Although the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service coincides with Inauguration Day in 2025, there are many volunteer events to help heal our environment during the weekend of Jan 18-20, 2025. Below are nearby opportunities to remove non-native invasive plants and help restore natural ecosystems, while enjoying time outdoors with community members in ourContinueContinue reading “2025 Martin Luther King, Jr., Weekend Nature Volunteering Events”
Author Archives: ARMN Publisher
BODACIOUS BALD EAGLES: The Largest Gathering on the East Coast
Text and photos by Barbara J. Saffir, unless otherwise noted. The East Coast’s largest gathering of bodacious bald eagles is just a dash up I-95 at Maryland’s Conowingo Dam. More than a hundred of these ravenous raptors can hunker down at the dam on the Susquehanna River near the head of the Chesapeake Bay forContinueContinue reading “BODACIOUS BALD EAGLES: The Largest Gathering on the East Coast”
Saving Birds by Reducing Window Strikes
By Colleen O’Hara Birds are beautiful and fun to watch. Did you know they are also beneficial? A lot of bird species spread plant seeds and pollinate plants. They are also predator and prey, and good indicators of how well an ecosystem is doing. The overall bird population in North America is in decline, basedContinueContinue reading “Saving Birds by Reducing Window Strikes”
Leaving a “Legacy on this Planet”: A Collaborative Tree-planting Event and Demonstration
by Devin Reese (text and photos) Saturday, September 28th was an unusual day in Alexandria’s Mt. Jefferson Park. A four-part collaboration (between the City’s Urban Forestry department, Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria, Alexandria Beautification Commission, and Arlington Regional Master Naturalists) inspired more than two dozen people to lend a hand in planting trees. ByContinueContinue reading “Leaving a “Legacy on this Planet”: A Collaborative Tree-planting Event and Demonstration”
Native Plant Sales Galore!
Planning Your Wildlife-Friendly Garden This piece is an excerpt from the September 2024 Capital Nature Newsletter about the transition from summer to fall. It highlights upcoming fall native plant sales and activities to support and protect wildlife in yards. Enjoy! Native plant sales abound in September and October. See our growing list of plant eventsContinueContinue reading “Native Plant Sales Galore!”
Deer Exclosures in Gulf Branch and Glencarlyn Parks in 2024: Are they working?
By Jeff Elder, Steve Young, and Kasha Helget The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) impact on local forests has grown, with the loss of many native trees and shrub seedlings to deer browse. ARMN provides detailed information about these adverse impacts in its “Learn About” feature entitled, Deer Population and Forest Health, as well as blogContinueContinue reading “Deer Exclosures in Gulf Branch and Glencarlyn Parks in 2024: Are they working?”
2024 Update on the ARMN Ozone Bioindicator Garden: A Wonderful Climate Tool Right in Our Backyard
By Barbara Hoffheins Overview The ARMN Ozone Bioindicator Garden continues for a fourth year at Walter Reed Community Center (WRCC). ARMN has been working with Arlington County, NASA, and the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Science Education in building and maintaining the bioindicator garden as part of a nationwide project to monitor the impact ofContinueContinue reading “2024 Update on the ARMN Ozone Bioindicator Garden: A Wonderful Climate Tool Right in Our Backyard”
News from the Jerome “Buddie” Ford Native Plant Garden
Text and photos by Dan Huddleston It’s been a couple of years since we last reported on the native plant garden at the Buddie Ford Nature Center. Three years ago, we started revitalizing a native garden that had been strangled into submission by Porcelain berry and other invasive plants. After the invasive plant removal phase,ContinueContinue reading “News from the Jerome “Buddie” Ford Native Plant Garden”
News about American Chestnut Tree Seedlings Installed Eleven Years Ago
By Kasha Helget In late 2013, volunteers installed dozens of American chestnut tree saplings (Castanea dentata) in Arlington and Alexandria parks and public sites. These young trees were propagated by the Earth Sangha nursery from seeds collected mainly in the northern Blue Ridge area (https://armn.org/2014/02/05/seeds-of-hope-american-chestnut-replanting/). The hope was that the offspring of trees that hadContinueContinue reading “News about American Chestnut Tree Seedlings Installed Eleven Years Ago”
The Mulberry Conundrum
by Devin Reese Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) at Dyke Marsh feeding on white mulberries. Photo by Barbara Saffir. Mulberry Season Fruits from the white mulberry (Morus alba). Photo by Geo Lightspeed7, Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA-4.0. It’s that time of year when mulberries are fruiting all around Northern Virginia. Sidewalks are dotted with squashed, blackberry-like fruits; andContinueContinue reading “The Mulberry Conundrum”