Will's Creek Race Highlights

Bobby Miller's account and photos of the March 26 race.

The Hidden Treasure: Racing down Wills Creek!

POSTED ON TUESDAY 26 MARCH 2013, 18:43 - UPDATED ON 25/03/13 - NEWS - PERMALINK

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"A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid." - J.R.R. Tolkien

WIlls Creek is a rarely paddled gem of a Class 3-4 run with one Class 5 rapid, tucked in the mountains of Pennsylvania, just north of Cumberland, Maryland. It is comparable to many of the other classics of the region like the Big Sandy and the Middle Fork of the Tygart. However, since it is nestled in its own area and is not very close to any other streams, it is often overlooked and passed over. This is such a shame because anyone who has been fortunate to make that turn at Cumberland and head north will tell you that they were greatly rewarded for their effort. Over the years, I have made this journey many times, always returning with tales of whitewater and adventure!

Raised bed preparation

Cornell's BirdSleuth

Take young people outside with BirdSleuth!

As the days get longer and warmer, Cornell University is promoting its outdoor teaching and learning resources.  The new BirdSleuth website is full of ideas and resources that teachers,  homeschool families, and both informal and afterschool educators can use to get kids outside for hands-on learning.

School gardens are a very effective way to encourage students to spend more time outdoors. Cornell provides tips for creating a bird-friendly garden on their blog.

Other blog posts highlight easy ways to teach students how to identify birds and use binoculars. 

More than just Three Sisters

I saw the following on the Potomac Highlands Master Gardener FB page (click to enlarge):

First Bluebells

I was surprised to see the fist Bluebell leaves  (no flowers yet, of course) emerging along the alluvial riverfront soils.


Virginia bluebell (Mertensia virginica)  is also known as Virginia cowslip and a few other names I've never heard (lungwort oysterleaf, Roanoke bells).  It's one of 40 species in its genus in the larger family Boraginaceae, which includes plants called bluebells all over the world.

Virginia bluebells are native to moist areas in our woodlands, an we find them only on the first and second-tier floodplains.

Butterflies are the most common pollinators because of the flower shape.

Church View Farm brochure honored

This is great for Steve and Ruth Martin, but you should send them an email and arrange for a visit.  Interestingly, the brochure that one was submitted four years ago and is already updated!

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by the Hampshire Review Staff:

MORGANTOWN — A Hampshire County farm has been honored for its efforts to promote
agri-tourism.  Church View Farms of Three Churches brochure for the Romney farmer’s market was
named the best of any such effort in West Virginia last year.

The farm, owned by Steve and Ruth Martin, took first place in the category, “Best brochure or
rack card for a farmers’ market, roadside stand or CSA” at the state Dept. of Agriculture’s 2013
Small Farm Conference last month.

“Marketing is a key component of a successful agri-tourism operation,” said Commissioner of
Agriculture Walt Helmick. “Each year, these awards recognize the best in marketing and promotions, and encourage others to improve their communications programs.”

Efforts in Watershed Education Downstream

"There's Something Still Worth Saving in the Potomac River" 
High schooler and outdoor enthusiast Maria Kellam was inspired to make this video of CBF's Potomac River Program as part of her Gold Award with the Girl Scouts. Kellam's extraordinary video shows the importance of connecting with and protecting our waters and that there's "still something worth saving in the river."

WVU Soil Sampling

Steve of Church View Farm shared this on the Potomac Highlands Master Gardener's Facebook Page:

Links:  Contact Information Service/Mission Soil Sampling Questionnaire Sheet Mailing Instructions Information Links

Daffodils

While I like to focus these posts on native species, daffodils are among the first signs of plant life in the Spring, and out native bees and other insects take advantage.

Reposted from Washington Posts' Urban Jungle column:


Early pollinators struggle with cold weather, so it's no wonder that late-winter flowers such as Narcissus (daffodil) tend to have extended blooming times and long-lasting flowers, some of which remain open for more than two weeks. When the sun is out, they can offer a warm microenvironment for bees.

Although they usually start showing off in the Washington area by late February, blooming times for Narcissus are highly variable, depending on variety, weather and planting location. Moisture, tree cover and mineral availability all affect flowering time, but soil temperature tends to have the greatest influence on early-blooming flowers. The microclimate of a sun-drenched, south-facing slope will sport blooms well before flowers appear in the shadow of a building that gets only a half-day of sun.

Once open, the flower can create a nanoclimate within itself. When sunlight hits a Narcissus longispathus flower, its tube-shaped corolla acts as a tiny greenhouse, raising temperatures around the pollen-producing anthers as much as 15 degrees higher than the surrounding air.

That's good news for small bees, which in late winter have trouble getting warm enough to fly.

Bumblebees and honeybees prepare to fly on cold days by exercising their flight muscles to generate heat. But mining bees, which nest in the ground, are less able to do that and are more dependent on ambient temperatures to warm them up for takeoff.

Spanish ecologist Carlos M. Herrera studied the relationship between mining bees and native N. longispathus flowers. The bees he studied could fly only if their internal body temperatures approached 72 degrees, yet they were able to forage in 54-degree weather — but only if the sun was out. Basking in sunlight on the outside of a warm Narcissus bloom was enough to get a bee airborne. Heat from flight muscles could then help keep bees aloft, but they still relied on blossom-basking to supplement their heat needs.

On those cooler days, bees spent most of their foraging time basking, but "flights between flowers were sometimes interrupted by sudden falls to the ground," Herrera wrote in his 1995 paper. "Fallen bees crawled into some nearby flower and basked before resuming normal foraging."

New USDA Farm Flavor Page for West Virginia

from USDA's http://farmflavor.com site for each state:

The MD and WV pages stink compared to Virginia's, but we'll be optimistic.

West Virginia
Agriculture Stats

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About 95 percent of West Virginia farms are family owned – the highest in the country. The state’s river flood plains provide blacker, more fertile soils, and limestone bedrock helps neutralize soil acidity.

Top Agriculture Products

1. Broilers
2. Cattle and calves
3. Turkeys
4. Chicken eggs
5. Greenhouse/nursery

Number of Farms

23,000

Land in Farms

3.7 million acres

Average Farm Size

157 acres

Source: United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service

First robins

Spotted by Rocky in nearby Fort Ashby.

The scientific name of American Robin (Turdus migratorius) suggests the species is widely recognized for its migratory patterns.  Researchers have found patterns in Robin migration that correlate with average temperatures of 36 degrees F (2 degrees C).  The average temperature in Romney in February is 32.5 F in February and 41 F in March, so that suggests we'd begin seeing these birds in early March.

That said, robins don't carry thermometers.  They likely perceive changes in temperature and daylength, but the migration of individual robins and groups of robins will vary significantly, and some may even winter in our area.  There are some behaviors you can use to recognize migrating robins in the Spring: 

• Running on lawns
• Eating worms
• Singing
• Territorial battles
• Carrying nesting materials 

Singing is a really important indicator, because robins generally won't sing until they've established a territory.

Leenie Hobbie Plant Identification

Mergansers in the South Branch

We didn't see our first Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser americanus) in the South Branch this year until February, and we're only now seeing them regularly.  Mergansers are diving ducks (in contrast to "puddle ducks" like mallards).  They appear lower in the water, and swim underwater to catch food.  Their legs are set further back on their bodies; and while that aids underwater swimming, it makes it harder to jump up out of the water to fly away.  That's why most diving birds take a running start along the surface before they become airborne.