Fall at Bluff Mountain
On Sunday, October 11, the Blue Ridge Discovery Center sponsored a tour hike to the Nature Conservancy's Bluff Mountain Nature Preserve on a perfect fall day. Temperature in the low 60's, light breeze under a cerulean sky, the forest at near peak fall coloration, the group of eleven hikers strolled through some of the rarest ecologies in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Blue Ridge Illustrated: Oaks of Matthews State Forest
14 students spent two hours in the field defining the difference between the bark, acorns, leaves and tree structure of six species of oaks in the forest while effectively blocking out the myriad of other species in the forest. Their investigative efforts began the latest BRDC poster: The Oaks of Matthews State Forest.
Galax Middle School Attends Hokie BugFest
Heidi Breedlove (BRDC volunteer), Mark Robinson, (Galax 5th grade science teacher), and Scott Jackson-Ricketts (BRDC Program Director) hopped on a bus with our young charge to make the trip to Virginia Tech’s annual Hokie BugFest.
Galax Enrichment Week - Aquatic Adventures
Despite the LOW pressure system hanging over the area bringing inches of rain, the students enthusiasm remained HIGH. They spent the week away from campus at Dannelly Park enjoying Aquatic Adventures.
Galax Enrichment Week - Primitive Technology
Galax Middle School Students spent the week at Matthews State Forest learning all about basic materials through a course on primitive technology.
Blue Ridge Discovery Center’s Fall Mushroom Walk
Twelve curious hikers joined Ken Crouse for his second annual BRDC mushroom walk on Saturday, September 19th. We met at Cox’s Chapel Low Water Bridge at 10am for a brief introductory show-and- tell prior to carpooling to a location across the river and into the woods.
Signs of Fall
Although signs of the fall season are usually evident enough from changes in the weather, there are many clues from nature that a seismic shift in the seasons is occurring. Even if you did not have a calendar, you should be able to predict the month if you study the many signs that nature provides.
Educational resource planted last Fall shows us life!
Last fall, BRDC, led by Sarah Osborne, planted a brand new butterfly garden on the grounds of the Galax High School as part of the Fall 2014 Middle School Enrichment Program. The results a year later are astounding!
Students conduct first survey of Deer Exclosure Plot
For our first research day, 9/9/15, the students focused on describing the forest floor and canopy densities, comparing percentages of herbaceous and rocky or barren coverage, taking a census of all the trees within an approximately 80 foot radius of the deer exclosure including diameter, height and species of each tree.
Young Explorers find possibly the ugliest but coolest creature in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Suited up and ready to roll we made our way downstream to form lines of snorkelers. With 64 deg water even the experienced snorkelers were hesitant, but once the crew laid flat and got their heads in the water the elation began to ring out.
Milkweed Madness
If you manage a field, you face a conundrum in deciding your specific goals and if, when, and how often to mow. If you want to retain the field, you must eventually mow it, but preferably no more than once per year to minimize negative effects on wildlife. Otherwise woody vegetation will eventually move in and convert the field into a woodland. But the speed of this succession is highly variable in different locations. Mowing more than once per year usually converts the field into short grasses which are minimally useful to wildlife. But when do you mow?
Fished Wilson Creek Tenkara Style
Amelia Hulth with the Grayson Highland State Park, graciously arranged an eager group to join us for a lesson on Tenkara fly fishing on Wilson Creek Friday, August 21.
Announcing The Young Explorers Club!
The Explorers Club is a group of 16 youth that will come together to explore, discover and share the wonders of the Blue Ridge.
Report on Hike to Sullivan Swamp
On the weekend of August 15, 2015, Devin Floyd, BRDC Co-Founder, took a group of explorers to Sullivan Swamp in Grayson Highlands State Park. On this hike participants explored one of Virginia's rarest ecological treasures.
Fun was had by all!
On Saturday, August 15th Blue Ridge Discovery Center got together for a day of exploration capped off by a potluck party!
Recap of the Explorer’s Adventure Camp (August 3rd-5th, 2015)
For years people have requested that we provide some kind of camp for kids and this year things all fell into place at last. BRDC’s goals behind this camp, aligned with our mission, were to connect kids with nature through immersion, give them the opportunity to learn potentially life long enriching hobbies, and teach them 21st century skills including problem solving and critical thinking through interest-driven activities.
Fresh Water Snorkeling with Jim Herrig
Last Saturday we had the wonderful privilege of hosting Jim Herrig, from the US Forest Service, the man who developed the wildly successful Freshwater Snorkeling Program in the Cherokee National Forest! Jim and his assistant Michela packed all of their equipment up: snorkels, masks and wetsuits, and made a 6 hour trek north to give us a full demonstration of the program.
Canadian migrant arrives early on the New River
With the arrival of August it seems that summer is almost over, most birds have finished breeding, and cooler weather must be coming soon. But one of the surest signs of the approaching end of summer is the first arrival of migrating birds that breed in the far north.
Explorer Adventure Camp Photo Gallery
The 1st Annual Explorers Adventure Camp documented in photos.