Alliance for the Shenandoah River Valley


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Documenting and Training

This summer, and possibly beyond, I'll be tracking and recording sightings of fireflies and woodland box turtles. I plan to spend two to three nights a week outside spotting fireflies. For the woodland box turtles, I often see them crossing the road, which is when I stop to move them, or find them in my yard. Documenting and Training for Firefly Sightings Below are the steps to take on the Firefly Atlas website: ·       Find information about how to survey for  13 focal species ; ·       Access survey protocols and species identification materials; ·       Submit observational data, including  photos ; ·       Identify the fireflies in your photos, with the potential for verification by experts; ·       Download a  species checklist  for your state or province of interest; ·   ...
Read more

Woodland Box Turtle

Understanding and Protecting the Woodland Box Turtles The  Virginia Herpetological Society  was founded in 1958 and offers public education and trainings on identifying local amphibians and reptiles and conserving their habitats. Twice a year they publish research that contains field notes and information that has been submitted by its members. On their website you can report local sightings of the  Woodland Box Turtle  as well as the  Virginia Eastern Spadefoot Frog . The Slow Pace of the Woodland Box Turtle The Woodland Box Turtle has a wide geographic range, extending from southeastern Maine to the Great Lakes region and south through Virginia to Texas and northern Florida. With a home range of close to 2 acres and a speed of approximately 0.25 mph, the Woodland Box turtles typically can be found near ponds or meadows with hatchings and juvenile turtles primarily inhabiting streams and ponds ( Species Spotlight - Woodland Box Turtle (U.S. National Park Servic...
Read more

Forward and Beyond

Moving Forward and Beyond This project became a family affair over the semester, sparking a shared enjoyment and increased knowledge of fireflies and woodland turtles. I wish that there had been more community outreach program opportunities during this semester so that I could’ve documented it but in the spring my children are interested in trying to go to the upcoming spring meeting in May. The  Virginia Herpetological Society  and the North Carolina Herpetological Society partnered to host an event in Halifax County, VA. The event has drawn over 40 participants, who will be exploring different sections of the park to create a comprehensive species checklist. Spending time outside at parks and in our yard searching for and catching fireflies or spotting woodland turtles, has been a summertime favorite and I am sure we will continue in the future. My children and I have been fascinated by the clever ways fireflies have inspired biomimicry, and we've loved discovering the histo...
Read more