Pages

Tuesday 21 December 2021

How to Celebrate Winter Solstice & Honor Wildlife

Happy Winter Solstice everyone! 

Today is the day, in the northern hemisphere, when thanks to the tilt of the earth, we lean furthest from the sun in its orbit. Meaning, today is the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight. This also means that the return of the sunlight, slowly, begins tomorrow! 

Pintail Duck at Huntley Meadows - Photo credit: Me! 

Here are some ideas to reconnect with the planet we live on and honor wildlife - all the other species we live beside. 

  1. Disinfect and refill your bird feeder. Get to know your feathered neighbors a little bit more. 
  2. Visit a nature center (like this one).
  3. Leave a brush pile in your yard over the winter for small creatures to get some protection from the elements. 
  4. Sign up for a class or program in 2022 that connects you with wildlife, or with other people who appreciate wildlife. (Ex: Ornitherapy - or birding for mental health, FREE) 
  5. Read about native plants and think about planting some in your yard come spring (enter your zip here to read about plants native to your area)
  6. Light a candle for over one million animals that were killed in the US by vehicle collisions this year, and slow down on the road near wooded areas. 
  7. Visit your local library and pick up a book from the section on animals and wildlife for fun holiday reading.
  8. Visit one of Virginia's 40+ State Parks, or book a relaxing cabin retreat for Jan/Feb to reconnect with nature after the holidays. 
  9. Pull out the art supplies and draw, paint or sculpt your favorite woodland creature. 
  10. Join an organization like the Herpetological Society, your local Audubon, or a Friends of Organization for a nearby park, to set you on a path to meet like-minded friends next year. 
  11. Cuddle up with someone you love and watch David Attenborough. 
  12. Purchase binoculars and go to a wildlife refuge to view migrating ducks. 
  13. Donate to an organization that is working to protect wildlife in your community (like this one). 
  14. Be a citizen scientist - even from your own living room, by doing Project Feeder Watch (learn more here).

Blessed be, all ye who love and honor wildlife. 

Sources:

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice/

Meet some local wildlife ambassadors at Potomac Overlook

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting this park & nature center, I highly recommend it. It was the first nature center I visited with live animals, so I was really excited to find it as I started a journey into studying local wildlife in my community of Northern Virginia. Also this nature center is open every day, even weekends, so its a great resource. 

Their website describes the park as such:

Explore the natural world on 67 acres of wild and cultivated land at Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, Virginia. Hike miles of trails while following interpretive displays to learn about Northern Virginia’s flora and fauna. Our educational organic vegetable garden hosts school trips and summer nature camps, while other demonstration gardens showcase native plants and insects and live animal displays. Visit the James I. Mayer Center for Environmental Education to learn about the connections between humans and the natural world. Potomac Overlook Regional Park also hosts an outdoor summer concert series and a popular summer camp for kids.

This fall, I had the pleasure of volunteering at the Nature Center located at Potomac Overlook. I signed up to do animal care for amphibians and reptiles. 


When you first walk in, this is what you will see (below). To the left, the large cage is actually home to an adorable screech owl named Smoke. Many people, especially children, will gleefully exclaim upon seeing this owl, "Awww its a baby owl!" Actually, Smoke is a fully grown Eastern Screech Owl. This species of owl only grows 6 - 10 inches tall when full grown. In the outdoor raptor exhibit, recently remodeled, there are two other owl species in residence - a Great Horned Owl and a Barred Owl, as well as a Red Shouldered Hawk. 


Here is a photo of Screech, who was at the Meadowlark Lights Show for an educational program:

Photo credit: Roving Naturalist, Matt Felperin

Some fun facts about Eastern Screech Owls, Megascops asio:
  • Eastern Screech-Owl pairs usually are monogamous and remain together for life.
  • These owls readily accept nest boxes; consider putting one up to attract a breeding pair.
  • The oldest recorded Eastern Screech-Owl in the wild was at least 14 years, 6 months old. 
My favorite area of the Nature Center is the snake area, where AJ and his team care for six native species of snakes, including a Copperhead named Abe, an Eastern Kingsnake named Louie, two Black Rat snakes named Houdini and Tony, two Corn Snakes named Sugar and Spice, a Mole Kingsnake named Noodle (!) and a Pine Snake named Al. 


Visitors are welcome to spend time in this lovely room, if there is no programming going on. It is very relaxing to sit in front of the large window and read animal stories to children - they have a great collection of picture books. If your child really loves animals, consider doing their birthday party at the Nature Center, and they will get to meet some of the Center's animal residents up close!


Here is one of the turtles that I fed while I was a volunteer. This turtle is named Sunny, and she is a Box Turtle. She was previously kept as a pet. The staff believe she may be 15-20 years old. 


This beautiful snake, Al the Pine Snake, really fascinated me because of how rare this species is in Virginia. Scientists are currently looking for evidence that this snake still lives in our state, but they are hard to find because they are fossorial, meaning they spend most of their time underground. (See my other post about this species).


Here is a short video of Al which shows just how big this snake is. He is beautiful!


I really enjoyed volunteering here, getting to know the awesome staff and speaking with the visitors who came in. I will continue to volunteer occasionally with the Center, helping out with interpretation events because I love talking to people about animals.

They also have a small gift shop area with some delightful gifts for the animal lover in your life. 

Sources:

Sunday 12 December 2021

Exciting News and Birding Highlights

Good news!

If you have followed my blog, you may know I have been looking for professional opportunities. Well, hear-ye, hear-ye, I am beyond grateful to share that I accepted a position at Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV), where I will be managing the adult education programs and supporting the chapter's work on conservation, advocacy, and youth education. I am thrilled and honored to be selected for the position, and very excited for the opportunity. 

New office, yay!

From ASNV's website

"Our mission is to engage all Northern Virginia communities in enjoying, conserving, and restoring nature for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and people. We advance our mission through educational programs, citizen science, and advocacy initiatives. We envision a world where people, wildlife, and their habitats thrive."

I am very excited to get to know everyone who is involved with ASNV - the staff, board, volunteers and members. 

My Birding Journey

I have wonderful early memories of going to feed ducks with my mom. I spent much of my childhood playing in nature and visiting parks with my family. I remember an occasion when I set up a laundry basket trap and spent hours trying to catch a sparrow. I was never successful at it, luckily, but I had a great deal of fun watching them flit around and take dust baths in the yard. My mom finally caved and brought home a beautiful pair of budgerigars (or parakeets) which are actually a small species of parrot. (Species, my favorite podcast, has a great episode on them and how insanely intelligent they are. Listen here.)  

Last year I had the great fortune to spend four months in Costa Rica with a wonderful birder, Nina Romano, who was kind enough to lend me her binoculars. Then this past summer, at Nature Camp, I had the life-changing experience of holding a barn owl named Nono (see blog post) and wow. I was captivated. (Happy news, Nono was released!)

I got my own first pair of binoculars in August 2021, to prepare for the Arlington Regional Master Naturalist program. Matt Felperin gave us a fantastic overview of ornithology and took us out birding at Algonkian Park. I have also participated in Northern Virginia Birding Club, Huntley Meadows Birding Group and Birdability events, and learned a ton from birding friends like Emerson Milam and Stephen Perry. For my birthday, I received a copy of Wingspan (highly recommend). 

Today's Outing

This morning I enjoyed a lovely birding outing with my ARMN classmate, Katherine Wychulis, her friend Jenny and our new birding friend, Christopher. One of the best things about birding is how friendly birders are, and how eager they are to help a new birder like myself. (Thank you Christopher for sharing your scope!)

As a group we observed 28 species, but I will share with you my favorite four, which are all species of ducks that I have never seen before today. What a great day!

A wonderful comic called Bird and Moon once described winter as "weird bird time." 

Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus

Photo credit: Len Blumin (link)

Fun facts: 
  • Hooded Mergensers dive for fish, crayfish, and other food, seizing it in their thin, serrated bills.
  • These ducks often display "brood parasitism," which means they lay eggs in other birds nests as a strategy to increase reproductive outcomes. 
  • Listen (courting male sounds like a frog!)
  • Read more

Northern Shoveler, Spatula clypeata

Photo credit: Alan Vernon (link
Fun facts: 
  • Its 2.5inch long spoon shaped bill has 110 comblike projections along its edges, which filter out tiny crustaceans and seeds from the water.
  • If startled while on its nest, a female Northern Shoveler will defecate on her eggs before departing to deter predators. 
  • Listen (males make a wheezy took-took sound)
  • Read more
Green-Winged Teal, Anas crecca

Photo credit: Tom Koerner (link
Fun facts:
  • These ducks are little! Their length varies from 12.2-15.3 in, vs. a Mallard duck which are 19.7-25.6 in. 
  • Green-winged Teals have closely spaced, comblike projections called lamellae around the inner edge of the bill, which they use to filter tiny invertebrates. 
  • Listen (males whistling and rapid chitter)
  • Read more

Northern Pintail, Anas acuta

Photo credit: Frank Schulenburg (link

Fun facts: 

  • Northern Pintails migrate at night at speeds around 48 miles per hour. 
  • The longest nonstop flight recorded for a Northern Pintail was 1,800 miles.
  • Listen (male makes a wheezy trainlike whistle)
  • Read more

Here is the comic, by the way, that inspired my focus on ducks for this post. I highly recommend Rosemary's webcomic, called Bird and Moon. Check it out here. Also she has a very cute shop full of great presents for birders. 

Image credit: Rosemary Mosco (link


Sources:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/

https://www.audubonva.org/

https://www.birdandmoon.com/