Eunice and Leslie prepare for Floppy Hour. Photo by Ann V. Murray.
On Thursday, October 30th, Leslie Sturges from Bat Conservation and Rescue, along with VMN President Eunice Sill and other volunteers, delivered an engaging and educational program at Ciders From Mars in Staunton. Leslie showcased a Big Brown Bat, which she enlarged on a screen for everyone to see. The event featured bat bingo, and attendees enjoyed a lively, bat-themed Halloween celebration. The tables were full, and the community had a great time learning about these fascinating creatures.
Ann V. Murray
The Big Brown Bat shown on a monitor. Photo by Ann.
Leslie posing with the Flappy Hour Bat. Photo by Ann.
Andrea Dono, Adrie Voors and Pete Cooper enjoying a day of monitoring along the Middle River. Photo by Andrea Dono.
Master Naturalists and certified benthic macroinvertebrate monitors Adrie Voors and Andrea Dono joined Friends of the Middle River’s Pete Cooper to assess the water quality of the Middle River at Honeysuckle Hill. Monitors are assigned a site each fall and spring to collect longitudinal data on the water’s health. By netting macroinvertebrates and sorting the aquatic insects, they can identify organisms that require clean water to survive, helping to evaluate the river’s overall health.
For example, mayflies and stoneflies are intolerant of pollution, while black fly larvae and scuds can tolerate lower oxygen levels and are more pollution-tolerant. Pete explained that FOMR has been “collecting and identifying aquatic macros to the family level for about 15 years, making us one of only two citizen science organizations (to the best of our knowledge) in Virginia to do so. Most others identify macros only to the order level, which provides less scientifically robust and accurate data. Until now, we have been using order-level identification, so we haven’t fully realized the potential of the data we’ve been collecting.”
The group hopes to host a field day in the spring in Augusta County to introduce master naturalists to this activity and gauge interest in future monitoring efforts. Each time Adrie and Andrea have monitored, they have found something unique — this time, a recently molted stonefly that was white, whereas they are typically dark in color.
Andrea Dono, HMN Secretary
Pete sorting aquatic insects. Photo by Andrea.
Pete sorting aquatic insects. Photo by Andrea.
Andrea and Pete preparing to sort through the latest netting. Photo by Adrie.
On October 17th, I led a small group of Master Naturalists and some of their family members in a stargazing session at Starry Meadows, the property of Headwaters Master Naturalists Sharon and Jay Landis. This property lies north and west of Harrisonburg and enjoys relative freedom from light pollution.
After a day of perfectly clear skies, clouds rolled in just as we were about to begin. Fortunately, there was partial clearing soon thereafter, and the evening was not a loss. Even with thin cloud cover, Saturn shone brilliantly in the southeastern sky, viewed through a 4-inch refracting telescope. We located some double stars, various star clusters, and I was able to capture a surprisingly good image of the large but somewhat dim galaxy in the constellation Triangulum, Messier 33. Using a green laser pointer, I highlighted some of the more prominent constellations. Even with the sub-optimal conditions caused by the cloud cover, the dark sky at Starry Meadows remained an inspiring sight.
Although the night was not particularly cold, stargazing involves a good deal of standing still, and there were no objections when I suggested we wrap up a little after 9:00 p.m. I chose these dates intentionally to avoid moonlight, allowing us to better appreciate deep-sky objects. I am considering holding a session next spring focused on the Moon, highlighting lunar surface features, along with some visible planets at that time.
Zack Perdue
Group enjoying night sky. Photo by Andrea Dono.
M31 Andromeda Galaxy. Photo captured by Andrea Dono using the Unistellar app.
M13 Hercules Globular Cluster. Photo captured by Andrea Dono using the Unistellar app.
We are pleased to share from Virginia Working Landscapes the launch of their brand-new Milkweed in Virginia: Identification Guide. While many are familiar with Common Milkweed and Butterfly Weed, did you know that Virginia is home to up to 14 different Milkweed species? This guide features six of the lesser-known species that you may come across in the landscape, helping you identify and appreciate the diversity of Milkweed varieties across the region! Click HERE to
