November in Review

As we watch our first snow of the season fall and it truly feels like winter is setting in, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the past month at BRDC. We began November by celebrating our 6 year anniversary of receiving the donation of the beautiful former Konnarock Training School schoolhouse! This incredible historic building has been home to some great programs and events, and we are so grateful that we are able to use such a beautiful space. We invited our members for an early Friendsgiving, where we all got the chance to share a meal and enjoy the community that’s grown around us.

We hosted two educational field days, with Meadowview Elementary and Carroll County Middle schools, and an overnight residential education program with Galax Middle School. During these programs, we learned a lot about phenology- the changing of seasons. Lessons like winter tree identification, decomposition, bird migration, mammal tracking, and winter animal behavior all helped us realize just how much is going on outside right now, even as everything appears to settle down for winter.

This time of year, we can appreciate the impressive antlers on the white tailed bucks, and watch out for small mammals’ food caches and winter burrows (called hibernacula) between the roots of large trees. Just be sure not to disturb the furry fellas, they need their beauty sleep. If you put out some bird seed- or even better, suet- our common backyard winter birds are already making the rounds including such charismatic characters as the Carolina chickadee, dark-eyed junco, tufted titmouse, and white-breasted nuthatch. Keep in mind, it’s a good idea to your bird feeders regularly to prevent the outbreak and spread of diseases, such as avian flu. In the mornings after cold nights, keep an ear perked for crunching of cool frost formations like needle ice. And consider visiting our favorite Christmas tree, Frasier firs, in their natural habitat on Mount Rogers.

Between school activities, the staff here at the BRDC had time for some projects of our own. We collected seeds from the annual wildflowers in our garden to save for spring planting, checked our bird nest boxes for repairs and cleaning, revamped the library terrarium, and expanded the insect collection. While planning programs, we also documented a new beaver pond and recorded a very vocal saw whet owl! We also spent some necessary desk time updating our programs and continuing work on grant-funded projects.