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From Our Sponsors – Spring 2017

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Checking in with Natural Heritage

The Virginia Natural Heritage Program with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation released their annual newsletter last month.  The Virginia Natural Heritage Program’s mission is to conserve Virginia’s biodiversity through biological inventory, data management and sharing, environmental review, land protection, and the stewardship of the Virginia Natural Area Preserves System.  

In the newsletter, you can learn about Virginia’s newest Natural Area Preserve, actions taken to protect one of Virginia’s largest populations of hibernating little brown bats, confirmation of an endangered mussel in Nelson County, the discovery of globally rare plants and natural communities, and more.

Virginia Master Naturalists volunteer with Natural Heritage in several ways.  They help provide education, citizen science, and stewardship at the Natural Area Preserves.  VMNs reported more than 800 hours of service at nine Natural Area Preserves in 2016.  This work is most notable on the Eastern Shore, where Dot Field, the VMN-Eastern Shore Chapter Advisor and Eastern Shore Region Steward, says, ​”They are true extensions of my eyes and ears and my hands and feet.  Quality stewardship of Natural Heritage resources on the Eastern Shore would not be possible without Master Naturalist volunteers.”

Virginia Master Naturalists also have been collaborating with Natural Heritage on the RareQuest project, through which VMN volunteers visit and document occurrences of rare species across the state.

Along with being extremely supportive sponsors of the VMN program since its inception, Virginia Natural Heritage Program staff have led classes and field trips for VMN chapters and co-developed our Virginia Biogeography curriculum.  Natural Heritage vegetation ecologist Gary Fleming generously shared his high-quality photos and descriptions of Virginia’s natural communities for use in our curriculum materials.  You can watch a video version of his presentation on our curriculum page.


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From Our Sponsors – Winter 2017

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New Publication on Wildlife Habitat Management

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has released a new version of the publication “Managing Land in the Piedmont of Virginia for Birds and Other Wildlife“.  This handbook, available as a free PDF, provides information for private landowners on improving and maintaining habitat on their properties.  Although it covers habitats found in the Piedmont, these same habitats are found in other physiographic provinces as well, so this primer is useful across the state.

Last Call for Photos!

VDGIF is still accepting submissions for their annual photo contests, up until Monday, February 6.  We have traditionally had several Virginia Master Naturalists be winners or runners-up in the contest.  Consider submitting your best shots to one of this year’s categories: Virginia Fauna, Virginia Landscapes, Textures & Patterns, or The Sporting Life.  Full contest details can be found on the VDGIF blog.


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Calling All VMNs!  Atlas season is upon us and the VABBA2 needs your help.

PictureGray Catbird nest. Image by Bob Schamerhorn, provided by VABBA2.

By Ashley Peele, Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas 2 Coordinator     

Spring is in sight and season two of the second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas (VABBA2) is about to launch!  In preparing for season two, we’d like to look back at what we learned and accomplished in season one, 2016.  First, Virginia is an incredible place to survey birds.  Between the mountains and valleys, the rolling Piedmont, and the rich Coastal Plain, Atlas volunteers identified over 205 species of birds and confirmed 174 of those species are currently breeding.  They reported over 684,000 birds to the project!  (For more details, check out our Season One Summary at http://amjv.org/resources_vabba2/Season2016Summary_Final.pdf.)
 
Interestingly, most of the data received this year comes from areas where the most people live.  This makes sense!  We tend to bird the areas closest to home first.  However, this year we’re asking volunteers to begin looking at blocks a little further from home.  You often don’t have to look far outside your community to find where the Atlas coverage drop away.  There are so many awesome breeding records just waiting to be confirmed in the rural Piedmont or out in the mountains or even in your own neighborhood, so please consider field excursions to those areas.

The second remarkable thing about this first season is the volunteer birder community, including many Virginia Master Naturalists, who pitched in from all over Virginia.  By the end of the summer, over 450 volunteers contributed to the Atlas project.


PictureObserving waterfowl at Belle Isle State Park. Image by VMN-Northern Neck Chapter.

Many volunteers are still new birders and learning much as they go along.  In fact, everyone involved (myself included) had some learning curves.  However, Atlasers collectively demonstrated that learning these new tools is doable and worthwhile.  The energy and willingness to learn demonstrated by many VMNs has set a great example for other volunteers.  We thank them for all they’ve done to contribute and promote birding for conservation with the VABBA2. 
 
Exciting new project updates are on the horizon for our next field season.  Cornell has now upgraded eBird mobile and volunteers can enter all field observations for the Atlas (including breeding codes!) with their smartphone!  Additionally, the VABBA2 project will be putting on a series of training workshops around the state this spring. 

​Current dates include:

  • Central Training Workshop at Ivy Creek Nature Preserve, Charlottesville on March 25.
  • Northern Training Workshop at Frying Pan Farm Park, Fairfax County, on April 1.
  • Eastern Training Workshop at VSO Annual Meeting in Richmond, May 6.
  • Western Training Workshop – Date and time are TBD. 

Sign up for an Atlas block with our Atlas Block Explorer Tool found at www.vabba2.org.
Follow us at Facebook.com/vabba2 and check out our eBird portal at ebird.org/atlasva.


Calling All VMNs!  Atlas season is upon us and the VABBA2 needs your help. Read Post »

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In Search of Spadefoots

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Article submitted by Jason Gibson, Patrick Henry Community College

Faculty at two  community colleges  are  collaborating with the Virginia Herpetological Society (VHS) and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to get citizens all around the state to contribute observations they make on the Eastern Spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii).  Very little is known about the Eastern Spadefoot in Virginia, due to it secretive nature.  It is believed that this frog is much more common and occurs in many more locations than what is currently known.  In order to get citizens all over Virginia looking for this frog, they have created a wanted poster.  It is their hope to fill in distribution gaps and perhaps gather some basic phenological data on this species.  It is also their hope to evaluate how effective a wanted poster is in getting citizens to contribute information about specific species.  

The Eastern Spadefoot is recognizable by its vertically-oriented pupils and the two yellow lines running along its back.   Up close, you might also note the “spade”, a black projection on the foot that is used for digging; this species spends much of its time underground.  Its call is a short, low-pitched “waaaah” that some liken to the sound of a crow.  Learn more about the Eastern Spadefoot and listen to its call on the VHS website.

Virginia Master Naturalists should keep eyes and ears out for Eastern Spadefoots, especially after heavy rains, and submit observations, including photos and call recordings, to Jason Gibson and Travis Anthony.  Amphibian and other wildlife observations can also always be submitted (with a photo) to the Virginia WildlifeMapping project.  A downloadable version of the poster is provided below so that you can also spread the word to your fellow naturalists and frog-lovers.


eastern_spadefoot_poster__final_version_.pdf
File Size: 534 kb
File Type: pdf

Download File


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