It’s a Wrap! …. The Great Backy

Not all of the figures and data are in but as of February 25th, checklists that have been submitted surpassed 158,000 and 5,500 species were reported, topping 50% of the world’s birds from more than 130 countries.  The collective spirit of such an event provides an impressive weekend of tallying birds around the world. The…

Penny’s New Nest

My new ‘nest away from nest’ for the next couple of years will be New Mexico as my youngest son decided to attend St. John’s College in Santa Fe.  Many thanks to him for choosing the Land of Enchantment! All went well for the late August orientation and start up of the freshman year and…

Living the Frog Life at the Wildlife Center

This was written by HMN and Wildlife Center of Virginia (WCV) Front-Desk Coordinator Kate Guenther and published on the Wildlife Center’s website on May 8, 2015. It is reprinted here with Kate’s permission. The WCV pond was part of our Headwaters Master Naturalists’ 2013/2014 Focus Project, coordinated by Kate, to create wildlife habitat around the…

Hone Quarry Walk with Chris Bowlen

Two members of the 2015 basic training class were joined by a few other chapter members for a wildflower-focused walk around the Hone Quarry Recreation Area with Headwaters Master Naturalist and botanist Chris Bowlen on Friday morning, May 8, 2015. RoxAnna Theiss took some notes about what was presented. Elaine Smith kept a list of…

Botany with Eric Jones

We were truly fortunate to have Dr. Eric Jones address our class on April 16.  If enthusiasm is the hallmark of a great teacher, he is the best. Here are some things he taught us about exploring for wildflowers: There are clues about natural settings that will help us determine what we can expect to…