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What’s that Bird?
“Where? I don’t see it.” “In the reeds there. Behind the egret.” “Which egret? All I see are white ibis” “To the far right. It’s very dark, blends in.” “It’s a white-faced ibis! No, maybe it’s a glossy ibis?” “At this time of year?” In the shallow freshwater pools on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, November 22, a huddle of white ibis were probing the…
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ESMNs Support Project Horizons
On October 22, Abby Gale, Amy Lines, Barb O’Hare, and Nancy Biegel volunteered with a unique field trip experience called A Day at the Lab. It was the second year that the University of Virginia’s Center for Coastal Research hosted 21 local youth to showcase potential careers in environmental sciences and coastal ecology research. Students…
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ESMNs Support VESLT Field Trips
As part of our education and outreach activities, members support the education efforts of numerous partners on the Eastern Shore, including the Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust (VESLT). Recently, members assisted VESLT with field trips for second graders, organized by Samantha Willis, Community Outreach Coordinator of VESLT. Students visit different activity stations or take a…
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Why Virginia Natives Are the Best Choice – What to Plant Where for the Best Results
Virginia native plants provide visual beauty year-round. Unique flowers, vibrant fall colors of leaves and stems, fruit shapes and colors and bark textures are all reasons to purchase native plants. Native plants also attract specific insect species, most importantly pollinators such as bees, wasps, butterflies, and moths. Native plants, trees, shrubs and vines that feed…
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Trees are Tree-mendous
I used to live next to a little patch of woodland. Recently, the land was sold and the underbrush and old trees were cleared. Here on Chincoteague Island, most undeveloped lots are getting cleared these days, even the lots that flood during heavy rains and king tides, demand for holiday and retirement homes is so…
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Do Waterfowl Need Raincoats?
Rain or snow, sleet or drizzle, no problem: waterfowl are built for foul weather. Their outer feathers have interlocking barbules that hold together like Velcro, blocking out wind and rain. They also secrete from special glands near the tail a waterproofing oil that coats their feathers while they are preening. And don’t forget the down,…
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ESMN: 2024 In Review, By the Numbers
Eastern Shore Master Naturalists were busy in 2024. Motivated by a desire to protect our natural resources via stewardship, support scientific inquiry, and educate our community, it is a privilege to be a part of this select group, and to have the knowledge and opportunity to serve as we do. Because our efforts require specialized…
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Chincoteague Bird Walk Gets Them Asking for More!
“My ambition is to see a kingfisher. That would really make my day,” a beginner bird watcher said. And as if on cue, there was the distinctive rattle of a belted kingfisher. It flashed white and blue in the early morning sun, darted high above us and zigzagged over the top of some loblolly pines. We followed its…
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Bald Eagle Returns to Wild
Dr. Meg Gammage-Tucker pulled on a long leather falconer’s glove and pulled back the orange cloth printed with the word Freedom. The bald eagle batted its body against the sides of the crate. Gammage-Tucker slipped the latch. The door swung open. A white head. The bird reared upward inside the crate. The eagle lunged forward, head low, eyes fierce, dark brown body, broad wings bent high, then wings outstretched, he launched. His bright yellow talons almost grazed the ground, and the eagle…
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ESMN at the Exmore Fall Festival
ESMN would like to thank Mimi Stitt, Laurie Jones, Audrey Shirif, Tiara Tracy, Nancy Biegel, Karen Morris, Suzanne Noseworthy, Debbie Pocock, Maggie Long, Wayne Poist and Brenda Poist for spending the day at the Exmore Fall Festival. They shared the message of Plant Virginia Natives along with the ideas that our species need native plants…
Eastern Shore Master Naturalists
Managing and preserving the Eastern Shore of Virginia’s natural resources and natural areas through education, outreach, citizen science, and stewardship.