Pocahontas Chapter - About Pocahontas VMN
Transcription
Pocahontas Chapter - About Pocahontas VMN
Virginia Master Naturalist Pocahontas Chapter Newsletter February 28, 2015 Important Dates Board Meetings A Note from Lesha Sundays: 4-6 PM April 12th Next meetings TBA Continuing Education Bird Banding w/ Julie Kacmarcik April 25th 9 am Rockwood Park Nature Center How You Can Share What You Have Learned Without a doubt, the most-often mentioned reason that people become interested and involved in the Master Naturalist program is because they want to learn more about the environment. We are a curious bunch-our desire to understand and explore the world around us kept us glued to our chairs throughout those weekly evening training sessions that put us all on the path to VMN membership and certification. According to a survey conducted by the statewide program in early 2013, 87% of those who responded said that the education Watchable Wildlife w/ provided through our basic training sessions was most Jessica Ruthenberg important. And I can't say enough good things about the content May 16 of our courses and our instructors-there is no doubt that their 9-Noon Rockwood Park Nature enthusiasm and expertise are priceless. Center However, looking beyond Year One, we see that engagement in Checkout the State VMN VMN activity declines to about 50%. (A statistic that is not unique Website for upcoming Webinars and recordings to our chapter, by the way, as the statewide survey puts that number at 47%.) In some ways, I believe this retention of for past sessions. 2015 Basic Training Class Tuesdays - 6-9 PM Swift Creek Dining Hall membership activity into Year Two is to be expected, especially since it seems to be par for the course across Virginia. In another way, I see the numbers from 50% and above as an opportunity for challenge, for increased engagement and for further outreach. I am encouraged by the growing attendance at each of our chapter's Continuing Education events. Our program on bats Class/Field Trip onApril 4th - Herps Field Trip on April 11 Open Spaces Pocahontas Chapter Chapter Officers President Lesha Berkel Treasurer Joel Dexter Secretary Cris Pond Committee Chairs Basic Training Bill Carloni Continuing Education Jim McCord reached nearly 50 members, more than one-third of our total membership! We can be proud of these programs that meet our thirst for knowledge and bring us together regularly to share our common interests. The work that we do as environmental stewards may seem less glamorous at first, and we use more muscle than brain to remove invasive species or clean up trails and waterways. But encounters with the flora and fauna that reside outside the classroom allow us to put our skills into practice. We have learned to observe more closely, use guidebooks and keys for identification, and factor in unusual occurrences, like weather. Connecting with our state park, public programs, schools and groups to lead educational activities is also part of our mission. Once we learn, we can share that knowledge in ways that are memorable and fun. I especially encourage you to seek out opportunities at the Nature Center as an easy way to get started. Finally, I would love to hear your feedback about what our VMN chapter can provide to ensure that you have ample opportunity to remain engaged and to help you develop tools and strategies that will build our participation from Year One into Year Two and beyond! Warm regards, Lesha Volunteer Projects Karen Daniel Outreach/Program Planning Libby Bourne Membership Alice Warner Webmaster Rich Marino Communications Tom Yates Chapter Advisor Special Interests and Other Topics We are such an interesting and diverse group of Naturalist. Our members lead, support and volunteer over a wide spectrum of topics and interests. We travel and experience new things and places. If you are participating in something or have travels you want to share with your fellow chapter members, please email your story or info to Tom Yates [email protected]. We will include your information in future editions of the chapter newsletter. Keith Morrison PSP Bluebird Monitoring - Volunteer Opportunity Hello current and "future" Bluebird monitors, Many people have seen Bluebirds in their yards staking out nesting sites for this year. We hope they will be ok after all this cold and snowy weather we have been having. Looks like we may have another late start to the nesting season. We don't think much will be happening until the last week in March or early April. However: We can always use more Bluebird Trail Monitors after the nesting starts so if you are interested please send us an e-mail and we'll sign you up in SignUpGenius. All we expect is that you peruse the training literature on the chapter website and then join in a monitoring session for on-the-job training. We check the schedule and make sure an experienced monitor will be there. If a monitoring time slot has already been selected and is shown filled - don't worry. Just come and join the group - more folks are always welcome. It is a very pleasant way to start the day. If you received an invite from SignUpGenius you are already signed up and ready to go. On the Chapter Website, the Bluebird information is located under the Volunteer Projects. Everything you need is there. It is a great information resource and is worth a read, even if you choose to not participate in the actual Bluebird Trail Monitoring. Jane and Lee Hesler Project FeederWatch - Tell Us about Your Observations A number of chapter members participated in Project FeederWatch this past season. Running from November to early April, observers watch and count the numbers of each species of birds that visit their feeders and designated watch area. It is nice to see the variety of birds and to watch their behaviors as they interact with others of their same type and other species. If you have interesting observations, stories, helpful feeder hints or pictures from this past season, please pass them along and your input will be shared in future newsletters. Send your information to Tom Yates at [email protected]. Chesterfield County Vernal Pools Project - Update Hello everyone, Things are changing. We are aligning our vernal pool data sets with the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC). This means our data will be combined with all the North Atlantic vernal pool data from Virginia north into Canada. This will increase the impact of our data as well as possibly obtaining monies to support our programs. We are changing some of the data we are collecting and have eliminated some data that were determined to be of little value. The DataSheet is new and can be downloaded from the resources tab on CitSci. We have also added many other documents in the resource tab as handy references. The salamander population is always under pressure from something - the fungi and bacteria now encroaching require us to be careful not to move contamination from one pool to the next. If you must drive to the next pool you are checking, you should sterilize any equipment used and your boots. Anne Wright, Susan Watson and Lee Hesler If you are interesting in supporting the vernal pools monitoring project, contact Lee Hesler. Basic Training - 2015 Bill Carloni is heading up our chapter's VMN Basic Training Class for 2015. It is hard to believe but this year's group of Master Naturalists are nearly finished with their training and are getting ready to launch. On deck in April are the following: Combination Herpetology class and field trip on April 4th. There is also a field trip on April 11th for Open Spaces. The Class of 2015 is heading into the home stretch. April 21st Graduation will be here before you know it! 2015 Regional VMN Conferences - Dates and Venues Selected Hello VMN volunteers, I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the beginning of spring! I am writing to let you know that we have set the dates and locations for our four regional continuing education conferences for 2015. These are one-day events that will be replacing the statewide conference this year, but we'll be returning to a statewide conference again in 2016. We are testing the idea of holding these regional events to develop better networks across chapters in close proximity to one another and to provide more field training tied to projects relevant to your region. So, please mark you calendars for the event below corresponding to your chapter: Central Region: Saturday, August 29 at Holiday Lake 4H Center, Appomattox, VA The central region includes Alleghany Highlands, Rockbridge, Central Virginia, Central Blue Ridge, Central Piedmont, James River, Rivanna, and Headwaters chapters Southeast Region: Sunday, August 30 at Airfield 4H Center, Wakefield, VA The southeast region includes Riverine, Pocahontas, Historic Rivers, Historic Southside, Peninsula, Tidewater, Eastern Shore, and Northern Neck chapters Southwest Region: Saturday, September 26 at Hungry Mother State Park, Marion, VA The southwest region includes Holston Rivers, Beagle Ridge, New River Valley, Roanoke Valley, Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes, and Southwest Piedmont chapters Northern Region: Sunday, September 27 at Skyland Resort, Shenandoah National Park, Luray, VA The northern region includes Old Rag, Shenandoah, Banshee Reeks, Fairfax, Arlington Regional, Merrimac Farm, and Central Rappahannock chapters We will be reserving participation in these regional events to volunteers that are members in those regions. However, if space is still available after a period of closed registration to the region's volunteers, we will open up registration to volunteers in any chapter. We look forward to seeing many of you this fall! Cheers, Alycia Continuing Education Opportunities John Zeugner/Wes Robinson will present "Mosquitoes - Life Cycle, Habitat, Threats and Benefits" at the University of Richmond's Jepson Center, on April 8th from 7-9pm. This opportunity is brought to you by the Sierra Club Falls of the James Group. The event is free. (The invitation is not intended as an endorsement of Sierra Club's advocacy mission, some of which may be incompatible with VMN policies.) Julie Kacmarcik is presenting a class on Bird Banding. This will be held at Rockwood Park Nature Center on April 25th at 9:00 am. Julie "Kaz" is also a talented photographer and posts photos on the Richmond Audubon Society webpage. Check it out athttp://www.richmondaudubon.org/photosbanding1.h tml. DGIF's Jessica Ruthenberg will hold a class and field trip on Virginia's "Watchable Wildlife" on Saturday, May 16th from 9;00-noon at Rockwood Park's Nature Center Suggestions for a class or field trip ... or CE questions Contact Jim McCord, Continuing Education Coordinator for the Pocahontas Chapter VMN with questions. Email: [email protected] Pocahontas Chapter - VMN Mentor Project Hello Fellow Master Naturalists, Do you remember being in the MN class and wondering what was available, who to contact, and where your interests and talents could be used as a volunteer? A need exists to help our students transition from the classroom setting into active volunteering. We are looking for a few members to be a contact for students to receive assistance and guidance as they launch into volunteering. As a contact, or "mentor" you would provide information and help facilitate communication and/or coordination with appropriate members or organizations to connect the student with the right people. Attached is a document of examples so you can have an understanding of what a mentor's role might be. As a mentor, your name and contact information would be provided to the class members. You might find this to be a very rewarding experience! If you are interested, please contact Cris Pond at [email protected] for additional information, and to proceed. Volunteer Projects The month of April is my favorite month of the year. Temps warm up, flowers and trees bloom, and volunteer opportunities abound! I can't remember when we had something to do almost every week in a month. If it is not directly on one of the attached projects, JRA is working out at Belmead, there is Vernal Pool monitoring, Blue Bird monirting, Bat Monitoring,...all sorts of things are happening as this beautiful place we call home comes to life for Spring. Take a look at this list of events for updates and new items. Give me a shout to help or if you have other questions. Also in the attachment are flyers for both Explore the Outdoors and Presquile Field Day. Please print, post and share with friends and family. There are no better free events for everyone. Presquile does require registration to attend due to the boat ride to the island. (Volunteers do not need to register). A note to the Bat Project Volunteers - There is now a stand-alone project listed in the VMN for accounting for hours. Please use "Pocahontas Bat Project" for future hours recording. As always, thank you for all you do and will do. Let me know if you have any questions or to volunteer. Karen ================================================= VMN Upcoming Events - April 2015 April 11th Presquile Field Day Presquile Island, managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Services, is closed to the public except for special events like the Field Day. I am looking for volunteers to help with parking, a VMN table and if someone would like to give it a try, a nature walk. Volunteer a couple of hours and also enjoy everything the island will have to offer at this time of year - a Pontoon Boat ride over to the island with perhaps a glimpse of a magnificent Sturgeon, a walk around the island searching for migrating birds and maybe even a marsh canoe paddle. If interested, contact Karen for more info. April 18 Crestwood Elementary Nature Fair On April 18, from 11 - 2, Crestwood Elementary is having their annual nature fair. The school is looking for a couple volunteers to set up a booth/table with a nature activity. If any of our Rehabers have the opportunity, they would love some live animal demonstrations. If interested in supporting this effort, please let me know. The fair contact is Jennifer Heidlebaugh, 8789415 [email protected]. This was announced earlier. Please let me know if you had contacted Jennifer to volunteer. We need to coordinate the volunteers. (I should have done this from the start!) April 19th Explore the Outdoors We are still taking volunteers for this event being held at the grounds of PBS which is adjacent to Huguenot Park from 1:00 to 5:00. Staying the entire time is not required. We have several activities planned and would love to have the help. If you can't volunteer the day of the event, you can still help. As an activity, we will be making Pine Cone Bird Feeders. We would appreciate donations of pine cones, bird seed and/or lard. These need to be nut free due to potential to come in contact with participants with allergies. Contact Karen for coordination or more information. April 23rd Fort Lee Earth Day Help out on Thursday, April 23, 2015 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fort Lee's Earth Day Celebration. Daryl Downing is heading this event. This year's event will include indoor educational displays and hands-on exhibits highlighting Environmental Stewardship with an intended audience of children in Grades 3-5. The event is open to local third through fifth-grade students, Military and Civilian Personnel, and the Fort Lee Community. They estimate that fewer than 500 school children will attend this year's event. Please contact Daryl if you would like to help out [email protected] April 25th Girl Scout Bug Badge Presentation The Bensley Service Unit troops are camping at Pocahontas State Park the weekend of April 26th. The Brownie Program Leader for the event has asked us to present a program for the Brownies to complete the requirements for their Bug Badge. The exact time has not yet set but will likely be 9:00 to 11:00. If you would like to assist in this presentation let me know. VMN Upcoming Events May 2015 May 6th Girl Scout Troop 3247 is taking a trip to New Point, VA. As a service project, they are picking up trash on the beach the morning of May 30. The troop leader has asked if the VMN could present a program to the troop about what they can do to help conserve the environment. The lead and I have had some discussion about presenting a program about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and how our day to day activities affect the bay. This is not set in stone. The girls are 6 yrs to 10 yrs old. The troop meets at St. Marks United Methodist Church in the Community Life Center at 11551 Lucks Ln, Midlothian, VA 23114. Event is scheduled for May 6th 6:00PM but is flexible. We need at least two or three volunteers for this presentation. The chapter can help with development and materials. Please contact Karen if interested. ================================================= Volunteers Needed for Project Sparrow Swap! Dr. Caren Cooper at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in partnership with the Virginia Master Naturalist program, will be working to develop a new citizen science project this spring to address the problem of house sparrow competition with native songbirds for nesting sites. This project is associated with the National Science Foundation project that David Mellor had been leading for our program, so participants will be asked to enroll in this larger research study. Project Description: Interested volunteers will use tools available through CollaborativeScience.org to explore the dynamics of competition between house sparrows and bluebirds for nesting sites and to co-design field and experimental protocols. The Sparrow Swap involves testing the effectiveness of using fake eggs to dupe house sparrows into attending a failed nest for as long as possible. The NC Museum of Natural Sciences will provide participants with fake eggs to swap into house sparrow nests, and participants will send real eggs to the Museum for curation into the collection. What Participation Entails: We are recruiting both project leaders and project members for this citizen science project. Project leaders will: Participate in 2 ½ hours of an online training course (broken up into 9 modules) related to project development and implementation Participate in two to five online discussion sessions with team members Lead and recruit volunteers in related project activities Use online tools available at collaborativescience.org to develop and implement the project Participate in surveys associated with training material Participate in interviews with project team Project members will: Participate in 34 minutes of an online training course (broken up into 3 modules) related to broad project participation Participate in two to five online discussion sessions with team members Participate in project activities Use online tools available at collaborativescience.org to develop and implement the project Participate in surveys associated with training material Participate in interviews with project team Together we will: Rigorously investigate best practices for songbird stewardship If you are interested in learning more about this project and how to be involved, please contact Alycia Crall ([email protected]) with your name, chapter, and email address. We will be setting up an online meeting in the near future with the project team to provide additional details and our next steps. ===================================================== Volunteering Reminders: Check the chapter website for Volunteer Project details and contact info for all ongoing projects. I also encourage you to sign up for the Friends of Pocahontas notifications. There are several ongoing projects the Friends manage which count towards volunteer hours for VMN. Be sure to get new projects approved ahead of time and add your hours for volunteering. Remember to log your hours in the Volunteer Management System each month by the end of the month. This is especially important for year end reporting of Chapter activity and participation to the State Coordinators. Reports are run monthly showing how many hours were volunteered and also for new members especially to meet your 40 hours to complete certification. We should remember to log our park volunteer hours on the State Park site as well. Our hours help the parks show involvement and obtain needed funding. Take care and VOLUNTEER MORE! Karen Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally, May 8-9 Every year the Naturalist Rally Committee assembles a wide variety of excellent field trips with leaders who are experts in their field. Their goal is to make the Mount Rogers area ecology understandable and interesting for everyone, from inquisitive amateurs to accomplished naturalists. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: Friday, May 8 5:00 PM - Registration begins, Konnarock Community Center. Fee is $8 for each person 18 or older. Registration online is greatly appreciated! 5:30-6:30 PM: Chicken supper prepared and served by the Konnarock Community Association at the Konnarock Community Center. Prepaid reservations for supper are required. Tickets for the dinner will be limited to 150 so make sure you reserve early. The cost is $13.50 per plate. 6:45 PM: Welcome, introductions of field trip leaders, lastminute announcements. 7:30 PM: Featured speaker: Jennifer Frick-Ruppert Saturday, May 9 7:00 AM: Continuing registration. Anyone who has not registered should do so. 8:00 AM: Morning field trips. Signs will be on the building for the field trips, so meet at the one you are interested in. 11:30 AM: Lunch break (hot dogs and drinks are for sale at the center or bring your own.) 1:00 PM: Afternoon field trips For more information and to purchase tickets, click below: Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally - 2015 February 2015 Membership Data, Pocahontas Chapter Total Membership - 114 Certified - 48 Inactive - 11 Trainees - 41 Chapter Partner/Instructor - 1 Total Volunteer Hours - 270 Continuing Education - 65 Miles Driven - 1326 Member Milestones 250 Hours: Tom Yates 500 Hours: n/a 1000 Hours: n/a Certifications: n/a CONGRATULATIONS Order your own Pocahontas Chapter Master Naturalist polo shirt! Orders can be placed directly with our vendor at 804-748-9254 or [email protected]. Shirts can now be ordered at any time. Our new vendor is able to do individual orders. http://pocahontasvmn.org/ For more detailed information on volunteer opportunities, Chapter events and newletter copies, visit us on the web! And look for us on FaceBook Pocahontas Chapter Virginia Master Naturalists 10301 State Park Road Chesterfield, Virginia 23832