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Headwaters Master Naturalists August 2020 Newsletter
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August 2020 Newsletter 


As we head into the end of summer and beginning of school for so many, VMN Program Director Michelle Prysby continues to advise us to use virtual programming as we still see spikes in Covid-19 and have yet to get it under control.
 
Therefore, the current format of this newsletter will continue until we are safe to attend events again. So, if you have a book, video, or website that concerns nature or the environment and would like to share it in the newsletter, please email me with the title and author or URL and a sentence or two of why you like it.




Saturday, 8th

Global Sleep Under

the Stars Night!!!




Read or Watch!


Books to Read


Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, 2013. Fiction.

Review by Stephanie Gardner: Flight Behavior is a 2012 novel by Barbara Kingsolver.  A young woman walks into the woods to meet a man for an extramarital affair, an escape from the small-town Appalachian life and marriage in which she has long felt trapped. Her plans change when she witnesses a stunning natural phenomenon that will upend and change her life. Character development, a good story, and science writing follows. As in her other works of fiction, Kingsolver uses a narrative to teach humans to better live with the natural world. 


Recommended by Elizabeth Pass: The following books are from several articles on the best books for teaching about nature and the environment to a variety of ages. I've listed them in alphabetical order and group by ages.

Rocket Says Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon and illustrated by Dapo Adeola, Random House Books for Young Readers, July 2020. Fiction.
Ages 3-7 

This delightful book is the second featuring Rocket, who this time is going to the islands to visit her grandparents. With her friends, they try to surf and explore the beach but find it littered with trash and decide to clean up the shoreline. This is a wonderful story about environmental awareness.

 

Taking Time by Jo Loring-Fisher, Lantana Publishing, April 2020. Fiction.
Ages 5-8 years 
Introduce young children to poetry and the environment with this wonderful poem. Loring-Fisher shows children how to slow down and relish nature around them with her poem that shows children around the world interacting with nature.



Match a Leaf: A Tree Memory Game by Tony Kirkham and illustrated by Holly Exley, Lawrence King Publishing, 2018. Non-Fiction.
A card-matching game for children (and beginners identifying trees...I bought it!) with illustrations and information about trees from all over the world. Learn about trees while having fun!




Match a Pair of Birds: A Memory Game by Christine Berrie, Lawrence King Publishing, 2015. Non-Fiction.
Another card-matching game for all ages beginning to learn about identifying birds. Male and female pairs of 25 birds from all over the world make for an interesting and fun game!




Butterfly Wings: A Memory Game by Christine Berrie, Lawrence King Publishing, 2019. Non-Fiction.
With this third card-matching game and the previous two, all three would make a great gift (even if that gift is for you)! This game contains 25 pairs of upper sides and undersides of the wings of 25 beautiful species of butterflies.




Sibley Backyard Birding Flashcards: 100 Common Birds of Eastern and Western North America by David Allen Sibley, Potter Style, 2012. Non-Fiction.
Ornithologist David Sibley's David Sibley's Field Guide for Birds has been redesigned into these flashcards of 100 common birds from Eastern and Western North America. These flashcards are focused on the beginner and backyard birder and narrowed to North America.



Backyard Birds Flashcards: Eastern & Central North America by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Princeton University Press, March 2020. Non-Fiction.
Like Sibley's, Cornell Lab of Ornithology's flashcards are more narrowly focused than the matching-game cards. Cornell's flashcards cover beautiful illustrations of 110 species of Eastern and Central North America, information, range maps, and downloadable apps that link to birdsong vocalizations.



Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay by William W. Warner, Back Bay Books, 1994. Non-Fiction.
William W. Warner, a long-time administrator of the Smithsonian and 1977 Pulitzer Prize winner for General Non-fiction for Beautiful Swimmers, received much deserved praise for this book. Warner gives us a highly researched yet beautifully written exploration of the blue crab, the watermen who spent their lives working the Bay, and the consequences of urbanization on the communities' way of life and the Chesapeake Bay. 
 



Saturday, 15th

World Honey Bee Day!!!



 
What to Watch, What to Do, What to Check Out

 
Continuing Education Opportunity:
Truffles in the Southeast, Dr. Jeanine Davis, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist with the North Carolina Alternative Crops and Organics Program
Tuesday, 18th, 6 pm, webinar

This webinar is somewhat more related to agriculture than natural resources, but it does relate to alternative forest products, so we thought it might be of interest to some VMNs. Dr. Davis will provide an overview of truffles, NCSU’s research, and the status of the industry. NCSU has done some work with inoculating hazelnut roots with the high-end black Périgord truffles, as well as some less valuable species such as burgundy truffles. They also have begun to look at oak-truffle associations, too.

Webinar title: Truffles in the Southeast
Time: August 18, 6:00 pm
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 975-6214-3794
Dial by your location
    +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
    +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
    +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
    +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
    +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
    +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

Questions? Contact the host for this webinar:
Phillip Meeks
Extension Agent
Agriculture & Natural Resources/
Powell River Project
Virginia Cooperative Extension, Wise County
P. O. Box 1156
Wise, Virginia 24293-1156
Phone: (276) 328-6194
FAX: (276) 328-5902
E-mail: pmeeks@vt.edu


Orion Magazine
Orion Magazine is one of my favorite magazines! The print version (I get both print and online) is beautifully and substantially put together. The magazine consists of poems, photography, and in-depth articles by some of the most well-known writers and artists in nature, environmental, and cultural concerns. Contributors include such contemporary greats as Rebecca Solnit, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Diane Ackerman, and Chris Jordan.   


REMINDING AGAIN!

Membership Chair Jean Stephens would like to remind everyone to remember to post his or her volunteer hours and CE hours on the Virginia Master Naturalists Volunteer Management System for the first half of the year. Thank you!
 


Tuesday, 25th

National Park Service

Founders' Day!!!


 
Find more Naturalist-related public events on our website calendar.
News and Nods
Early, immature stages of the spotted lanternfly are wingless and black and have white spots that develop to red patches.


New Project for Headwaters Chapter:
Spotted Lantern Fly

 

Spotted Lantern Fly is now officially listed as a project for Headwaters Chapter

Spotted Lantern Fly (SLF) is a new invasive insect pest that has the potential to impact farmers and homeowners. Detection by citizen scientists has been very successful in Pennsylvania and a pilot project in Virginia has provided valuable information and records in 2018. SLF has been detected in the Winchester, VA, area, and recently in Warren County (Front Royal). It appears to be moving along the Route 11/I-81 corridor. For that reason, Virginia Tech Extension would like to set up monitoring stations for early detection in as many counties in Virginia as possible and they are asking Master Naturalists to help.


It is not too late to start this project as the adults are just starting to emerge in late summer. Ailanthus altissima, aka Tree-of-heaven, is a favored host for the adults. If you have a Tree-of-heaven on your property, especially if you live near Route 11/ I-81, PLEASE consider volunteering for this project. There are two types of traps: one type is a band of sticky tape that goes around the tree, the other is a screen ‘cage’ that is screwed and tied onto the tree. You need to check the traps at least once every two weeks and enter the data into Virginia Tech’s database. That is all! The traps need to be in place until early October.


If you are interested in doing this project or if you want to and are not sure if you have a Tree-of-heaven, or just want more information, please email Chris Bowlen or call her at 540-289-6801.


For photos of this latest pest and more info visit:  ext.vt.edu/spotted-lanternfly


Volunteer Opportunity:

Photographers, VMN Needs a Specific Photo


 
I am passing along a thank-you to VMN volunteers who have provided photos for the Socrates Project's guide to poisonous plants. They have gotten almost all the photos they need, but are still seeking photos of one species, Blue Monkshood (Aconitum uncinatum), taken by a VMN volunteer (not grabbed from the internet or other sources).

If you have a photo that you have taken of this species that you are willing to share, or if you have a known population of this plant that you can go photograph, please contact Don Hearl directly. He is the volunteer coordinating the photo aspect of the publication. Please be sure of your species identification.
 
Cheers, 
Michelle Prysby
VMN State Program Office
HMN Board Meeting 

Saturday,  October 10 | 3 pm-5 pm           

NOTE: In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we may not be having the meeting physically but in an online format. Or, depending on the situation, we may need to postpone the meeting. We will be able to make a determination closer to the meeting date.

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Office
The Ice House
217 S Liberty St,  #204

Harrisonburg

Click on map image to find Google directions
 
All members are welcome and encouraged to attend Chapter Board meetings. Questions? Contact Board President Brian Lux.
Submissions, please!

The HMN newsletter and website need your input! Please send articles, photos or ideas to Elizabeth. Newsletter item deadlines are the Monday of the last week before the following month's issue.

Wind your way to our naturalist-related events calendar for our area. Contact Elizabeth if you know of events to add to the calendar.
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