Migrating Starlings

(This video is not from Hampshire County.)

Help control chronic wasting disease in Hampshire County

Today is the LAST DAY to purchase your Class RG stamp for an additional buck this season. 


To buy online visit: www.wvhunt.com

This is impressive.

Not so great as an instructional video as posted before, but impressive to watch.

DNR Bowhunter Survey

Bowhunters wanted! DNR needs volunteers for Bowhunter Survey

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. – With the opening of archery seasons for deer and bear over a month ago (Sept. 27, 2014), West Virginia bowhunters are encouraged to participate in the West Virginia Bowhunter Survey. The Bowhunter Survey was initiated in 1995 as a cooperative effort between the West Virginia Bowhunters Association and the DNR to monitor wildlife populations.

"The Bowhunter Survey supplies a wealth of information to the DNR and hunters about wildlife population trends, deer habitats and hunters' opinions in West Virginia," said Chris Ryan, Supervisor of Game Management Services for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR).

"Bowhunters typically sit in one spot for long periods of time and are natural wildlife observers.

Viewing and Reporting Waterfowl Migrations

I'll look forward to reporting the annual American Merganser observations.  Click the image or go to http://www.ducks.org/migrationmap

2014-2015 Winter Weather Forecasts

Firsthand Weather’s Final 2014-15 Winter Forecast (each region is numbered):

Temperature Map:

Precipitation Map: 

Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets from the Extension Master Gardener FB page.

Yellowjackets are beneficial insects, but they can become trouble if you have exposed sugars on your patio or recycling bin.



Image by Digital Museum of Natural History

Taking a Soil Sample

Tabletop Whale Infographics

Reposted from the Green STEM Learning blog by Mary Van Dyke.

Infographics - Talking Pictures

A picture speaks a thousand words, and catches your attention and appreciation.

Wow your class with this fluttering butterflies infographic by Eleanor Lutz at Tabletop Whale.

http://tabletopwhale.com/2014/08/27/42-butterflies-of-north-america.html

Perhaps your students could also draw a couple of butterflies and animate them using simple gif-techniques?

Tabletop Whale publishes new infographics with science theme every two or three weeks. Check back frequently - or sign up to receive them.

Soil test alternative?

Butterfly Declines and Population Cycles

By the Washington Post's Adrian Higgins.  Notice the reference to Paw Paws and the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (highlighted below).

Where have all the butterflies gone?

This year’s low numbers might be linked to the harsh winter.

By Adrian Higgins Gardening columnist August 6  

Several readers have written to me complaining that the garden seems to be devoid of its grace note this summer — that is, the butterfly.

A tiger swallowtail on lantana. (Butterfly Habitat Garden)

By this point in the growing season, the coneflowers and black-eyed Susans and other composites should be groaning under the weight of swallowtails, skippers and painted ladies. When it comes to lepidoptera, my garden is empty, too. Even the cabbage whites seem oddly thin on the ground.

Adrian Higgins has been writing about the intersection of gardening and life for more than 25 years, and joined the Post in 1994. He is the author of several books, including the "Washington Post Garden Book" and "Chanticleer, a Pleasure Garden." View Archive

So is this dearth real or imagined?

“Both,” said Jeffrey Glassberg, president of the North American Butterfly Association. Butterfly populations are highly sensitive to environmental conditions, and insect populations normally fluctuate greatly from year to year. This is distinct from long-term trends linked to problems such as habitat loss and pesticide use affecting the overall prospects of butterfly species.

“Every single day there are fewer butterflies in the United States than there were the day before,” said Glassberg, of Morristown, N.J. “Every time you take a meadow and turn it into a shopping center, you have decreased the world’s population of butterflies.”

Notice of Intent to Sue over Algae in Shenandoah

Shenandoah Riverkeeper Files Notice of Intent to Sue EPA for Failure to Address Algae in Shenandoah River

Tuesday, August 5, 2014 - 5:34pm

Shenandoah Riverkeeper Files Notice of Intent to Sue EPA

for Failure to Address Algae in Shenandoah River

WASHINGTON, DC –Public outcry arose last week over a water ban in Toledo, Ohio due to toxic algae blooms. But the threat from nuisance or toxic algae is not confined to the Midwest.

Shenandoah Riverkeeper has worked for four years to push the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to officially recognize severe annual algae blooms in the Shenandoah River and to begin implementing plans to eliminate them, but has found that it must now resort to legal action. 

This week, Shenandoah Riverkeeper, represented by Earthjustice, filed a notice of intent to sue the

Floods and Plant Adaptations

From In Defense of Plants and ScienceDirect:

Riparian zones can be pretty rough places for plant life. Despite readily a available water supply, the unpredictable, disturbance-prone nature of these habitats means that static lifeforms such as plants need to be quite adaptable to survive and persist. Some riparian shrubs and trees have adopted a "live fast, die young" strategy for survival. They must be able to cope with things like floods, ice scour, and erosion.
Putting all their energy into quick growth is useful but it also means that many species, like willows and cottonwoods, have relatively weak wood. As you may know, these trees are quite prone to breaking. The same goes for riparian shrubs like dogwoods. After a flood or massive ice breakup, it is not uncommon to find bits and pieces of these woody plants strewn all over, usually jumbled up in a log jam somewhere downstream. Though this may seem disastrous, but looks can be deceiving.

Whereas they all produce seeds, they can also reproduce vegetatively. This is exactly what you are seeing in this picture. A willow branch, ripped from its parent plant, has settled downstream into the mud. Undifferentiated cells under the bark are now producing roots and stems. In time, this may become a whole new willow tree. Provided the branches and logs contain enough living material, a new plant can take root and grow rather quickly. After a heavy flood event, one of these trees or shrubs can suddenly become multiple clones of the same individual. Research has even shown that this form of vegetative reproduction makes for better survival during flood events than that of seedlings.

Restoration practitioners have taken advantage of this adaptation as well. One of the quickest and easiest forms of riparian restoration is the use of live stakes. Live stakes are simply branches (roughly thumb sized in diameter) cut off from a parent plant and driven into the ground. Success is best achieved when the plant is dormant in either early fall or spring. Once the branches awake from dormancy, they begin growing and entire stream banks can be replanted over the span of a couple hours with only a handful of volunteers.

Further Reading:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037811270200600X

Tracking Black-Crowned Night Herons

Source: www.digital-images.net

We see both black-crowned and
yellow-crowned night herons in
Hampshire County.



==============








Re-posted from Washington Post Local News

Scientists hope to track black-crowned night herons

By Martin Weil August 2 

Say what you will about the National Zoo, some animals definitely like it there and have showed their fondness by voting with their wings.

These are the black-crowned night herons, which return every spring to the zoo to breed, thus giving firm evidence of their affinities for the District, Rock Creek Park and the zoo.

But starting around this time of year, they fly off again, and just where they go has been a subject of ornithological uncertainty. But this year, authorities think that they will find out: They have attached miniature radio transmitters to six of the birds.

It happened on July 7. Using food as the attraction, scientists lured the herons from their perches, which were not in the birdhouse, but in the trees around it.

They briefly confined the birds, caught them, according to the zoo, and fitted them with custom-crafted backpack-style transmitters.

The birds are fine with the added baggage, the zoo said in an online account of the procedure. After being fitted, the birds were released again, and have been seen flying about with them.

If the past is a guide, the solar-powered radios will report back to scientists on the birds’ position after they take wing on their annual migration. This generally occurs some time after the start of August and is understood to involve days of flying over routes that cover hundreds of miles.

An effort was made last year to subject the herons to electronic monitoring in flight. That pilot study worked for a while, the zoo said.

At least three herons fitted with satellite transmitters were tracked for a time. One left on Sept. 22, and in six days flew to Fort Myers, Fla.

Swimmable WV Rivers Weekend

Details on Pipeline Route Across MD/WV State Line?

The proposed pipeline appears to cross the Potomac near the mouth of the South Branch.  It's hard to determine from the tiny map shared by the gas company whether it crosses the South Branch or travels east of the river to Levels.  

The terrain map below shows that there are possible routes along the North Branch floodplain, French's Station Road, or along the South Branch meander that creates the French's Neck West / Blue Meadow's North floodplain. 

This seems like an opportunity for planners and our government leaders to negotiate a better bridge crossing at Oldtown/Green Spring, or possible road improvements wherever the pipeline travels.

Potomac Downriver Race Rescheduled - Saturday, May 24th

Potomac Downriver Race - Saturday, May 24th

The 59^th running of the CCA Potomac Downriver Race, which was postponed due to high water, will be held this Saturday, May 24th.  Registration opens at 9:00 AM, at Angler's.

The forecast for Little Falls on Saturday morning is 5.1 feet.  
The race start and registration will be at Angler's.
Obtain a registration form from http://www.canoecruisers.org/notices.html. Follow the instructions for mailing. The entrance fee is $25. Note also that $5 per paddler must be included in the fee for insurance unless the paddler is a member of the ACA (American Canoe Association) and your ACA number is provided. Tandem teams pay as two individuals.

Liability forms must be signed on race day.  All boats must have flotation.  All paddlers must wear helmets and PFDs (life jackets).

For additional information and registration form, click this link.http://www.canoecruisers.org/notices.html

Water Level Forecast:  http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lwx&gage=brkm2
Little Falls Gauge:  http://waterdata.usgs.gov/md/nwis/uv?site_no=01646500

Flooding at Great Falls

Meanwhile downstream (from the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang)...

Great Falls rages and roars in Potomac flood (PHOTOS and VIDEO)

• by Also On Capital Weather Gang, D.C. Area Forecast: Week Ahead Starts And Ends Swimmingly; Midweek Somewhat Unsettled 
•  May 19, 2014 
•  1 min read 
• original

The Potomac River is above flood stage at Great Falls, May 17, 2014.  Trails upstream from the falls were closed due to flooding.  (Kevin Ambrose)

The line of cars waiting to enter Great Falls Park grew longer as Saturday morning progressed.  Many people wanted to see spectacle of flood waters rushing and exploding over Great Falls after our recent heavy rain event.  At one point on Saturday, the National Park Service posted that the wait was one-to-two hours to enter Great Falls Park.

I arrived early, before the crowds, and the sound of the falls immediately greeted me as I stepped out of my car in the park’s parking lot.  When the Potomac River floods, Great Falls is loud.  The sound is impressive.

The flow rate of the Potomac River at nearby Little Falls peaked at slightly over 150,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday.  The median flow rate is 10,000 cubic feet per second.  I have included a flow rate chart and photo comparison to show the difference in flow rates from near normal levels on the river and Saturday’s flood stage.  The photo comparison also shows the contrast of seasons at Great Falls.

Potomac River flooding to the level we saw this past weekend is not too uncommon.  On October 31, 2012, the flooding from Sandy was comparable, perhaps slightly less.  Here’s a photo post to check out Sandy’s flooding of the Potomac.  Here’s another post showing a flood from February 4, 2013.

A contrast of seasons and water levels. The image on the top was taken January 4, 2014 and the image on the bottom was taken May 17, 2014. Both photos were taken from the same location. (Kevin Ambrose)

Flood Warnings Escalate

These warnings are created by models based on many decades of data, but minor changes in weather systems will be reflected in sometimes very dramatic changes in the foretasted water levels.

This was the prediction at 6:30am this morning:

Here is the current (most recent) prediction:

Decorah, IA Eagle Camera is black online (with an egg)!

The egg was spotted first on February 23.


Live streaming video by Ustream

South Branch and Cacapon reached "Action Level" this week

This is one of the most interesting times of year for phenologists.  Weather is even less predictable than in hurricane season, yet some predictable things like crocuses and daffodils and robins and tree buds are appearing on schedule.

This is the third time recently when the South Branch reached "Action Level", which is when low-lying areas become vulnerable.  Functionally, in a healthy river bed this is when all of the regular expansion areas are full and the river is at risk of expanding onto the flood plains. There is an interesting correlation/causation exploration here.  It's not so much a coincidence of similar precipitation events, but instead it's likely

Meanwhile the Cacapon exceeded it's Action Level and Minor Flooding level near the mouth at Great Cacapon.

It's almost that time...

Perhaps some of you are ready to start things in the greenhouse. (We still need a few weeks to get our act together.)

Forest over a year.

Over 40,000 images from Samuel Orr's East-facing camera contribute to this documentation of the forest's change over a year.

1936 Flood Photo

I learned of this photo through Charlie Walbridge.   Chain Bridge connects the northernmost points of Arlington with the westernmost points of the District of Columbia.  It also happens to be the site (and at the time pictured below) of the highest water velocity recorded in nature.  

Chain Bridge spans the outflow of the Little Falls rapid, one of the few large rapids among those in the Mid-Atlantic affected by tides.

At high tide and summer levels, you can attain up the Virginia side of the rapid and run the Maryland or Virginia channels, and then repeat the process without getting out of your boat.  Of course, at the record level pictured here, you'd be lucky to make it upstream in a jet boat with a racing hull.  Even if you overcame the current, the partially submerged tree trunks speeding by would likely get you. 

Diesel spill along Rt. 50 threatens Mill Creek and the South Branch

Thanks to Anna for alerting us to this for the Times-News.
January 31, 2014

Diesel spill forces Romney water plant shutdown

MARLA PISCIOTTACumberland Times-News

VANDERLIP, W.Va. — The city of Romney pump station ceased pumping water from the South Branch of the Potomac River around 3:15 p.m. due to an accident in Mechanicsburg Gap on U.S. Route 50.

Rick Davis, chief operator of the Romney water plant, said he received a phone call from the 911 center and was told about the accident.

The concern was that either diesel fuel or gasoline was leaking from a tractor-trailer that lost control and went sideways leaning into Mill Creek.

“We stopped pumping when they called. We were about finished for the day anyway,” Davis said.

The pumping station pumps water every day until late morning or early afternoon to fill the tanks.

 Romney Mayor Dan Hileman said, “It sounds like the system worked. 911 called the water plant and they were able to shut down. For today, we’re safe.”

West Virginia State Police closed U.S. 50 while the truck was being removed, according to the Romney Volunteer Fire Company.

Sources said the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection was on scene, as was the Romney Rescue Squad.

Hileman said before the city pumps Saturday, “We’ll test to make sure there is nothing in the water supply.

“It’s a bad scene. We’re lucky. This accident makes it very clear what can happen to a water supply. If this were some sort of chemical spill it could have far-reaching health issues.”

It was just this week that Hileman spoke with the Times-News regarding his concern about the city’s water supply.

Hileman said there should be long-term planning in case the city’s water source disappears or becomes contaminated.

Also this week, Sen. Joe Manchin said he was equally concerned and that he would do whatever he could to help keep a potable supply available for residents not only in Hampshire County but across the nation.

Mill Creek flows directly into the South Branch, which is the only water supply to Romney and much of Hampshire County.

Contact Marla Pisciotta at marlapisciotta@frontier.com.

Fawns along the road video.

I don't know where this was filmed. It's a few years old.   -  Jim

Sunrise will get earlier beginning tomorrow!

While the winter solstice (December 21) is the shortest day of the year, sunrise continues to get later until January 8-11.  Starting tomorrow, sunrise will get earlier, initially by less than 1 minute per day, but the change will get more dramatic by March.

You can build customized calendars for your location at http://goo.gl/m2CzhH

Estimating Remaining Daylight

During the late afternoon, you can determine the remaining daylight on your fingers using this simple trick to measure the remaining daylight without a watch. Count the finger widths between the sun and the horizon. Each finger is equivalent to 15 minutes, with each hand totaling an hour.

Source: http://www.pinterest.com/source/groovymatter.com/

Might the cold snap affect invasives?

Excerpted from Minnesota's

MPR News Weather and its underlying science       

Extreme cold may wipe out high percentage emerald ash borer larvae

Paul Huttner January 3, 2014, 1:27 PM 7

Here’s one resident who may welcome the extreme cold wave headed for Minnesota. Your local ash tree.

The extreme temperatures moving in with Sunday’s arctic blast may kill off a significant percentage of emerald ash borer larvae, according to one of the premier forestry experts in Minnesota.