Bluebirds Find New Homes in Barcroft Park

By Liz Macklin Early this spring in Arlington’s Barcroft Park, in clearings far from busy athletic fields, volunteers installed two boxes for nesting Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis). Painted white to minimize heat from the sun, the boxes sat atop tall metal poles with baffles attached to prevent hungry snakes and other predators from climbing. WireContinue reading “Bluebirds Find New Homes in Barcroft Park”

Family Fun at the International Coastal Clean-up

Text by Kristin Bartschi and photos by George Sutherland On a sunny Saturday morning on September 21st, EcoAction Arlington hosted a stream clean-up in Barcroft Park as part of the International Coastal Clean-up. The International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) is part of the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program. Every September, over 100 countries take partContinue reading “Family Fun at the International Coastal Clean-up”

ARMN: Getting to Know Yolanda Villacampa

Photos courtesy of Yolanda Villacampa unless otherwise noted. ARMN’s Membership Committee occasionally posts profiles of our members, including how they came to be master naturalists, which parts of nature they most enjoy, and how they affect their environment. This latest biography features ARMN Member Yolanda Villacampa, who graduated from our training class in Spring 2011.Continue reading “ARMN: Getting to Know Yolanda Villacampa”

ARMN Helps DC Area Place 5th Worldwide in City Nature Challenge

By Rosemary Jann During the weekend of 27-30 April 2018, 180 ARMN members and other area residents answered the call to participate in the third annual City Nature Challenge. The Nature Challenge seeks to encourage interest in urban nature by having groups compete to record and identify the nature around them. It began in 2016Continue reading “ARMN Helps DC Area Place 5th Worldwide in City Nature Challenge”

2018 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Opportunities

The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday is a nationally recognized day of service. ARMN welcomes members of the public to join master naturalists for various earth-friendly projects in the area to honor the spirit of Dr. King. Here is a list of habitat restoration and invasive removal activities on the weekend that includes the holiday.Continue reading “2018 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Opportunities”

ARMN: Getting To Know Sarah Archer

From time-to-time, ARMN’s Membership Committee posts profiles of our members including how they came to be master naturalists, which parts of nature they most enjoy, and how they have an impact on the environment around them. Here is the latest biography of Arlington staff employee, Sarah Archer, who graduated in the Fall 2013 ARMN trainingContinue reading “ARMN: Getting To Know Sarah Archer”

September Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party

by Marion Jordan NOTE THE NEW TIME – THIS IS AN AFTERNOON EVENT Join us on September 21 from 1 – 3 pm for the next Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party. We will join with Arlington for a Clean Environment (ACE) to help lead volunteers in cleaning up trash in the park. There areContinue reading “September Barcroft Park Habitat Restoration Work Party”

Join ARMN for MLK National Day of Service events

Throughout the year, ARMN volunteers contribute to a myriad of service activities that benefit our neighborhoods and communities. For Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, ARMN inivites you to join our dedicated volunteers to honor Dr. King’s legacy by participating in two of our focus service projects to restore habitat in Barcroft Park and in Tuckahoe Park. Barcroft Park January 19th at 9:30 am Our main focus will be to clear ivy off the trees so that IPC (Invasive Plant Control), Arlington County’s contractor, willContinue reading “Join ARMN for MLK National Day of Service events”

Autumn 2012 Invasive Work in Barcroft Park

By Jim Hurley Master Naturalists continued our work improving the quality of the natural areas in Barcroft Park, with three three-hour work sessions on great-weather Saturdays in September, October and November.  Our mission for all three sessions was cutting English Ivy from trees in heavily infested areas of the park.  As noted in previous posts,Continue reading “Autumn 2012 Invasive Work in Barcroft Park”

Barcroft Park Focus Project Update

By Jim Hurley It is now early September, 2012, following the extreme extended heat wave in the Washington DC region, and a walk around Barcroft Park will reveal whole swaths of brown, dead plants at ground level, and many dead tree stems, still upright, listing, or lying on their sides, leaves crisping.  It wasn’t theContinue reading “Barcroft Park Focus Project Update”