Did you see this book review  of “The Magic of Monarchs: A Journey to Mexico and So Much More” by Carol Pasternak in the Washington Post last week? Well we agree with the critic – it’s a great book! In fact, it’s probably the best one I’ve seen on the ins and outs of raising Monarchs. […]

Attention Homeschoolers, teachers, parents, and curious naturalists! Frog activity will start to stir come the first week or two of March –  Here is a great  resource to add to use as we head into this season: Hop Into Action. The author, David Alexander, joined us one spring for our amphibian monitoring program kickoff and spring […]

If you enjoy watching and learning about butterfles here in Loudoun, you might want to pick up a copy of our new Field Guide to the Butterflies of Loudoun County! We first produced this field guide last summer as a limited run as we got feedback and ideas for improvement and took a little more […]

Some birds declare that you should “Drink your teeeee” while others go on about Potato Chips and Beer. Still others advocate for Cheer Cheer! Birding by ear can be tough but we came across this great sheet of bird mnemonics that you can use to help with that. It’s fun to be walking through the woods, […]

Here’s a new publication that Dori Rhodes of the Virginia Master Naturalists sent over to me. You can download it or order a hard copy – both ways are free. Anyone know what mushroom this is? Field guide to common macrofungi in eastern forests and their ecosystem functions By: Ostry, Michael E.; Anderson, Neil A.; O’Brien, […]

Learn more about our watershed and where our water comes from and goes to locally in Loudoun. This publication provides a great illustration that is fun for kids and adults alike as well as puzzles and games. The Watershed Map was recently distributed to 4th graders at Newton Lee Elementary in Ashburn. http://www.loudounwatershedwatch.org/pdf/LWW_Educational_Map.pdf

For those who are members of the Xerces Society, you already saw this article by Doug Tallamy entitled “Aliens,” in their publication Wings. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a great article that talks about landscaping. It’s been posted online and I wanted to share it here: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/Wings_sp11_alien-plants.pdf I remember when we first moved to […]

  As we get out into our gardens this spring, we have a nice opportunity to do some native plantings. Native bees are one of our most important pollinators and they’re really incredible to watch. As you start observing them you’ll also start to recognize different species that we have here in Loudoun – there […]

We had almost 200 people come to our program last Tuesday [photo album], where Dr. Tallamy talked about how the choices we make in planting around our homes can make a huge impact on the populations of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. What an absolute inspiration!  Personally, I plan to plant 3 oak trees this […]

Here’s a nice poster that you can download for free from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It’s two-sided and seems to have our most frequent visitors as well as a few that we may only see in the rare year. I really like that it has both the Hairy and Downy woodpeckers on it so […]