenter and field trip leader. Sadly, he is making plans to move out-of-state. Stephanie Gardner interviewed Eric with these questions…
Each year in our Chapter’s Annual Report for the VMN program we are asked to describe our efforts in complying with the program’s guidelines to strive for diversity in our membership. The request looks like this: Civil Rights Compliance Information To comply with state and federal guidelines, we are required to document the following information…
Congratulations to the 23 graduates of Headwaters Chapter’s Cohort V Basic Training class! Their accomplishments were celebrated on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, with dinner and the distribution of certificates, name tags and t-shirts in the community room of Eagle Carpet in Harrisonburg. Space constraints meant the entire chapter could not attend the festivities but the entire chapter does join…
On Saturday, April 29th, the Headwaters Master Naturalists led three wildflower walks on trails on Shenandoah Mountain. Nearly 50 participants and 15 master naturalists hit the trails in search of spring wild flowers. Highlights from the three trails include: Dowell’s Draft Trail (moved from Braley’s Pond due to fish stocking at the pond): Trailing Arbutus…
In late March and early April, HMN trainees Morgan and Ben Martindell and members Adrie Voors and Carl Droms were among a group of 49 who volunteered to deploy temperature loggers for Trout Unlimited’s Upper Shenandoah Stream Temperature Study. The group included several other members of the trainee class. The first step in the process…
On Saturday, March 25th, the current Headwaters Master Naturalist Training Class met at Buckhorn Inn for a scouting field trip of part of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Forest Trails Loop of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, which they are adopting as their class project. We had a chance to look…
In addition to the updates below, HMN Coordinator for this project, Sandy Greene, has compiled some tips for successful monitoring trips here: DGIF Birding and Wildlife Trails for HMNs Adapted from an email sent to Adopt-A-Trail Project coordinators by VDGIF’s Virginia Birding & Wildlife Trail Project organizer Jessica Ruthenberg on March 30, 2017: Welcome Spring and…
