PROJECTS

Administrative
CS- Bird Counts and Surveys
CS- Box Turtle reporting
CS- Cricket Crawl
CS- DGIF Birding and Wildlife Trail Adoption
CS- Trout Unlimited Water Monitoring
CS- Your Wild Life Projects
CS- Friends of Middle River BENTHIC SAMPLING Monitoring
CS- Frog and Toad Calling Survey
CS- Mason Bee Research
CS- Spotted Skunk Habitat Study
CS- Virginia Working Landscapes
CS- Butterfly Count
CS- Chestnut Count
CS- Dragonfly Pond Watch
CS- Friends of Shenandoah CHEMICAL SAMPLING Water Monitoring
CS- Phenology Monitoring with USGS
CS- Project Budburst
E- Shenandoah Mountain Wildflower Walks
E- Training on VMN-VMS – ? What is this
E- Birds of the Burg
E- Education Events for Children
E- Peak at the Bay watershed program
E- General Outreach and Education
E- Staunton Earth Day
E- Riverfest
E- Kites and Critters Day – Valley Conservation Council Poague Run Demonstration Project
E- Blacks Run Cleanup and Green Scene
E- Outreach Wildlife Education with Rehabilitation Organizations
E- Journalism and Illustration
E- Market Compost Drop-Off Project
E- McCormick Farm/Marl Creek Trail (incorporate into its activities – riparian planting, pollinator garden, education event for children, trail maintenance, leading nature walk – ?)
S- Birdseed Sale for Augusta and Rockingham Bird Club
S- Adopt A Highway – Spring Creek Rd.
S- Edith J.Carrier Arboretum at JMU (incorporate into its activities – riparian planting, pollinator garden, education event for children, trail maintenance, leading nature walk – ?)
S- Lake Shenandoah Pollinator meadow
S- Middle River Cleanup
S- South River Cleanup
S- Virginia Waterways Cleanup Day
S- Trail Maintenance on Public Lands
S- Wildlife Center Garden Habitat – CHAPTER FOCUS 2013-14
S- Treeplanting and Tree Stewards/ Riparian Buffer plantings
S- Acorn Collection for Tree Nursery
S- Build Wild Animal Housing for Wildlife Rehabilitators
S- Monarchs and More 2015 FOCUS – Natural Chimneys planting
S-Monarchs and More 2015 FOCUS, Cooks Creek Arboretum, Bridgewater
S-Monarchs and More 2015 FOCUS, Project Grows
S-Monarchs and More 2015 FOCUS, Purcell Park
S- Project Grows (incorporate into its activities – riparian planting, pollinator garden, education event for children – ?)
S- Removal of Invasive Plants
S- Removal of Litter on Public Lands and Natural Areas
S- Dispersed Campsite Cleanup in North River GW/Jeff
S- Wild Animal Care with Permitted Rehabilitators
S- Wild Plant Food Foraging for Animals with Permitted Rehabilitators(at the Wildlife Center of VA)

CS- Bird Counts and Surveys

There are several project included in this category, all of which have the common characteristics of being related to citizen science efforts at providing data about bird populations.   There are many wonderful ways in which state and national organizations (such as the Audubon Society and the Cornell Ornithology Lab) utilize the work and observations of citizen scientists to provide data for researchers studying bird populations.  If you are involved in a specific project that isn’t listed here (which fits the requirements of (a) providing data about bird populations to (b) a scientific organization about (c) birds in our area) and would like to have it included in this list, contact the Project Committee Coordinator to receive official sanction for the work and to have it added to this list of active projects.  The following list includes projects in which HMNs are currently active.

  • Cornell Ornithology Lab—Project Feederwatch

Description.   Project Feederwatch is a citizen science project sponsored by the Cornell Ornithology Lab in which volunteers work independently (usually from their own homes).  The work involves counting birds which appear at bird feeders, and filing that data each week on the Cornell site.

Time.  This is a seasonal project, usually beginning in late fall and continuing through mid-Spring.  Cornell attaches a nominal fee (to cover materials) for volunteers who participate in the project.  Volunteers may spend as much or as little time as they wish in watching their feeders and recording the data.

Training and Registration Requirements:  Volunteering in the project requires registration with Cornell.  Information (including instructions for registration) can be found here:  https://feederwatch.org

Reporting volunteer hours in the VMS:  Volunteers should choose “Bird Counts and Surveys” from the drop down menu in the Apply to Project field.  In the Event Description field, enter Project Feederwatch.

HMN Contact for guidance/information:  Peggy Plass (plassms [at] gmail.com)

  • Christmas Bird Count Description:  Time:  This is an annual project, occurring on a single day in December or early January depending on the counting circle involved.Training and Registration Requirements:  All level of birding skills welcome including beginners. The coordinator of the counting circle of interest must be contacted to participate.Reporting volunteer hours in the VMS:  Volunteers should choose “Bird Counts and Surveys” from the drop down menu in the Apply to Project field.  In the Event Description field, enter Christmas Bird Count.HMN Contact for guidance/information:
  • Big Backyard Bird Count
  • Bluebird Nesting Box Monitoring
  • Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas Survey
  • Bird Club activities (involving bird watching and collection of data. Attendance at meetings of bird clubs are usually recorded as CE, not volunteer hours)

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CS—DGIF Birding and Wildlife Trail Adoption

Description.  The Birding and Wildlife Trail Adoption is a citizen science project done in partnership with DGIF to promote and provide information on the network of sites included in the statewide Birding and Wildlife Trail system.  Volunteers are assigned to a site on one of the three BWT loops in our counties (Lost Shoe, Forest Trails, North River).  Volunteers visit their sites 4 times a year, collecting and recording data on sightings of birds and other wildlife (and recording these sightings on either eBird or iNaturalist web sites), and filing reports with the project coordinator about the state of signage and other details about the condition of the site.

Time.  Vounteers are asked to make a visit to their site a minimum of 4 times per year (once in each season).  The scheduling of these visits is flexible, and there is no specific requirement for the amount of time which must be spent at a site on a visit.

Training and Registration Requirements.  Volunteers should contact project coordinators to receive a site assignment and forms which are used on site visits.  General information on the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail system can be found here:  https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/vbwt/   Trails  which we have adopted (Lost Shoe, North River, and Forest Trails) are found in the Mountain Region.

Volunteers are asked to create and maintain accounts with eBird (https://ebird.org/home) and iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org ) in order to record data on wildlife sightings.  Project coordinators can provide guidance in how to get started with this software if needed.  (WE COULD ALSO PROVIDE LINKS TO TUTORIALS HERE)

Reporting hours in the VMS system.  Volunteers should report their hours in the VMS system using the CS—DGIF Birding and Wildlife Trail Adoption choice in the drop down menu in the Apply to Projects field .

HMN Contact for information/guidance.  Sandy Greene (Forest Trails loop); Cheryl Shull (North River Loop);  I’m Not Sure Who (Lost Shoe Loop)