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.
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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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Minimizing Springtime Reptile Encounters
As the weather becomes more temperate you may encounter more free-roaming turtles or snakes. As a retired veterinarian from South Hampton Roads, Virginia, I treated a variety of wildlife. May and June tended to be our busiest time for reptiles including Woodland Box Turtles, freshwater turtles such as Red-Eared Sliders and Painted Turtles, and the…
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Brinkley Stewards At Work
Stewards at Ned Brinkley preserve have had several workdays over the last four months to get some invasive plant species there under control. We all realize that this is going to be a long-term project and will require more workdays and repeated attempts at removal. A number of us met in November and walked the…
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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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Assateague on the Move: Work Starts on New Beach Parking
Assateague Island is moving inland at the rate of 10-13 feet a year, causing costly annual rebuilding of the beach parking lots at Tom’s Cove, its most dynamic section where winter storms frequently wash out the low dunes. To address the problem, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (CNWR) is building a new beach parking area 2.5…
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CCNAP Stewardship Report
March 22, 2025 Master naturalists perform stewardship duties at the Eastern Shore Natural Area Preserves that are open to the public. Volunteer Bob Suppa reports on his recent spring stewardship walk at the Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve. It was Saturday and a perfect third day of spring as the sun was shining, a few…
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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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Snow Geese: A Conservation Success Story
One of the splendors of the Eastern Shore in winter is watching thousands of snow geese rise in a cloud of white from a field of stubble, honking and flapping their black-tipped wings as they whoosh skyward at dusk in deep Vees and head toward their roosting spots in the salt marshes. They invoke a…
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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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Join the Great Backyard Bird Count, Feb. 14 – 17, 2025
Do you enjoy birds? Do you have 15 minutes? If the answer is yes, then the Great Backyard Bird Count is for you! For four days every February, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world spend 15 minutes (or more) counting birds and reporting their results online. This provides a real-time snapshot of…