historic rivers chapter the naturalist · 23 oct wbc walk new qtr park 0700-1000 shirley devan 23...

HISTORIC RIVERS CHAPTER

1 October 2010 http://historicrivers.org

The monthly newsletter of the Historic Rivers Chapter

Virginia Master Naturalist Program

http://historicrivers.org

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTERVO LUME 3 NO. 1 JANUARY 200 Volume 4 No. 10 October 2010

Advanced Training

Page 3, 9, 10 & 11

Oyster

Restoration

Part II

Page 5

J. Norwood Darling

Pages 8—9

Message from the president

· Invasive species alter ecosystems to a large de-gree with the native community accommodat-ing invasive species without catastrophic conse-quences

· Bay ecosystem is stressed: Adaptive manage-ment is needed to address future and current invaders

· Environmental degradation of the Bay has been occurring since colonial times with wide annual temperature and salinity ranges challenging invasive species

· Temperature in the Bay is rising: Expect more invaders; global warming; number of non-native species is increasing

· Bay has changing habitat with climate change: 50% of wetlands will be gone because of sea level change; tidewater is shrinking; have large changes in biota

· Stakeholders now have a comprehensive awareness of what is being done to control in-vasive species in the Bay – Climate change is happening

· Expects large, unknown associated economic impacts

VIMS is an Excellent Resource for the HRC

We have a tremendous resource in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (known as VIMS) for members of the Historic Rivers Chapter. In addition to their teaching and research missions, VIMS hosts after hours lectures monthly, discovery labs for youth, and special sessions such as the one that follows. On September 22, 2010, I attended their day-long stakeholder’s meeting, which was sponsored by a NOAA grant to the Chesapeake Bay Na-tional Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia. The pro-gram focused on ―What’s Happening to Our Native Plants and Animals?‖

Dr. Roger Mann, VIMS Professor of Marine Science, gave a keynote for the day on ―Chesapeake Bay Invaders: Past, Present and Predictions for the Future.‖ Much of his talk presented rather alarming data for the future and antici-pated quality of life on the coastal plain of VA. A few of his main points follow:

· Bay is an open receptor system with multiple and continuing threats

· Currently, 170 invasive species exist in the Bay

· Non-native and exotic species are the second big-gest threat to native biodiversity

Managing Sustainability

at NQP

4

On Their Way to

Mexico

Page 15

THE NATURALIST

Conserva-tion of Rep-tiles & Am-

phibians

Page s 10-11

Plant Walks

Page 22



CHAP T E R

OF F I C E R S 2010

PAGE 2

Bruce Hill, President

Ted Sargent, Vice President

& Programs Chair

Patty Maloney and Lois Ull-

man, Secretary

Jim Booth, Treasurer

Barbara Boyer, Newsletter

Editor

Felice Bond, Historian

Alice Kopinitz & Jeanette

Navia, Host

Shirley Devan, Membership

Susan Powell, Volunteer Ser-

vice Projects

Bruce Hill & Shirley Devan,

Training Chair

Dave Youker, Advanced

Training

Adrienne Frank & Gary

Driscole, Outreach Commit-

tee

Seig Kopinitz, Webmaster

Dean Shostak, Field Trip Co-

ordinator

Patty Riddick, Member-at-

Large

Evelyn Parker, Member-at-

large

COMMITTEES

Volunteer Service Projects

Susan Powell, Chair

Advanced Training

Dave Youker, Chair

Training Committee

Bruce Hill & Shirley Devan, Chair

Outreach/Publicity

Adrienne Frank, and Gary Driscole

Notes from the Board

All meetings of the Board of Directors are open to members.

©2010 Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalist Program. No parts of this newsletter may be reproduced with-out permission of the Board of Directors of the Historic Rivers Chapter. Contact: [email protected]

Virginia Master Naturalist programs and employment are open to all, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, relig-ion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

The State Apiarist, Keith Tignor, talked about keeping honey bees healthy and productive. Due to urbanization, there are environmental prob-lems with the utilization of habitat, buildings, infrastructure, and power plants as they all infringe on the natural habitat for honey bees. There is too much asphalt and concrete. European honey bees have existed in Virginia for 400 years, according to the Apiarist.

Field zoologist, Christopher Hobson, from the Department of Conser-vation and Recreation, described white nose syndrome in bats. This disease is a threat to bats on their face, wings and ears in N. America. It’s a white fungus that causes wing damage and depletes body fat so the bats are unable to reduce their metabolism to a correct level during hibernation. Since February 2009, the mortality rate in VA is > 90 % and the disease is spreading rapidly.

The final speaker, Kevin Heffernan, stewardship biologist, Depart-ment of Conservation and Recreation, talked about early detection and on-line reporting tools for invasive species. This will be a new capability for real-time record keeping on invasive species. He mentioned he would be interested in having VA Master Naturalists participate in the on-line reporting of this infor-mation to his office. This merits our learning more about what’s needed and intended. Other speakers from various state-level agencies completed the ros-ter of presenters.

As you can tell, I truly enjoyed the day at VIMS. I encourage more members of the HRC to attend their programs. For members of Cohort V, this is an opportunity to become better informed about ongoing VIMS science and to stay abreast of events and activities on the Chesapeake Bay. The website that describes VIMS events and dates is VIMS e-Tidings at: [email protected]. For those of you who have not been to VIMS, it’s located on the York River in Gloucester Point, VA, and is an affiliate of Wm & Mary

Bruce F. Hill, President

Historic Rivers Chapter

Virginia Master Naturalists

See two additional Cohort V biographies on page 4

Continued from Page 1



PAGE 3 Basic Training for Cohort V: October – December

By Shirley Devan, Training Committee Here is the upcoming Basic Training schedule through December: October 5: Plant Biology [location is Jamestown High School] October 19: Geology of VA [change from original schedule] October 30: Field Trip – Wetlands Ecology [Saturday – all day] November 2: Dendrology [change from original schedule] November 13: Field Trip – Geology [Saturday all day] November 16: VA Indigenous Cultures December 1: Weather and Climate [Wednesday -- new date] December 4: Wildlife Mapping [Saturday – Advanced Training – location TBA] December 7: Entomology December 8: Chapter’s Holiday Party [Wednesday location TBA]

Except for field trips, almost all classes will be 6 – 9 pm in the Multi-purpose Room at the Human Services Building, 5249 Olde Towne Road, Williamsburg, VA. [Exceptions are noted above.] Members who attend Basic Training classes get Advanced Training hours.

Date Title Location Time Remarks/Contact

October

1-3 Oct Wonders of Wetlands & Vernal Pools various sites in Northern Neck various Call 804-333-3525, ext. 113 for more information

3 Oct HRBC Walk Newport News Park 0700-1000 Jane Frigo

8-10 Oct Eastern Shore Fall Festival Eastern Shore All day

Birds, butterflies, dagonflies, ecology

http://www.esvafestivals.com/

9 Oct WBC Walk New Qtr Park 0800-1000 Shirley Devan

16 Oct HRBC Field Trip Eastern Shore 0800-1200 Dave Youker

16 Oct WBC Field Trip Chippokes Plantation 0700-1200 Shirley Devan

17 Oct HRBC Walk Newport News Park 0700-1000 Jane Frigo

23 Oct WBC Walk New Qtr Park 0700-1000 Shirley Devan

23 Oct Fall Native Plant Walk Downtown Williamsburg 1000

register at (757)604-1026

or [email protected]

28 Oct The Gulf Oil Spill: A report from the front lines VIMS 1900 Register: call 804-684-7846

November

6 Nov Reptile & Amphibian Conservation in Virginia Human Services Building 0900-1700

Tim Christensen: [email protected] and

Michelle Prysby: [email protected]

7 Nov HRBC Walk Newport News Park 0700-1000 Jane Frigo

13 Nov WBC Walk New Qtr Park 0800-1000 Shirley Devan

13 Nov HRBC Field Trip TBD 0800-1200 Dave Youker

20 Nov WBC Field Trip Little Creek Reservoir 0700-1200 Shirley Devan

21 Nov HRBC Walk Newport News Park 0700-1000 Jane Frigo

27 Nov WBC Walk New Qtr Park 0700-1000 Shirley Devan

Advanced Training Opportunities

by David Youker, Advanced Training Committee



PAGE 4

Everyone in the Historic Rivers Chapter has access to the new ―Volunteer Management System‖ – the online database for recording your Advanced Training and Volun-teer Service Hours. Some earlier problems with Cox or Verizon email addresses have been resolved.

Go to: https://virginiamn.volunteersystem.org/

If want me to trigger the system to send you an-other email, let me know. I can do that anytime and it’s easy so feel free to ask. I have activated everyone’s account and you should have received an email from [email protected] providing you with log in info.

It’s better if you enter your hours as you perform them – daily or weekly. No need to wait until the end of the month. I suggest that you ―bookmark‖ the log in page

I sent out a ―Getting Started‖ note a few days ago to make it even easier for you to get acquainted with the system. I encourage you to read it BEFORE you log in.

You may want to have a hard copy on your desk as you log in the first time and enter your first hours. Relax! It's not hard!!

If you have not already done so, enter your hours for July, August and September. As the year-end ap-proaches, the Board members will start preparing the An-nual Report to send to the State Coordinator. Please don’t force us to pester you for your hours!

Remember, we're piloting this software for the rest of the state, so we're all learning together. Other VMNs in Virginia will benefit from our experience and learning.

If you have questions, please contact me. As an Administrator, I can look at your records and fix entries or problems you may encounter.

Thanks as always for your cheerful support.

Additional Members of Cohort 5

Geoffrey Giles grew up in close proximity of the Chesapeake Bay as his family always lived near a river,

first the Magothy and then the Severn rivers in MD. Hence, he enjoys being in and on the water. He

earned a degree in sociology from Duke University and had a career in the Air Force, mostly in Europe.

He is multi-lingual. He has retired to Williamsburg. His concern is the degradation of habitat, for nature’s

creatures and for our future generations. He wants to learn how to live in our habitat while preserving and

restoring it.

Al Lovelace, originally from eastern North Carolina, earned a BS in education from Barton College and

has masters’ degrees in education from Wm & Mary and ODU. Al has been a teacher for 39 years; also,

he is a Senior Interpreter for Colonial Williamsburg. He was named teacher of the year at Waller Mill Ele-

mentary School. He currently teaches English in middle school. Al and his family have lived in Williams-

burg for 39 years. He’s most familiar with plants.

Log Volunteer Service and Advanced Training Hours in New Online Database

By Shirley Devan, Membership Chair



PAGE 5

In last month’s newsletter, you read the very interesting article about chapter members participating in the VIMS/Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s oyster restora-tion program, preparing oyster shells for implanting the baby oysters (spats) onto the shell. Well, ―Oyster Resto-ration Part Two‖ took place on Aug 31st and was just as much fun, hard work, and dirty as the first part! My day might have been even a bit more enjoyable since we worked with the Coast Guard and got to spend some time out on the water – and the weather was great (even if a bit hot).

Our day began shortly before 9 a.m. waterside at VIMS. Jackie Harmon, from CBF, explained the process of how the previous group had prepared the oyster shells for receiving the oyster sperm, storing the shells in large baskets submerged in tanks filled with bay water, and getting the spats to attach themselves to the shells. (Did you know that there is a shortage of oyster shells? I’m sorry that I didn’t write down names of the other volun-teers, but one man I met actually collects shells from lo-cal restaurants and seafood events, stores them, and takes them to VIMS.) We spent the first couple of hours sort-ing the shells into smaller, more manageable baskets and loading them into a U-haul truck. Some of the shells were just loaded with spats; others had only a few at-tached.

The next step gave us a break. We caravanned for about 45 minutes to the Coast Guard station just north of Matthews. I rode with ―Tommy‖ - an alumnus of VIMS, now a long time employee and an original with the restoration program, and still a waterman

who knows his oysters! We towed one of VIMS’ boats, a 21 footer. Once at the Coast Guard station, the men stationed there were fantastic. They quickly transferred all those baskets of shells onto one of their larger boats and, along with Jackie at the helm of the VIMS 21 footer, set out to one of several oyster reefs that CBF is building. Once on station, Tommy used an oyster rake to pull some from the reef to check their progress. The reef ob-viously is healthy, with some naturally occurring oysters already attaching themselves to the seeded ones. We then made several transfers of the shells from the Coast Guard boat onto the 21 footer, using it to make passes along the reef and dispersing the shells over the side. All volunteers got the opportunity to empty baskets since they tend to get heavy.

After that, the day’s work was done, and we had a relaxing boat ride back to the station and then on to VIMS, arriving about 2:30. The day was rather tiring but exceptionally rewarding, just knowing that we had participated in a major effort to restore the oyster popu-lation in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The oysters are marvelous little animals that have an amazing filtration capacity. If you have the opportunity to be involved in this program, do it; you’ll enjoy it!

Les Lawrence

OYSTER RESTORATION – PART TWO

Making concrete molds to use for oyster spat because of the shell shortage

Photo Courtesy of Les Lawrence



PAGE 6

The Historic Rivers Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists contributed funds to help the Jamestown High School team travel to California to compete in the National Envirothon. Many in-

dividual members also contributed funds. Below is a report from the team.



PAGE 7

Backyard Wildlife Mapping Scene 5: The Wren and the Flycatchers

By Larry Riddick

A colonial bird bottle is outside our door, A Christmas gift many years before. It hangs on a nail where we are able

To see it clearly from our kitchen table.

It was quickly spotted by Carolina Wrens. Sure enough, they were the first to move in.

Over the years they've used it the most, We've always felt honored to be their host.

This year a young male started a nest

To entice a mate, trying his best To show her it was the best to be found,

But alas she declined and is no more around.

Undaunted he remained a constant sight, Unwilling to concede his property rights,

While the bottle stood vacant for weeks on end, With the wren still unable to attract a girlfriend.

One day new arrivals caught our eye.

Two Great Crested Flycatchers happened by It became obvious they were on a quest To find a good cavity and start on a nest.

They examined the bottle and made up their minds,

For raising a brood it would serve them just fine. They gathered materials and worked on a nest, Failing to realize they were unwelcome guests.

The pugnacious wren showed up on the scene, And soon that bird bottle was empty and clean.

Adding insult to injury, showing he was the boss, He stuffed up the bottle with his own leaves and moss.

The flycatchers left, no more to be seen,

Looking for neighbors who won't be so mean. The bottle's unused, no family therein.

We have our regrets for what might have been.

Nesting flycatchers would have been nice to see, But with Carolina Wren it was not to be.

We can only observe what happens outside. Mother Nature's in charge. She does preside.



Each spring, the changing seasons draw thousands to the sunny coast of Florida. Fort Myers, on the Gulf Coast, is hailed as a ―Top Ten‖ visitors’ destination for rest, rejuvenation, and preparing to show off color! Natives also enjoy swimming, wading and diving in the warm tidal waters of the gulf coast. But images that spring to mind should not be of sun-tanned college coeds, frol-icking in swim trunks and bikinis. The masses de-scribed are the birds!

J.N. ―Ding‖ Darling National Wildlife Refuge, located on Sanibel Island, just off the coast of Fort Myers, is one of the top ten birding spots in the nation. It is where thousands of wading, swimming and diving birds can be found feeding off the mangrove mudflats. During the fall and spring migration of songbirds, it is a resting place and source of food for the birds heading north. And for Jay Norwood Darling, it was one of his favorite places for bird watching.

Jay Norwood Darling was born on October 21, 1876 in Norwood, Michigan. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Sioux City, Iowa where Jay’s father was to assume a ministry. Jay’s childhood years spent exploring the open prairies spurred his love of nature and conservation. His first attempt at college (attending Yankton College in South Dakota) was cut short when he and some friends decided to ―borrow‖ the presi-dent’s horse and buggy for an evening of fun. He con-tinued his studies the following year at Beloit College in Wisconsin. While his love of nature pointed him to-ward studies of science and medicine, Jay’s main focus eventually fell toward his work as art editor of the col-lege yearbook. In fact, his nickname ―Ding‖ came from these yearbook days when he began signing his work as a contraction of his last name: ―D’ing‖. Unfortunately, Ding’s cartoons of various faculty members caused trouble for him again, though this time resulting only in a temporary suspension. He finally graduated in 1900 having been very much influenced by his biology profes-sor, who taught him to see the world as a whole and complete system of ecology. It was this frame of think-ing that influenced the rest of his life work.

Just out of college, Ding took a job as a reporter for the Sioux City Journal. In 1906 he married Genevieve Pen-dleton and for the next 13 years, bounced between jobs for papers such as the Des Moines Register and Leader, the New York Globe, and the New York Herald Trib-une. Finally, in 1919, he returned to Des Moines to continue work as a syndicated cartoonist. Ding’s car-toons were published from 1917-1949 and in 130 dif-ferent newspapers across the country, twice earning him the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Throughout his life, Ding’s love of the outdoors wove its way into all that he did. In his leisure time, he was an avid hunter and angler. He also used his position as a syndicated cartoonist to bring national attention to issues that alarmed him. His satirical, political cartoons consistently addressed environmental concerns such as wildlife exploitations, the destruction of irreplaceable waterfowl habitat and the need for conservation.

Ding’s publishing influence and devotion to the envi-ronmental cause did not go unnoticed. Although he was not a supporter of President Franklin D. Roose-velt’s New Deal programs, and despite the fact that he had no prior experience with wildlife management, Ding Darling was recruited in 1934, to serve on the President’s Committee for Wildlife Restoration. Soon after, he was appointed Director of the Bureau of Bio-logical Survey (later to be called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). During his 18 month tenure, his vi-sion and enthusiasm aided the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Act in 1934, created the Federal Duck Stamp Program (designing the first stamp himself), or-ganized the General Wildlife Federation (later to be called the National Wildlife Federation), created the Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit Program, and promoted the observance of National Wildlife Week.

Still today, the Federal Duck Stamp Program (officially known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act) provides a continued source of revenue used for purchasing migratory waterfowl habitat. The acquired lands are maintained as refuges for wildlife, but through agreement, are also partially opened for

Jay Norwood ―Ding‖ Darling – Naturalist and Cartoonist

Continued on next page



PAGE 9

controlled waterfowl hunting. 1.8 million stamps are sold each year, selling for fifteen dollars apiece. Since 1934, the Federal Duck Stamp Program has raised $671.1 million for habitat conservation with ninety-eight percent of every dollar being used to buy or lease wet-land habitat for wildlife conservation. In addition, Dar-ling’s work with this program yielded an agreement from every arms and ammunition supplier in the nation to contribute ten percent of their gross receipts to federal conservation programs.

Jay Norwood Darling resigned from the Biological Sur-vey in 1935 and officially retired from the Des Moines Register in 1949. From that point on, he reserved his cartooning for special conservation efforts. On Septem-ber 17, 1950, Darling was honored at the dedication of Lake Darling State Park in Brighton, Iowa for his efforts in fostering the conservation movement Iowa. Darling attended this dedication where as an honored guest he closed the valve on the spillway, completing the im-poundment process. Over the following decade, the momentum of his work continued to spur on the growth of the National Wildlife Refuge program, creating 279 refuges encompassing 29 million acres by 1961.

Jay Norwood ―Ding‖ Darling died on February 12, 1962. He was remembered as ―the best friend a duck ever had‖! After his death, the J.N. ―Ding‖ Darling Foundation was organized to carry on his work. In 1965, the J.N. ―Ding‖ Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Flor-ida was designated in his honor. Not only was it one of his favorite places for bird watching, but it was one of the

first land lease acquisitions that Darling arranged during his tenure with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The State of Florida had been preparing to sell off the 2,200 acres of mangrove wetland to developers for a mere fifty cents an acre. This refuge is now part of the largest unde-veloped mangrove ecosystem in the U.S., famous world-wide for its bird populations and one of the most visited refuges in the nation. In 1982, the ―Ding‖ Darling Wild-life Society, Inc. was established with a mission to pro-mote understanding of the natural environment of South-west Florida through educational programs, exhibits and celebrations, and also assists in the continued purchase of land for the refuge.

So, when the seasons start to turn and the warm weather beckons, head on down to sunny Southwest Florida to meet the masses – of birds, that is! Thanks to Jay Nor-wood ―Ding‖ Darling.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Norwood_Darling

http://www.dingdarling.org/

http://www.dingdarlingsociety.org

http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling

http://www.stateparks.com/lake_darling.html

Prepared by Rhonda S DeChirico

Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalist

Continued from previous page

SAVE THE DATE

Holiday Party—December 8, 2010

Details soon!



PAGE 10

Above is a picture of attendees at the first workshop on Conservation of Reptiles and Amphibians in Virginia held Sep-tember 4 at the DGIB Rice Center/office in Charles City, Virginia. Historic Rivers member, Tim Christensen, be-low, taught the workshop. (Photos courtesy of Alice Kopinitz)

A second workshop will be offered November 6th in James City County (see more information be-low)

Susan Watson & Tim Christensen presenting the Conservation of Reptiles & Amphibians in VA

Save the Date!

Conservation of Reptiles and Amphibians in Virginia workshop

Saturday, November 6, 2010

9:00 am—4:30

Tim Christensen

James City County Human Services Building

5240 Olde Towne Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188

This is a FREE workshop but you must register in advance to ensure that there are enough materials for everyone. Register by emailing BOTH Tim Christensen at [email protected] and Michelle Prysby at [email protected]. It's preferred that you register via email if possible.

https://webmail.east.cox.net/do/mail/message/mailto?to=mtnc066%40msn.com

https://webmail.east.cox.net/do/mail/message/mailto?to=masternaturalist%40vt.edu



PAGE 11

Native Gardening workshop By Kathi Mestayer

Special seminar this fall Author and University of Delaware professor, Doug Tallamy will be joining us November 1st Author of Bringing Nature Home: A Case for Native Gardening From the author's website: "Chances are, you have never thought of your garden - - indeed, of all of the space on your property - - as a wildlife preserve that represents the last chance we have for sustaining plants and animals that were once common throughout the U.S. But that is exactly the role our suburban landscapes are now playing and will play even more in the near future." Seating is limited; please call (804) 751-4401 to reserve seats, or e-mail Susan Edwards at Chesterfield Co-operative Extension, [email protected] We expect a full house, so register soon. Free admission. Monday, November 1, 2010 7:00 - 8:30 pm John Tyler Community College, Midlothian Campus Science Building, Multipurpose Room 800 Charter Colony Parkway Midlothian, VA 23114

Note from Sara Lewis:

Master Naturalists -

Don't forget that Project Budburst is an approved project for volunteer hours. You can go to their website at http://www.budburst.ucar.edu/index.php and register your yard as an observation site. The "Participate" tab leads you through the step by step instructions. You decide which plants you're going to watch and report phenological (first flower, first fruit, all leaves dried, etc.) Under the "Resources" tab, there are pages about each plant and what to look for. I'm register to watch my bee balm, columbine, spiderwort, and dandelions!

This is an easy way to get volunteer credit while making a contribution as a citizen scientist and learning more about the plants in your own backyard!

https://webmail.east.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.budburst.ucar.edu%252Findex.php



PAGE 12

Are we reaching a biodiversity tipping point?

September 25, 2010

Sara E. Lewis

Sustainable wetlands restoration projects take a holistic approach, restoring habitat and wa-ter quality through restoring living shorelines, tidal and non-tidal wetlands, riparian corridors and other essential watershed features.

On Wednesday, September 22, I attended a seminar at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sci-ence (VIMS) in Gloucester Point, Virginia, entitled “What’s Happening to Our Native Plants and Animals?” The series of talks began with a presentation by Dr. Roger Mann about inva-sive species in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake is one of the world’s largest estuaries with its mouth opening to the Atlantic Ocean in southern Virginia and its headwaters in New York State. This bay, in my back yard, was probably invaded by 16th century explorers, but it was certainly invaded in 1607, when the English came to the North American continent that they named Virginia, for the virgin Queen Elizabeth, and established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown (just 3 miles from my home).

By the end of the first hour of the seminar, listeners were generally shocked and depressed. Of course, as environmentalist we already knew about the decline of our keystone species, oysters, and the despoiling of our tidal wetlands by Phragmites australus. But for most of us, these new studies on the impact of non-native species were not well known.

After lectures on honey bees, bats, emerald ash borers and more, the picture of thousands of species once relatively contained and now moving about around the globe came into fo-cus. I realized that the world is a vast reservoir of species that have evolved over tens of thousands of years to support a web of life in their local sphere of influence. After humans discovered that the world is round and began to actively explore it, just a few hundred years ago, we quickly moved species to new places where they were not part of the elaborately evolved system of life.



Microorganisms clinging to the ballast in European ships were spilled into ports on the other side of the world where ships were loaded and new organisms were hiding in the packing material that swaddled Chinese export porcelain. We have been moving tiny life forms as well as all sort of flora and fauna from place to place for hundreds of years. Flower bulbs, trees, slaves, pigs, as well as their crates, food, clothing, all contained a diverse array of additional organisms.

In the end, what all of the presenters at the VIMS seminar told us is that the introduction of new spe-cies causes problems, large and small. Non-natives that thrive can out-compete natives in new lands where they have no predators. In the U.S. Phragmites has overwhelmed plants that tidal wetlands creatures used to eat and kudzu (plants in the genus Pueraria) trollops over the landscape using up all the energy and strangle the life out of native trees. While all non-natives aren’t invasive, like Phragmites and kudzu, all chip away at the healthy biodiversity of an ecosystem.

The problem has grown as we have traveled more and longer distances on ships, trains, and air-planes. Our imports and exports unleash new invaders on unsuspecting natives daily. One presenter showed us movies from the 1950s of space aliens and monsters terrorizing New York City to bring some laughter into the room. Another told us that when the new and wider Panama Canal opened to allow through new supercargo container ships filled with goods from Asia on their way to United States east coast ports, the work of scientists, inspectors and regulators would greatly increase.

So the phrase I want to introduce to you today is “sustainable biodiversity.” Our biodiversity is threat-ened; our Chesapeake Bay oysters are no longer commercially viable in part due to invasive para-sites. But can we bring them and other stressed native species back? Can we contain the loss of bio-diversity? What is a sustainable level of biodiversity loss and how shall we limit the impact of invad-ers?

There are many ways, but there isn’t enough effort being spent to eradicate invasives and maintain the a healthy level of biodiversity. This is a big problem that is increasing as the world warms. Non-natives that thrive in a new ecosystem quickly out-compete weakened natives. The web of life unrav-els very quickly indeed.

Follow my blog posts as I work to sustain biodiversity by giving a few stressed species a hand.

Reprinted from world.edu with permission:

Go to Sara's latest blog post at Williamsburg Woodpecker to read more and see videos about honey bee colony collapse and research on nurturing native bees to fill the gap. http://saraelewis.blogspot.com/2010/09/honey-bees-versus-native-bees.html

http://saraelewis.blogspot.com/2010/09/honey-bees-versus-native-bees.html

http://saraelewis.blogspot.com/2010/09/honey-bees-versus-native-bees.html



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During the five years that I have worked for York County at New Quarter Park I've watched the Japanese Stilt Grass problem grow. If I knew what I know today, I would have been more vigilant to guard against its near establishment in the park. Hindsight is always 20-20, as they say. Our work will be more difficult, but there is still time to manage it now, I believe. Especially since the hot summer has had an impact on its late and less abundant seeding this fall. The Asian annual grass came to the United States in 1919. It had been used as packing material around imported por-celain and some of its seeds escaped in Tennessee. Since then, the grass has thrived in a variety of habits in the east. It seems to love our moist soils and shady forests. Because it has no predators here, not even the herds of White-tailed Deer, it keeps growing and going. Seeds found there way into New Quarter when it was opened to the public in 2005. Typically, the seeds are carried by animals (including us) and fall into disturbed soil along roads. Japaneses Stilt Grass got a foothold alongside the path to New Quarter's floating dock first, I believe. I watched it jump over to the road to the point. All along the edges of the hiking trails you can find patches of the stuff, but it's become particularly dense and matted along the floating dock road that passes Loops 1 through 4, where it first took hold. The Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, have taken on the task of eradicating invasive species and developing the first hiking loop as a teaching trail. We plan to nurture a variety of the natives on the first trail that are found throughout the park. The Teaching Trail will be a showcase for the biodiversity of the park and a place where we can model to others how to use native plants to enliven their property. The development of the loop has had a couple of false starts as people who were in charge came and went, but each year we've made a small attempt to eradicate the Japanese Stilt Grass, which can overwhelm and crowd out the natives. This fall, we're trying even harder to eradicate the grass on our Teaching Trail. I am please to report that today I worked with 5 volunteers to pull the grass invading on the floating dock road side of our trail. We made great pro-gress and I am more determined than ever to work with volunteers to eradicate as much as we can from the park. I attended a seminar at VIMS last week about the growing problem of non-native species, especially those that are invasive. Though the presenters didn't talk about Japanese Stilt Grass in particular, I did buttonhole them afterwards about it. The couple of presenters that I talked with encouraged me. They fell that it is important to sustain biodiver-sity in places such as New Quarter, which are just being invaded. Well, it's been five years since the relatively unused land was opened to the public as a park and invaders began to chew away at biodiversity. But Japanese Stilt Grass has-n't become fully established and there's time. Read my blog post on world.edu where I talked more about the problem of invasive species as presented at VIMS last week

Managing for Sustainability at New Quarter Park

By Sarah Lewis

Reprinted by permission from the Williamsburg Woodpecker

Photos re-printed by per-mission from the

Williamsburg Woodpecker

http://www.suite101.com/content/new-quarter-park-near-williamsburg-a63612

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/mivi1.htm

http://historicrivers.org/

http://www.suite101.com/content/spring-yard-care-and-native-plants-a95765

http://www.vims.edu/

http://world.edu/content/reaching-biodiversity-tipping-point/

http://world.edu/

http://www.vims.edu/

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h7CSI7lPauE/TJ5TvTOToDI/AAAAAAAACus/FSRZR9aisSA/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h7CSI7lPauE/TJ5U067ga0I/AAAAAAAACu0/sQpQY-LRGUU/s1600/SeigJeanneAlice.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h7CSI7lPauE/TJ5US6EV5hI/AAAAAAAACuw/qHmZGIihvac/s1600/DSC_0002.jpg



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They Are on Their Way to Mexico

By Linda Miller

On Saturday September 25th, more than 40 guests participated in the Monarch Tagging event at The Williamsburg Botanical Garden, where more than 80 monarchs were released, one by one. Virginia Master Naturalist's Barb Dunbar and Linda Miller "sexed", "tagged" and "recorded" the monarchs raised by Angela Cingale and Clare Britcher, members of the garden. Linda Cole and Pam Camblin are also members of the garden's program committee and will be on hand to plan next year's events.

Also --- a "new" interpretive center has been approved and is slated to be finished by late Spring 2011, allowing the garden to expand its program offerings!

Photo by J. Pritchard

Barb Dunbar, Linda Miller and guest

Here is a monarch with a tag

Photo by J. Pritchard



PAGE 16 Field Trip Updates

Dean Shostak

On Sunday, September 12 several member of our chapter made our way to the cliffs of Stratford Hall for a day of fossil hunting with the Virginia Museum of Natural History. We came back with bags of sharks teeth, whale bones, and a variety of in vertebrae specimen that we are still identifying. One of my twins found her first crocodile tooth. We used our new floating fossil screens that we built for the occasion with great results. Thank you to all who participated. Check out the photos from the day. (Below & Left)

Exciting Update:

Dr. Lauck ―Buck‖ Ward, Curator Emeritus of Invertebrate Paleontology at VMNH has agreed to take our chapter on a private mid winter field trip back to the Stratford Cliffs this January or February. We will try to time it with a lunar low tide that will expose an unusually large stretch of beach. There will be a (probably around $30.00) fee and a minimum number of 20 to make this happen. This is a rare opportunity to have the site to our-selves during a time that should yield quite a bit. Drop me an email if you think this is an adventure for you. VMNH would like to go on a Friday.

Whale Watching

I would like to plan a whale watching trip with the Virginia Aquarium this Jan/Feb as well. No date picked yet. I will call them to set up a group trip with a pre-tour lecture and visit to the aquarium. Here are the details:

Here's a chance to see some of the most magnificent creatures on earth in their natural habitat! Whale watchers will search for humpback and fin whales off the coast of Virginia Beach. Each excursion is narrated by a trained Aquarium educator while experienced volunteers show whale artifacts and answer questions. A unique, excit-ing opportunity for entire families to experience.

You may see brown pelicans, northern gannets, double-crested cormorants and other sea birds, all of which make a dramatic show while feeding on schools of fish. Local landmarks such as the historic Cape Henry Light-house, DeWitt Cottage and the Old Coast Guard Station may also be visible on some trips, as well as interna-tional shipping traffic and U. S. Navy maneuvers. Whale sightings are not guaranteed.

Cruises are offered December through March. Call (757) 385-FISH for more information.

Please note that Whale Watching trips leave from the Virginia Beach Fishing Center at Rudee Inlet, 200 Winston Salem Ave, Virginia Beach

Hours of Operation

I had been planning to have a trip in November to the TFC Recycling Center in November, but that may prove too ambitious with all the other classes, field trips, and projects we have going on here. I will be attending some of the Cohort V field trips, and encourage other members to do the same. We are lucky to have such a great group of folks.

December 27 - 30, 2009 Daily at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.

January 2, 2010 - March 14, 2010 Thursdays & Fridays at 2:30 p.m.

Saturdays & Sundays at 9 a.m., 12 & 3 p.m.



PAGE 17

The group’s best fossils (below)

Shirley Devan sifting for fossils (left)

Alice Kopinitz and Felice Bond looking for fossils

Photos courtesy of Tom Bond

Above and above, right

Photos by Dean Shostak



PAGE 18

Left: Susie Engle-Hill to the rescue. Below: A load of rescued plants ready to travel Photos courtesy of Alice Kopinitz

Native Plant Rescue Project

By Alice Kopinitz

The National Institute of Aerospace is building a new facility in Hampton, VA. The new building is of Leeds construction. I heard an audio piece about Leeds building on NPR. I was intrigued by the idea of a green building. Having toured the Rice Center (an awesome building), I am curious as to what this new facility will look like. I hope that I will be able to tour it at some point.

Back to the focus for this article – native plants rescue. Through the efforts of Lisa Schioler, Director for Research Program Development, our local plant rescuers extraordinaire (Carolyn and Ralph Will) received permission to rescue native plants from the future construction area. Some of the rescued plants will be relo-cated to areas such as the Williamsburg Botanical Garden. The Hampton Master Gardeners participated in a relocation of some plants to Sandy Bottom Nature Preserve. And some of the rescued plants are on R&R (resting in pots and soil at the Will’s and will be replanted in the green buffer zone around the new building when it is completed).

When you arrive at a plant rescue operation, you bring your shovel, gloves, water, sunscreen, bug spray – whatever you need to work outside. Carolyn directs workers to the plants to be rescued. Sometimes, there is a flag or tie to mark the plant, sometimes there is a group of plants growing close together (cinnamon ferns) to collect. Plants are dug, loaded into pots and carried to the perimeter of the project. After the pots are filled, we load them into Ralph’s van.

There is great satisfaction and hopefulness that at least some of the spicebushes, jack in the pulpit, ferns, beech trees, and all the rest will survive in a new location. I highly recommend you try to participate in a res-cue. The physical labor will burn a few calories. You will work in the company of a plant expert. And, you will be helping the planet.



PAGE 19

Farmer’s Market by Linda Miller

On Saturday morning, 9-18-10, Our Chapter presented an exhibit at the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market in Merchants Square.

We were allocated prime space at the intersection of South Henry and Duke of Gloucester Streets. In fact, there was a large stage set up from a previous evening concert which we used as a backstop to prop up some of our exhibits, and which also funneled a large percentage of market attendees right to us.

In addition to representing and introducing the VMN-HRC, we were able to present information on migra-tion of animals to include definitions of the process, description of travel routes of various species, and suggestions of habitat and aid we can provide. (IE: Keep Your Cats Indoors, collision proof your windows with stickers, and arrange your ground litter to provide food and shelter to our animal friends passing through.)

We had quite a number of visitors and all of us enjoyed the opportunity to provide information and intro-duce the aims and efforts of Virginia Master Naturalists.

Thanks to; Felice Bond, the keeper of our Chapter’s treasures for her help, to Pam Camblin, (who really enthralled the young visitors with her Monarch Butterfly hatchery), to Les Lawrence, to Kathi Mestayer, for her displays of food plants and ground litter, to Linda Miller for the preparation and artwork on our posters, Mike Mil-lin, and Ted Sargent for all being there and volunteering their time and considerable efforts to make this adventure a success.

We are planning to provide another event in the Spring. As indicated, we are to provide our exhibit theme to the market organizers so they can incorporate the information in their advertising.

If you have any suggestions between now and next April please e-mail them to me at millerjtmiller @ ya-hoo.com



PAGE 20 NEWSLETTER TITLE

Bio-Survey Day at Fort Monroe

By Sheila Jones-Kerr & David A. Bryan

Thanks to a TogetherGreen grant from the National Audubon Society and Toyota, the Virginia Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program will be teaming up with the Virginia Living Museum for a series of events throughout the upcoming year. The first of our five events - a bio survey at Fort Monroe was held on National Public Lands Day, September 25th.

Located at the tip of Hampton Roads, Fort Monroe was built in the early 1800s as a protectorate of the Chesapeake Bay. The Fort played a major role in protecting the Bay throughout several wars and has a rich cultural history associated with it. Now having been listed under the 2005 Base Realignment and Clo-sure process, the Fort is currently being readied for transfer to the Commonwealth of Virginia in Septem-ber 2011.

While most of Fort Monroe has been devel-oped or impacted by the presence of humans, there are still remnants of natural area left on the northern portion of the base, inclusive of marsh, wetlands, small dunes and beach. Though disturbed, these natu-ral areas allow us to better understand the ecosystems that would have once been vibrant on the property, and they are a part of the larger Chesapeake Bay wa-tershed. Accordingly, the Virginia IBA Program and

Virginia Living Museum will be teaming up to survey the area for birds, insects, plants and aquatics. Hope-fully the data collected will prove helpful to the future transition of this site into the hands of the Common-wealth of Virginia. We had one aquatics/canoe team (VLM), one plant team (VLM), one insect team (Christopher Newport University's Dr. Mike Meyer) and two bird teams (Audubon). The data will probably be used in various ways from the different groups involved, but I know Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ Steve Liv-ing will get it all into the State's database records. Hopefully this will help as the site transitions from the Army to the Commonwealth of Virginia next year and they plan (hopefully) for some restoration on that northern Dog Beach end of the Fort, as well as envi-ronmental education. David A. Bryan Outreach Coordinator Virginia Important Bird Areas (IBA) Coordinator National Audubon Society

Note: Sheila Jones-Kerr represented the Historic Riv-ers Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists during the first bio-survey event.

Photo Courtesy of Lisa Wright, Virginia Living Museum



PAGE 21



PAGE 22

Friday-Sunday, October 1-3: Wetlands and Vernal Pools Weekend

Ten organizations across the Northern Neck are partnering to bring to the region noted wetland and vernal pool

expert Mike Hayslett, Naturalist-in-Residence and Director of the Virginia Vernal Pools Program at Sweet Briar

College. Mike is also a VA Master Naturalist and is president of the Central Virginia chapter. From Friday,

October 1, through Sunday, October 3, "Wonders and Whys of Wetlands" programs abound. Two evening pub-

lic presentations, one morning technical workshop on Wetlands Mitigation, and six field experiences will culmi-

nate on Sunday, October 3, with a late afternoon pot-luck social and picnic at Belle Isle State Park. All pro-

grams are rain or shine events, and all events are free. Reservations are needed.

For a brochure of event details and directions to sites, visit Web sites of Hull Springs Farm at www.longwood.edu/

hullspringsfarm; the Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District at www.nnswcd.org; or Friends of the

Rappahannock at http://www.riverfriends.org/.

For more information and reservations, call 804/333-3525, ext. 113

Saturday, October 23 at 10:00 am: Fall Leaves in the 'Burg

Join Phillip Merritt for a look at fall leaves in downtown Williamsburg. Expect to see the national champion

water elm (Planera aquatica) and the poisonous Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus). Free and open to

the public.

Please register by calling Phillip Merritt at (757)604-1026 or emailing him at [email protected].

Meet on the Scotland Street side of the Williamsburg Public Library.

News from the John Clayton Plant Society

http://www.longwood.edu/hullspringsfarm

http://www.longwood.edu/hullspringsfarm

http://www.nnswcd.org

http://www.riverfriends.org/

mailto:[email protected]

historic rivers chapter the naturalist · 23 oct wbc walk new qtr park 0700-1000 shirley devan 23...

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