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Each year, the VMN program creates a special recertification pin to recognize those volunteers who have completed another 40 hours of service and 8 hours of continuing education during the year.  Each pin highlights a different Virginia native species, and the artwork has been almost entirely by VMN volunteers.  

For our 2019 recertification pin, we decided to invite all VMN volunteers to submit photos and artwork representing aquatic invertebrates.  Nearly all of our VMN chapters are engaged in monitoring the quality of local streams, often using biological monitoring methods.  These methods involve seining and searching for aquatic invertebrates, which are then identified and classified by their tolerance to pollution.  Healthy streams will have a diversity of pollution intolerant animals, such as stoneflies and caddisflies.  If streams receive a lot of sediment or other pollutants from runoff, they become poor habitat for these species.  

We had nearly 30 different entries, all of which showed the passion and talent of our VMN volunteers.  We asked three experts in aquatic ecology and invertebrates to choose the artwork they felt would be the best fit for our pin.  

We are excited to not only share the winning artwork (featured above) by Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer Rachel Caro in our Holston Rivers Chapter , but also all of the submissions (below).  We think this collection is such an amazing and diverse representation of these important creatures.

Click on any image in the gallery to enlarge it and to see the name of the artist.

This is an update on a project we have written about previously.
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Virginia Master Naturalist and public help is requested for an ongoing study of Eastern Spadefoot toads in Virginia.  Very little is known about the distribution and habits of this species in Virginia.  Researchers think this frog is more common and more widespread than what is currently known.  This is why they are seeking help in increasing knowledge about this secretive frog.  

Identifying characteristics include: 

• Vertical oriented pupils
• Brownish colored body (the color is highly variable)
• Two yellow lines running along the back
• 2-3 inches long

For more pictures of Eastern Spadefoots and look-alike toads, visit the Virginia Herpetological Society website.  You can also listen to recordings of their calls there.

Places to Look and Listen

• Roads near wetlands
• Vernal pools (temporary bodies of water which dry up by the end of the summer)
• Ditches
• Swimming pools
• Flooded agricultural fields

When to Look

• After heavy rains, perhaps during any month of the year

How Can You Assist in This Project?
If you make any observation of an Eastern Spadefoot, then take several digital photos of it from side view and a back view.  You may also digitally record it calling.  Please send digital photos, recordings, or any observation (including location information) to Jason Gibson at Patrick Henry Community College and Travis Anthony at Reynolds Community College.

This project is a collaborative project of Patrick Henry Community College, Reynolds Community College, the Virginia Herpetological Society, and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Article contributed by Hannah Updike and other members of the VMN-Pocahontas Chapter

Lee Hesler, a beloved volunteer and leader of the Virginia Master Naturalist’s Pocahontas Chapter, passed away last week. Lee’s legacy of leadership and many, many accomplishments will live on. 

Lee initiated the Pocahontas Chapter’s Vernal Pools chapter project, and then expanded it into a statewide project. Vernal Pools Monitoring is now a statewide effort to identify and monitor vernal pools (isolated wetlands) on public lands. Vernal pools support a unique suite of organisms and are critical habitats for the breeding and early life stages of certain amphibians. The data collected will be used by multiple Virginia agencies, with a long-term goal of contributing to a regional and national database for research and conservation efforts on these habitats.  The project won the VMN Volunteer Project of the Year award in 2016, and Lee was a Volunteer of the Year nominee that same year.
 
Lee and his wife, Jane, began the Bluebird Monitoring project at Pocahontas State Park. The park now has 50 nest boxes and about 200 chicks are fledged each year. Monitoring nest boxes greatly increases nesting success and gives volunteers an opportunity to see the complete life cycle. As is evident from the memories and stories shared by several VMNs, the Bluebird Monitoring project is a powerful and meaningful volunteer opportunity, and we are indebted to Lee and Jane for their work. 

Lee also served on the Pocahontas Chapter board as a member of the Basic Training Committee. He will be greatly missed by the Pocahontas Chapter and all those who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him. 

Below are a few stories and memories from members of the Pocahontas Chapter.  

If you are a hunter, you may be aware that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has management plans for deer, bear, wild turkey, and other game species. These plans are developed with stakeholder input and revised periodically.  They guide the management of these species and their habitats.  
 
Until now, there has not been a management plan to support wildlife viewing.  While there are overall declines in hunting and fishing, national data suggests continued growth in wildlife viewing.   Wildlife viewing is an important part of DGIF’s strategic plan to increase participation in outdoor recreation.  In fact, Virginia is the first state to include wildlife viewing in their R3 (“recruitment, retention, and reactivation”) initiative.  For these reasons, DGIF is partnering with researchers at Virginia Tech to develop a management plan for wildlife viewing.
 
Development of the plan will include input from a Stakeholder Advisory Committee, data from surveys, and results of focus groups.  VMN Director Michelle Prysby is serving on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee alongside representatives from many other organizations with an interest in wildlife viewing (bird clubs, herp clubs, butterfly clubs, wildlife photography groups, and more.)  Our collective role is to guide the agency’s vision and goals for how to best engage and work with wildlife viewing groups, foster conservation activities, promote viewers’ enjoyment of wildlife, and meet the needs of viewers via projects and programs.  We are also tasked with sharing the progress of this planning process on a regular basis through opportunities like this newsletter article.
 
The goal is to create a plan that is technically sound, based on evidence from wildlife viewer input, and publicly acceptable.  The Stakeholder Advisory Committee hopes that the plan will help increase wildlife viewing opportunities, increase access to places for viewing wildlife, and improve communication with DGIF relating to wildlife viewing.
 
You may be wondering, “Am I a wildlife viewer?”  For the purposes of this plan, a wildlife viewer is someone who intentionally finds, observes, listens to, records, photographs, or interacts with wildlife or visits parks and natural areas because of wildlife.  That definition probably includes most of our Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers!
 
Some of you may be invited to participate in a survey of wildlife viewers this fall, and you’ll receive more information about that when it is available.  Meanwhile, we will keep you posted as the plan develops.