Photo: by Environmental Nature Center, ecenter.org

Project: Volunteer Photos for Socrates Project 2nd Edition Guide
A group of VMN volunteers is looking for photos taken by other VMN volunteers (not grabbed from the internet or other sources) for an education project. This is the Socrates Project, through which they are creating a second edition of the guide to poisonous plants that they put out a couple of years ago.

Here is the list of plants for which they still need photos. If you have a photo that you have taken of one of these plants that you are willing to share, or if you have a known population of one of these plants that you can go photograph, please contact Don Hearl directly. He is the volunteer coordinating the photo aspect of the publication. Please be sure of your species identification.

Bittersweet/Climbing Nightshade –  Solanum dulcamara
Eastern Black Nightshade – Solanum ptychanthum
White Monkshood – Aconitum reclinatum
Poison Oak – Toxicodendron pubescens
Poison Sumac – Toxicodendron vernix
Wild Parsnip – Pastinaca sativa

Photo: Shutterstock image from Game and Fish Magazine

Project: Wild Turkey & Grouse Reporting
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (now DWR) is interested in your wild turkey and grouse sightings in July and August 2020. This project probably fits under an existing DGIF/DWR wildlife survey project for most of our chapters, or you can use a separate project proposal form. If your chapter had previously approved this project in 2018 or 2019, please note that the contact person at DGIF/DWR has changed to Katie Martin and that there is a new survey form.

VMN volunteers should make sure that their chapter has approved the activities of this project before beginning volunteer work.

Project: Turkey Brood/Grouse Brood sightings during July 1- August 31, 2020
Organization: VDGIF (Virginia DWR)
Biologist and Lead Organizer: Katie Martin
Contact: 540-569-0822, katie.martin@dgif.virginia.gov
Duration: Annually during Summer months of July/August
Resources: Project proposal form, volunteer instructions & survey form

From July 1 to August 31, record observations of turkeys or grouse, noting sex and age when possible. Submit the completed survey form back to Katie Martin by September 4.

by Michelle Prysby