Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Top 5 Gifts for Rising River Lovers

It’s that time of year again to find gifts for our little critters! If you are a river lover yourself, your child has a good chance at becoming one too. Here are a few gift ideas to get your rising river lover out into nature to have fun, stay dry and warm, and maybe learn a few things too!

     WATER BOTTLE: A water bottle is a great gift to teach your child how to be friendlier to the environment by reusing their bottle instead of buying bottled water. There are some fun designs for kids out there. Check out these bottles by Camelbak.

CLOSED TOE SANDALS: These keep their little toes safe, but still allow them to walk in the river and hop through rain puddles! Keen has a wide variety of colors and styles for kids.

LONG UNDERWEAR: Cold weather doesn’t keep river lovers indoors and keeping your child nice and cozy with long underwear while on a short winter hike is important.

PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVICE (PFD): Keeping your child safe while they are on the water is the most important thing. REI has tips on finding the right one. 

BOOKS: There's a great new book called ABC’s from the James River, With Love and the author’s are donating 20% of the sales to the James River Association! Please order your books via www.dementibooks.com . When you get to the checkout screen, please enter the coupon code: JRA. Another fun book for kids is Camp Out: The Ultimate Kids Guide from the Backyard to the Backwoods

And don’t forget to get them something FUN! Okay, so this one is silly, but check out these Chameleon goggles! These goggles will teach your child about how other creatures see the world a bit differently.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Return of the Great Blue Heron

by Justin Doyle, JRA Outreach Manager

Photo by Nick Kotula.
Similar to the population of Bald eagles, the Great blue heron population of the Chesapeake Bay region has increased dramatically since the late 1960s when the population reached a low. The steep population decline is attributed to the widespread use of the agricultural insecticide DDT, which was banned in 1972. Since then the Great blue heron population has rebounded and the number of breeding colonies has increased from a dozen to 407 according to a 2013 survey conducted by The Center for Conservation Biology, a collaboration between the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Some of the best places to see Great blue herons on the James River are the falls of the James, specifically the Pipeline Walk in Downtown Richmond, and throughout the Lower James. A large heronry (rookery) exists on Vauxhall Island (or “Pterodactyl Island” as I like to call it) within the James River Park System, and is clearly visible from the Pipeline Walk. They are especially active during the spring months courting, mating, and nest-building, but can be seen throughout the year.


Another way to get up close and personal with a blue heron is to paddle or float above the fall line. If you put-in at Pony Pasture and float down to Reedy Creek, you will likely see at least one heron during the spring and summer months. They are commonly seen perching on rocks and wading in shallow water, oftentimes near rapids. If you are lucky, you might see one snatch a fish from the river.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Building Schoolyard Habitats- Learning By Doing

By Amber Ellis, JRA's Watershed Restoration Associate/Volunteer Coordinator

The James River Association received a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to engage teachers and students at two urban schools in creating schoolyard habitats at their school and in programs at the James River Ecology School at Presquile NWR.  This project ties urban schools to the National Wildlife Refuge System and to the restoration of wildlife habitat in their communities’ backyard. The two schools that were selected were Falling Creek Middle School in Chesterfield, VA and Colonial Heights Middle School in Colonial Heights, VA.

JRA’s Education Manager, Jessica Templeton, and JRA’s Watershed Restoration Associate, Amber Ellis, went to each school in early September to teach the students about the type of elements that are needed in a schoolyard habitat and the students came up with their own designs for what they wanted to see at their school. All of their designs had to address the need for wildlife (food, shelter, water), and for people (spaces to learn, accessibility, visual interest). The students’ designs were taken into consideration and combined into final plans that were implemented this fall.
Students at Falling Creek Middle School developing their designs.

Falling Creek Middle School (FCMS)

At FCMS, the theme that the students wanted was a bird habitat. The design for their habitat includes a defined outdoor classroom that is surrounded in raised beds. In the center of the classroom there will be a paw print made out of pavers. Many of the students wanted to include this design element because their mascot is a panther. Multiple layers of native vegetation were planted to encourage bird habitat with understory trees and shrubs. Native fruit producing shrubs such as Blueberry and Winterberry, as well as American Holly, and Dogwood were planted to provide food for birds. The students wanted a Weeping Cherry, so we included a native alternative, Weeping Redbud, which will be beautiful next spring.  All of the installation took place over four days in November.

Big thanks go out to the Old Dominion Chapter of the Interlocking Concrete and Pavement Institute (ICPI), particularly a team from Homescapes , Ltd.  who donated their equipment and labor to build the garden walls, as well as Newline Hardscapes that provided a great discount on the block material. The students planted 50 native plants in two days! Teachers will be helping students make plant tags and stepping stones in the classroom that will be added to the garden.  

You can see some of the Falling Creek students’ original designs here.


 Falling Creek Middle School site before.

Students planting the garden at Falling Creek Middle School.

Falling Creek Middle School after the installation of the Habitat Garden.

Colonial Heights Middle School (CHMS)
The big theme that came from the students at CHMS was to create a garden that attracted pollinators. The design includes a classroom area that is filled with picnic tables and a reading area with picnic benches. The benches were built and funded by Capital One. This seating area is surrounded by native plants that provide value to pollinators, such as butterflies, moths, and bees. Some of the plants include Echinacea, Black-eyed Susans, Viburnum, Summersweet Clethra, Aster, and Butterfly Weed. The installation took place over three weeks in October. The first Tuesday about 15 adults helped prepare the site by spreading soil, stone dust, and edging. The second Tuesday about 30 students came out to install 80 plants! Volunteers from Capital One came out the third week to build the picnic tables and benches and worked with the students to build and paint birdhouses, and make plant tags and stepping stones.

You can see some of the Colonial Heights students’ original concept designs here.


 Colonial Heights Middle School site before.

Students installing the plants at Colonial Heights Middle School.

Colonial Heights Middle School after the installation of the Habitat Garden.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service Schoolyard Habitat and Outdoor Classroom Program have helped schools across the country create wildlife habitat and spaces for children to learn outside. These gardens serve a unique role in reconnecting the students and teachers to the natural world, while also providing habitat for wildlife.


Big thanks also go to these groups that helped with the efforts at Falling Creek Middle School.

1. Homescapes: Their crew dedicated 5 days of labor and use of equipment. www.homescapesltd.com 

2. BWS Landscaping: Their crew pulled a much needed half day to get things ready for the kids. www.bwslandscaping.com 

3. NewLine Hardscapes, LLC: Miles Clarkson is one of the owners of NewLine and president of the ICPI Old Dominion Chapter.  Nelwine discounted the hardscape products by 75% for the project. We are a local manufacturer that is happy to help out in our community. www.newlinehardscapes.com 


4. ICPI Old Dominion Chapter | ICPI: We are a non-profit dedicated to growing the hardscape industry.  This event helped train train members and their crews and give back to the community. www.icpiolddominionchapter.com