Category: Projects

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 about 25 years ago. The team also looked for other plants which are not usually found in Augusta County, but which had been sighted at Magnolia Swamp in the past.

The site is well named—extremely swampy. “Yeah, there were probably only 5 or 6 times when my boot came really close to getting sucked off into the mud,” quipped Kathy Byers. The mucky terrain crisscrossed with trailing vines and seemingly endless patches of Johnny in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) was well worth the effort required to navigate the swamp though. Multiple small patches of swamp pink (Hellonias bullata) were located and plotted on the RareQuest Collection Map. Other finds included Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris). Both plants were on the state botanists’ list of species (rare for that area) which they hoped to find at Magnolia Swamp!

The best find of the day, however, was made by HMN Chris Bowlen, who located Filipendula rubra in an isolated corner of the property after fighting her way through mud, brush, and lots of bugs. VDCR botanists were delighted to find that the Queen was still resident in Magnolia Swamp. Keep in mind that none of these plants were in bloom at the time the team was at the site—so recognizing them involved careful scrutiny of a set of leaves growing among endless other green leafy things. An impressive feat!

After the success at Magnolia Swamp, another Headwaters RareQuest team (this time including project coordinator Chip Brown along with Chris Bowlen and Peggy Plass) headed to a RareQuest site in Page County on June 25 to look for lowland loosestrife (Lysimachia hybrida). This site was soon dubbed “greenbriar swamp” by the team, who had to contend with nearly constant snagging of clothes and skin by the thorny plant.

The prickly terrain, coupled with the extravagant and multifaceted songs of what was apparently a very large group of roosters living on the adjacent property made for an exciting morning outing! Once again, Chris Bowlen was able to identify a small patch of what the team hopes is Lysimachia hybrida. With photos sent off to the state RareQuest coordinator for hopeful validation, HMNs will plan to make another visit in early July (when there’s a better chance that the plant will be flowering), hoping to obtain data needed to confirm the sighting.*

More RareQuest outings are planned for later this summer. If you have an interest in being part of the project (this summer or next year) contact Chip Brown for more info!

– Peggy Plass, Cohort IV, July 2017

More about RareQuest from the Virginia Master Naturalists’ website HERE.

All photos by Peggy Plass.

Top photo is of Chris and Kathy (just behind Chris) looking for plants at Magnolia Swamp. Gary Fleming from VDCR is with the camera. 

Kathy, on the road to reach Magnolia Swamp.

Jack in the Pulpit, one of many found at Magnolia Swamp on the rareQuest outing.

Bolete mushroom, Page County RareQuest site.

*Update August 2017, from Elaine Smith, Cohort IV: 

We were informed by the state RareQuest coordinator that the June 25 find in Page County was not the loosestrife, but another, more common plant, Rhexia virginica, a meadow beauty.

On July 22, Chip, Chris, Jan Worthy and I went back and found it! We logged our find into the Rarequest app.

Find Elaine’s photos from the trip posted to a flickr album HERE. Photo at right of the target plant, lowland yellow loosestrfe, is taken from one of Elaine’s photos.

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 was to attend a training session at JMU organized by the study leaders, Jake Lemon and Seth Coffman, where we were told about the study: its purpose and scope, and the protocols to be followed. At the end, we were issued our supplies, which included the temperature loggers, as well as several 24″ long pieces of rebar.

As you may have guessed, the purpose of the study is to monitor the temperature in several streams in the Shenandoah River drainage. As global air temperature rises, the effect on stream temperatures will be different at different locations. For example, a stream fed by an underground source will not warm up as much on a warm day as one fed mostly by surface water. Trout Unlimited’s interest in this comes from the fact that trout thrive in cold water streams, but do poorly if the temperature gets too high.

Our little group was given four locations on Beaver Creek near the village of Spring Creek in southwestern Rockingham County. After locating a site using the GPS coordinates we had been given, one of us waded into about the middle of the stream and pounded one of the pieces of rebar into the stream bed until only about 5″ protruded above ground. The temperature loggers (see photo at right) are encased in PVC pipe with holes that allow water in, with one set of holes reserved for sliding the whole thing over the rebar. Hose clamps tightened around the rebar above and below the logger keeps it in place.

We were instructed to locate the loggers near the given sites, with a couple of other considerations: they should be shaded during the day if possible, and they should be located in a spot that will remain underwater even during the driest part of the summer.

Our first attempt a placing a logger was complicated by the fact that there had been a torrential rain a few days before, which meant that the stream was much too fast and deep to be able to pound in the rebar (ever tried swinging a hammer under water?) Thus, we were forced to wait a few days for the water to recede. However, in the end we were able to place three of our four loggers without much difficulty. The fourth location was on private property whose owner politely declined to allow us onto his land.

The loggers will sit in the streams until September, when we will go to retrieve them. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can find the locations again, and that the loggers will still be where we put them!

– Carl Droms, Cohort II, April 2017

Top photo is of Morgan Martindell, Carl Droms and Ben Martindell at Beaver Creek Site Number 1 on April 5th taken by Adrie Voors. 

Early in 2017 Harrisonburg’s Stream Health Coordinator Trey Jarrels invited HMNs to help save tree seedlings along Blacks Run in Purcell Park. Planted last year by representatives of The Nature Conservancy, the trees are part of a ten year joint project begun in 2008 to improve the health of Blacks Run whose waters find their way to the Chesapeake Bay. The online Nuevas Raíces has a nice overview of the project here.

Since being planted, the Blacks Run riparian area has become overrun with Japanese hops among other invasives. The hop vines had literally pulled the seedlings down to the ground. On Friday, February 24 eight HMNs and a friend worked with Trey and two Nature Conservancy representatives to come to their rescue. Now dry and brittle the vines were fairly easily pulled off and away from the struggling seedlings. The hop vines’ seeds are set so their control will require ongoing attention. We provided the freed tree seedlings with added support from wooden stakes and landscape tape ties.

The banks of Blacks Run in Purcell Park receive frequent doses of unwelcome litter as each rain event brings run off from large swaths of surrounding impermeable surfaces. We collected some of this as we made our way along the western edge of the park. We ended the morning by pulling up empty tree tubes from previous plantings which also often turn into litter after heavy rains.

More about Japanese hops from the National Park Service here. “The vines grow rapidly during the summer, climbing up and over everything in their path and can form dense mats several feet deep, blocking light to plants underneath. Hop vines also twine around shrubs and trees causing them to break or fall over. It is invasive in riparian and floodplain habitats where it displaces native vegetation, prevents the emergence of new plants, and kills newly planted trees installed for streamside habitat restoration. Hop can quickly cover small trees hiding them from view… ” Yup! We also discovered the effectiveness of the prickles covering the vines helping them grip and causing abrasions to uncovered skin.

-Adrie Voors, Cohort II, February 2017

Purcell Park is a unique urban stream restoration that has been very beneficial to the city of Harrisonburg.  With your work and environmental stewardship throughout the city we hope we can continue to create and maintain our project areas.  Thanks again for your assistance … -Harrisonburg Stream Health Coordinator Trey Jarrels

More photos of our “winter” morning in the Park:

Chris Shaw and Chris from the Nature Conservancy save a tree.

Ann Murray strolling the buffer.

The recreation in Parks & Rec turns to litter.

Sue Gier

Chris Bowlen

Ann with Kate hamming for the camera

End of work gathering near a pile of collected empty tree tubes.