Join BRDC for the Summer Naturalist Rally!

Get Outdoors & Discover New Heights
August 18-20, 2017

EXPLORE THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MOUNT ROGERS, THE CROWN JEWEL OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

The Summer Rally gives us a chance to explore Mt. Rogers in a different season. We have assembled a wide variety of field trips with leaders who are experts in their field and able to make it understandable and interesting for everyone from inquisitive amateurs to accomplished naturalists.

GUIDED TRIPS INCLUDE:

• Mushrooms
• Butterflies
• Wildflowers
• Geology
• Birding
• Salamanders
• Stream Ecology
• Big Trees & More!

FEATURED SPEAKER

Ann Berry Somers, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, will discuss the natural history of the box turtle and the 100-year study The Box Turtle Connection (BTC), now entering its 10th year. 

An award-winning teacher of biology and wildlife conservation, Somers teaches courses on NC wildlife and sea turtles (travelling with students to Costa Rica to collect data). She serves on several conservation organization boards and is a member of the North American Box Turtle Conservation Committee. Her international work includes serving as a consultant for the “Safe Home for Turtles” conservation and education project at the University of Bengkulu in Sumatra, Indonesia.

FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER
5:30PM @ THE KONNAROCK COMMUNITY CENTER

BRDC is excited to partner with the Independence Farmers Market www.independencefarmersmarket.org to provide high quality and locally sourced ingredients!  The meal will feature a meat or vegetarian option, plenty of local veggies, home-made baguettes, and a garden salad to die for. Home-made desserts will finish off the meal.

Dinner is by pre-paid reservation ONLY.  There will be no dinners sold at the door. Registration is due by August 14. Please join us for this great meal, catchup with old friends, and proudly support our local farmers with this opportunity to eat a locally sourced home-cooked meal.

Mount Rogers Spring Naturalist Rally

Although the weather kept some away, the 43rd annual Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally drew a large crowd of enthusiastic participants during the second weekend in May.  The Rally was held in memory of Wallace Coffey, Rally co-founder, and Claude Greever, long-time Rally supporter and guide.

For the 2nd year in a row, BRDC partnered with the Independence Farmers Market www.independencefarmersmarket.org to provide high quality and locally sourced ingredients for the Farm--to-Table meal, which featured slow smoked, local, pasture-raised pork, plenty of local veggies, home-made breads, and a garden salad to die for. Home-made desserts finished off the meal. With all profits from the dinner returning to the community center, those in attendance made for a successful fundraiser. 

As rain poured outside, keynote speaker George Constantz, author of Hollows, Peepers, and Highlanders: An Appalachian Mountain Ecology, spoke to a packed house at the Konnarock Community Center after the Friday night dinner.

Field trips on Saturday included several new opportunities such as Caving, Intro to Birding and Ecology of Grassy Balds, while many of the tried and true trips from the past also remained popular.  With the rain giving way to cloudy skies and even a little bit of sunshine, conditions were wet but good for the hearty naturalist who didn’t mind a little mud.

Special thanks to all of the volunteers and committee members who worked to make the event a success! The wonderful support of our volunteer guides was greatly appreciated as they lead 26 different field trips during the weekend as well as two kids programs.  The Rally was held in memory of Wallace Coffey, Rally co-founder, and Claude Greever, long-time Rally supporter and guide.

All in all, the 43rd annual Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally was an inspiring addition to the long tradition of this exploration and discovery event within the Blue Ridge.