Tree Planting on October 27

There's a tree planting near Hedgesville (along Harlan Run) on October 27, 10-2 p.m.  Contact Herb Peddicord (herb.f.peddicord@wv.gov) for more information.

Enter Your Photos and Win!

"Share the View"
International Nature Photography Contest
October 15 - December 1, 2012

Submit your best nature photos for a chance to win up to $3,500 in cash prizes, while supporting the Audubon Society of Greater Denver's education programs in Denver, Colorado, metro schools. You can submit an unlimited number of entries at $10/entry or six for $50. The best 250 images will be featured on the contest website through 2013.

Learn more on the Share the View Website at http://denveraudubon.contestvenue.com

Join the Potomac Valley Nature Writers

The PVNW selections for the 2012-13 year are:

October 2012: Roger Tory Peterson, All Things Considered (his autobiography)
November 2012: Amy Minato, Siesta Lane
December 2012/January 2013: Henry Beston, Outermost House
February 2013: Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
March 2013: Gretel Erlich, The Solace of Open Spaces
Apri 2013: David Carroll, Swampwalker's Journal
May 2013: Tom Brown, Nature Observation and Tracking

Celebrate the 18th Century!

The Peter Burr Farm, where PVAS has a week of summer camp, is celebrating Peter Burr Day on October 13.  Celebrate the 18th Century with music, wool demonstrations (start to finish), spinning and knitting, butter churning, children's games, dancing, clothing, and gardening.  10 a.m.-4 p.m. in Kearneysville WV.  It's a great family event.  Make plans to go--it's a fun day.  Food vendors will be on site.  The 1751 house is the oldest standing wood frame home in WV. 

Zebra Stripes

Why do zebras have stripes?  Well that really isn't known, but baby zebras are born with black skin and develop white stripes.  Biting flies, like horseflies, seem to prefer dark skin, so developing those stripes seems to help protect zebras from bites.  Scientists in Budapest have been studying this theory and the results were published in the February 2012 issue of The Journal of Experimental Biology.  You can find the highlights at http://news.yahoo.com/zebras-stripes-tell-nasty-flies-buzz-off-214010128.html.  Pretty fascinating! 

Wetlands Live

If you are interested in wetlands, and who isn't, check out these free webcasts at wetlandslive.pwnet.org.  They will be in October 2012, March and April 2013.  Each is one hour and geared for grades 4-8, which means they will be full of basic information and a great refresher for MN!  And you can always pick up something new or something you have forgotten.

Need Elective or Recertification Hours?

A webinar about cave and karst topography will be held on October 11 in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation as part of BatsLIVE.

Cave environments, by their very nature, provide a unique system, which is highly valuable for scientific study and environmental education. Due to the extreme isolation and harsh conditions of the cave environment, caves provide habitat for an array of unusual and rare animal species, including species that are at risk of becoming extinct! Caves are portals to a unique environment and an intriguing web of life - where the forest gives way to the darkness of a cave, scientists have found some of the most remarkable creatures in the world. Within the depths of caves we can also find the remains of ancient life including some of the largest mammals to ever walk the planet such as saber toothed cats, short-faced bears, and giant ground sloths.

Because caves are connected to the surface, we cannot protect them without protecting the lands that contribute water to them. Join us to learn about karst topography and the many special features including springs, sinkholes, underground rivers, and of course, caves that make up this landform. In a karst landscape, water moves very quickly through underground channels with little filtration, making it vulnerable to contamination. Globally, more than one billion people depend on karst terrains for their water supplies. 
The webinars is for teachers, non-formal educators, and others.
October 11: Cave and Karst - The World Beneath our Feet
7 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time

To register, go to: http://online.nwf.org/site/Calendar?id=105903&view=Detail

PVAS Committees Need Members

Earn Volunteer Hours!  Help PVAS Plan New Nature Programs, Work on Conservation Issues, or Assist in the Management of PVAS's Nature Preserves

PVAS has formed four new committees - Adult Services, Youth Services, Conservation and Land Management.  We would like to seek your help and tap into the talent and expertise of the Potomac Valley Master Naturalists in areas of your interest or expertise.  If you're not an expert then you can learn as you earn volunteer hours for your help.  

The Adult Services and Youth Services committees need PVMN alums who are willing to lead trips and/or serve as subject matter nature experts.  Here is a chance to use your knowledge of butterflies, dragonflies, wildflowers, trees and shrubs, reptiles, amphibians, birds or other natural resources for the benefit of PVAS.  Or, join one of these committees to help plan new activities.  For more information on Adult  Activities, contact Sandy Sagalkin at monsansagalkin@myactv.net or 240-291-6465.  For Youth Activities, contact Jim Jenkins at jenkinsjim@verizon.blackberry.net or 571-209-7350.  These two committees often work together in planning family activities.

The Conservation committee is looking for new members who are interested in protecting grassland birds, species whose populations are in serious decline; in promoting the availability of certified shade-grown coffee in our service area;  and in developing policies for PVAS's adoption of public advocacy positions.  For further information, contact Heather McSharry at heather_mcsharry@yahoo.com or 304-707-5758.

The Land Management committee is looking for members that want to assist in the management and development of Yankauer Nature Preserve, Eidolon, and the Stauffer's Marsh Nature Preserve. For further information, contact Lou Scavnicky at captainlou@comcast.net or 304-262-7496.

Eidolon Preserve Temporarily Closed

Starting September 13, the Eidolon Nature Preserve will be closed to visitors for about a month as federal contractors work to demolish the Federal Aviation Administration tower that is located on the property. Machinery will be moving up and down the preserve road during this period, and the property has been declared a work zone for safety reasons. Notice will be given when the preserve is reopened.

Need Some Elective Hours? Go Batty...

Be sure to join in next Tuesday, September 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. ET for this live distance learning adventure. Representatives from the USDA Forest Service, Bat Conservation International, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and San Antonio Zoo will be discussing bat basics, the importance of bats in the ecosystem, threats to bats, how to help bats, and of course the amazing emergence of millions of bats from Bracken Bat Cave. Watching and participating in the live program on September 18 is easy! Just click on the webcast link that will be on the homepage: http://BatsLIVE.pwnet.org. If you can’t watch the program live, it will be archived on the web site approximately a week later (on September 25) and available as streaming video.

Also as part of BatsLIVE, a webinar about cave and karst topography will be held on October 11 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation. The webinar is for teachers, non-formal educators, and others. For more information, go to http://batslive.pwnet.org/resource/webinars.php. 

Go To The Movies or a Conference!

On Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. filmmaker Jeffrey Kimball will screen his new film: “Birders: The Central Park Effect.”  The presentation will be held in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center, Shepherd Grade Road, Shepherdstown, WV 25443.  This film is co-sponsored by The American Conservation Film Festival.  It is free and open to the public. "The Central Park Effect" reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattan’s celebrated patch of green and the equally colorful, full-of-attitude New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. Featuring spectacular wildlife footage capturing the changing seasons, this lyrical documentary transports the viewer to a dazzling world that goes all but unnoticed by the 38 million people who visit the park each year.   

For those of you who came to Scott Weidensaul's talk at NCTC back in May as part of International Migratory Bird Day, you heard about the importance of purchasing bird friendly coffee to protect migratory song bird habitat.  On September 15th at 6pm, Sustainable Shepherdstown and the American Conservation Film Festival will be presenting "BirdSong and Coffee: A Wakeup Call" at the Shepherdstown Opera House. The movie is free of charge.  It's not entirely about the bird conservation aspect of our coffee habit, but it's certainly touched on as part of the coffee plantation conundrum in the film.  PVAS is beginning to research ways for our members and friends to easily purchase bird friendly coffee to support the protection of migratory song birds such as the cerulean warblers we have nesting at Eidolon. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, enjoy the movie! 

The West Virgina Science Teachers Association (WVSTA) will be having its 2012 meeting in Martinsburg, November 1-3.  There will be some great speakers, topics, and workshops that can count for elective or recertification hours--especially Project Wild Aquatic.  You can register for the entire conference or just Saturday.  www.wvsta.org

Master Naturalist Annual Meeting

Our local Potomac Valley Master Naturalist Annual Meeting will be held November 10, 2012 from 11-2 p.m. at Orchard House, 4599 Shepherdstown Pike, Shepherdstown WV 25443.  This is a fun time of seeing old friends and meeting new ones from other Master Naturalist classes.  We eat well (you provide the pot luck lunch) and bid on Silent Auction items (that you donate).  Proceeds from the silent auction fund scholarships for the next year's class.

Plan also to attend the state West Virginia Master Naturalist Annual Meeting in Elkins WV, June 7-9, 2013.  Details will be posted in the future at mnofwv.org, but you can put it on your calendar now!

Volunteer Projects

Are you in need of volunteer hours?  PVAS is partnering with the Potomac Conservancy to hold a Growing Native seed-collection event at the Society's Yankauker Nature Preserve in Berkeley County on Saturday, September 22, from 10-12 noon.  It's rain or shine and is a very family friendly event!   Seed collection bags will be available and WV State Forester Herb Peddicord will be there to help with viable seed identification.  (Not every nut or seed is suitable.)  The Potomac Conservancy collects seeds of native hardwoods and shrubs and delivers them to state nurseries where they are nurtured into small seedlings.  The seedlings are then planted along rivers and streams in the Potomac watershed to help restore forests and filter pollution and run-off. 

The Jefferson County 6th Grade Science Olympiad is scheduled for September 24, 25, 26 and October 3, 4, and 5 at For Love Of Children (FLOC) Outdoor Education Center.  This is a chance for every 6th grade student in Jefferson County to spend a day outside, learning about natural topics.  They are seeking volunteers who would present a 30 minute program to small groups of students on natural history topics.  Tree ID walks, Bird programs, anything nature is a great way to share what you have learned as a Master Naturalist!  Groups are well chaperoned.  Each day has 4 groups of students who rotate among the many topics and activities offered.  You lead a different group each time, have lunch, and are done by 1 p.m.   If you would be willing to help, contact Judith Cain at jscain5@hotmail.com

 The Berkeley Springs Fall Birding Festival is scheduled for Friday September 28 through Sunday September 30.  The festival always needs volunteers to help as meeting hosts, manning booths, selling tickets, leading birding hikes, providing directions, and more!  If you could help for even a few hours, contact Master Naturalist Helen Herlocker at hherlocker@gmail.com