Seed Pods of Matthews State Forest by Galax High School Art Program
The Seed Pods of Matthews State Forest poster has been completed! It is the fourth in an ongoing series of posters from the Blue Ridge Illustrated program.
A beautiful day at Hungry Mother State Park Birding Adventure Weekend!
BRDC set up shop at Hungry Mother State Park this past weekend where we shared our traveling booth of wonders with visitors. Area youth dissected owl pellets and studied raptor wings, skulls and talons. While tending our booth we got to scope birds on the lake including, pied-billed grebe, red-breasted mergansers and eastern kingbirds.
(May 2015) Grandfather Mountain, a Profile, by Miles Tanger
"Many have seen it, but few people know it well. Now come visit the Grandfather Mountain in its complete history, and full stature as one of the world's great mountains. Grandfather Mountain: A Profile travels back to the origins of this living entity, then traces its unique development--geological, natural, prehistoric, and modern humans-- to the present day, where it still stands alone as the grand patriarch of the Blue Ridge Mountains."
Announcing the Blue Ridge Harvest Calendar!
The idea is to document wild harvest dates throughout the seasons and we are looking for your help! All you have to do is submit notes on your harvest dates through our online submission form. At the end of the year we will be compiling the data into a 2016 printed harvest calendar to distribute throughout the community.
MRNR T-shirt Designs
New Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally t-shirts featuring creatures that highlight the Blue Ridge Mountains. Men's and Women's fits in "Natural" and "Navy". Hop on it and get yours before they are gone! Buy Now
BRDC Discovery prompts study of Virginia Paper Birch
Way back in 2011 one our guides, Devin Floyd, took a group of young explorers up into a very unique habitat on Turk mountain in search of rare species. They were searching in a north facing rock talus for ice age relic species. Low and behold that group found and documented a tree that had characteristics fully matching a Paper Birch, Betula papyrifera. The Paper Birch is a species that isn't usually documented as living south of Pennsylvania.
Skunk Cabbage
Skunk Cabbage is by far the strangest flower you'll ever come across in the Blue Ridge.
Galax Elementary Winter Enrichment Week
After nearly a month of planning, BRDC along with other community organizations, teachers and the Galax City Public Schools’ administration office, came together to offer elementary and middle school students a wide array of educational options and opportunities. BRDC’s role focused on four programs: National Fishing in Schools, led by Aaron Floyd and Lisa Benish with assistance from Roald Kirby and Mike Floyd; Reading the Blue Ridge, led by Sarah Osborne and Brenda Bonk with assistance from Scott Jackson-Ricketts and teacher’s aid, Theresa Mawyer; Microscope Fun, co-led by Evan Worrell, Scott, Brenda and with assistance from Lauren Peery, William Roberts and Roald; and Blue Ridge Expeditions trip to Grandfather Mountain, led by William and Joyce Roberts. All of BRDC’s programs were held in the elementary school.
Galax Elementary Enrichment: Fly Fishing
During the week of February 9th, BRDC participated in the Galax Elementary Enrichment Week. This is a fantastic offering by the Galax Public School System where students get to take in-depth courses on particular subjects. One of the programs we offered was all about fly fishing. 32 enthusiastic second and fourth graders signed up for our five day, 15-hour fly fishing course.
(February 2015) The Signature of All Things: A Novel
This month's Book Club choice is the Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. The novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia.
(December 2014) 8. Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail
Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, having survived a rattlesnake strike, two hurricanes, and a run-in with gangsters from Harlem, she stood atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin. There she sang the first verse of “America, the Beautiful” and proclaimed, “I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it.”
Hokie Bugfest!!
Clyde Kessler and Scott Jackson-Ricketts set up a BRDC booth at the 4th annual Hokie Bugfest. This year's Hokie BugFest (HBF) attendance was 6,112 - a significant increase over 4,229 of last year.
Trout in the Classroom
With support from Grayson National Bank, we are happy to announce that we will be bringing Trout in the Classroom to two more regional public schools! This terrific program, developed by Trout Unlimited, brings hands-on science directly to the classroom. Students raise native Brook Trout from eggs to fingerlings in a 55 gallon aquarium throughout the school year. If they are successful, they will get release them into their local VDIGF approved watershed. I know there are a bunch of kids out there looking forward to this as much as we are!
MEGALOPTERA!
In recent news you may have seen that the largest aquatic insect in the world was recently discovered in China: Scientific American. At first glance this is a rather frightening foreign creature, but did you know that it's equally intimidating cousin lives right here in the Blue Ridge Mountains?
(August 2014) 5. The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden, by Rick Darke & Doug Tallamy
For the August book(s), the BRDC Book Club has chosen: The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden, by Rick Darke & Doug Tallamy. "A home garden is often seen as separate from the natural world surrounding it. In truth, it is actually just one part of a larger landscape that is made up of many living layers."
As a complimentary book we are also recommending: The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening, edited by Thomas Christopher. "Gardeners are the front line of defense in our struggle to tackle the problems of global warming, loss of habitat, water shortages, and shrinking biodiversity"
Trout in the Classroom: Grayson Highlands School
Over the past four months Mrs. Perry’s seventh grade life science students at Grayson Highlands School have been diligently raising native brook trout in their school lobby for all visitors to see. This is part of a program called “Trout in the Classroom” and revolves around the students learning about the biology and ecology of one of the most iconic species of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
K-2 Reading Program coming this fall!
BRDC has received generous support from the Harris Francis Block Foundation to fund a K-2 Reading Program for the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015! We are really looking forward to sharing some great reads with these young explorers!
Blue Ridge Expeditions: The Channels, Clinch Mountain
One of southwest Virginia’s most spectacular and unusual natural preserves will be explored on this Blue Ridge Expeditions (BRE) hike. The part of Clinch Mountain known as The Channels is an area of huge sandstone rock outcroppings where ancient forces have created a maze of giant fissures, some of which now serve as passageways somewhat similar to slot canyons of the western states.
Blue Ridge Expeditions: Hike to Dismal Falls, Bland County, VA
On July 19th, Blue Ridge Expeditions (BRE), a flagship program of the Blue Ridge Discovery Center, will host a hike on the Appalachian Trail in Bland County. This 4.3 mile hike to Dismal Falls, on the Bland-Giles border, is the first of four hikes led by BRE program director, Amy Roberts, a Bland resident.