Upcoming Fall Thoughts

Fall can be a time for reflection as we pause to consider the natural year which will end with the first frost. We had long hot spells and significant dryness in the summer that made me only want to venture out early in the day. But the tiger swallowtails seemed more numerous than usual. The hickories are abundant with nuts. The wingstems and the goldenrod are bursting with color.

On a longer timeline I appreciate those people who came over thirty years ago and worked hard to preserve this place so it could be shared with the local community. The foundation’s role has been a powerful one in connecting people with the natural world at a slow pace and in an intimate context. The regular environmental education programs have benefited the community immeasureably both for the young and the old. Whether you are interested in the flora or the fauna, Ivy Creek and Ragged Mountain Natural Areas make the connection. Indeed without the Foundation there would be no trails or access at Ragged Mountain and Ivy Creek would be a housing development.

Enjoy the fall but remember the past and consider how you can give to the future. There are many programs to help out with this fall from Junior Naturalists to School Tour Guides. If you are a quieter sort consider helping us maintain the connection through trail maintenance or invasive removal. We can also use your funding for staff time to coordinate all of this and make it happen.

Most importantly, make your own connection to nature on the trails or in an education program.

Herbarium

The plant survey team has received permission from the Ivy Creek Foundation to take samples for a herbarium. Additionally there will be a smaller less fragile sample of the more common plants taken to aid in teaching the community. Both herbariums will be located in the education building.

Barn closed to the public

Since a recent inspection by an architect firm the barn has been closed to the public. The county must abide by their decision for insurance reasons. The Ivy Creek Foundation board hopes this is part of a short-term process to begin the rehabilitation of the barn, but for now school tours and barn days will have to do without going inside the barn.

Plant Survey

A team of a dozen of so native plant enthusiasts has been diligently surveying Ivy Creek Natural Area since last August to catalog all the plant varieties. The last time this was done at Ivy Creek was almost twenty years ago. Currently the group has tallied over 568 plant species. Among these are plants never seen before at Ivy Creek. Some are invasives but most are just new. Perhaps they weren’t seen before, after all this is quite a dedicated group to be out looking every week for about 46 weeks so far. Soon we’ll have a published list.

Ferns at Ivy Creek

The fern walk on this relatively less humid day explored the splendors of ferns, the modern relatives of the giant plants that dinosaurs fed upon in ancient times. In central Virginia and at Ivy Creek they range in size from a few inches to nearly a yard in length. As we walked we saw the small Rattlesnake Fern, evergreen Christmas Ferns, ladderlike Ebony Spleenworts, ringlike Marginal Woodferns, lancelike New York Ferns, patches of Hay-Scented Ferns, Broad-Beech Ferns, fingerlike Sensitive Ferns, horseshoe-shaped Maidenhair Ferns, sometimes (because a lady gets to choose) pink-stemmed Lady’s Ferns, and the rare Spinulose Fern. All this in a slow 75 minute walk in shade!

Drawing in Nature

Join local artist Lee Alter to explore the art of sketching in a beautiful location at the Ivy Creek Natural Area. Bring paper, pencils, and a drawing board if you have one. This offering is free to the public. Meet in the Education Center. If it’s hot we’ll stay indoors and draw natural objects. Lee will be back in July and August.

Bloodwort

The first bloodwort of the season, this Tuesday morning! Down by the water on the white trail by the stream flowing across the path (that’s a first for me in 25 years). Hope the forecasted warm weather doesn’t cook the wildflowers too quickly.

Tracking the Animals

Die-hard naturalists of all ages gathered today by the Ivy Creek Natural Area barn to learn and study tracks. Assisted and encouraged by Hub Knott’s questions, suggestions, and urgings and backed up by Mark Elbroch’s books we examined what turned out to be tracks of red fox, crow, gray fox, rabbit, and deer of all sizes. Tracks ranged in age from a few hours to many days. The melting and refreezing of the snow made some tracks a real puzzle. Hub offers classes for youth and adults in the other three seasons of the year at Living Earth School which can be reached by the web at http://www.livingearthva.com/home.html. Hub will be back at Ivy Creek in February on the 13th.

Icy Creek

Icy Creek Natural Area (oops I mean Ivy Creek) was alive today with sixteen happy people learning all kind of botanical facts about plants, shrubs, and trees. Despite the 20 degree weather and icy patches Mary Jane Epps taught us how to identify plants by their bud pattern, bark structure, even the smell of a broken branch. Along the way we learned tips about tulip poplar, autumn olive, hornbeam (after the the strong structure of the wood used to make ox yokes), euonymous transported back to Europe back in the 1660s, lycopodium or club moss used for flash photography. crested wood fern (one of the few evergreen ferns), the pin cherry, effects of chestnut blight on its relative post oak. Fungi that support the trees through the root structure exchanging carbon for nitrogen and phosphorous. How the dogwood leaves are one of the fastest to break down, contributing calcium to the soil. Japanese barberry invading the understory and threatening to spread rapidly. Discussed threat of many invasive species asiatic bittersweet. Wooly aphid in the winter. Detritus from the tent caterpillar and next year’s eggs. Next event: Saturday at 9 am by the barn – Hub Knott on Animal Tracking.

Winter Freeze

Wintery weather is making walking at Ivy Creek Natural Area very limited. With the heavy snowfall, freeze and refreeze, all the trails except large portions of the paved trail are snow/ice covered. Not smooth snow/ice but frozen bootprints. The parking lot is clear. Paths to the barn and the education center are also clear but everything else is very white. Still the birds are out and about as are many larger animals as tracks in the snow clearly show. Next event: Winter walk Tuesday at 2 pm at the kiosk.