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Upcoming ...
 HMN Adopt-a-Hwy Trash Pickup
Wednesday, October 5, 9:30AM. Bluestone Vineyards, 4828 Spring Creek Rd., Bridgewater. Contact Adrie Voors.
 Black Bear Composting Facility Tour
Thursday, October 6, 10AM. Rescheduled from last week due to weather. 152 McGuslin Lane (Route 628), Crimora. Meeting to carpool from Harrisonburg at 9:15AM. Contact Adrie Voors.
 VA Breeding Bird Atlas Talk at the Augusta Bird Club Meeting
Monday, October 10, 7PM. Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2001 North Coalter St., Staunton. Presented by the Atlas coordinator, avian ecologist Ashley Peele.
 Science Talks: Shenandoah Valley Geology
Tuesday, October 11, 7PM. Wayne Theatre/Ross Performing Arts Center, 521 West Main St., Waynesboro. Presented by Jim Beard, Director of Research and Collections and Curator of Earth Sciences, Virginia Museum of Natural History. More HERE.
 Notes from Nature - Plants of Virginia, VMN Webinar
Friday, October 14, 12PM. Online. Digitizing Virginia's herbarium for research and education: a new online project for Virginia's Master Naturalists. Presented by botanists Jill Spear and Andrea Weeks. More about this and the link to join the webinar HERE.
 In Search of Bigfoot
Tuesday, November 1, 12PM. Ice House, 127 W. Bruce St., Harrisonburg. Presented by HMN Jerry Hopkins for JMU Lifelong Learning Institute Brown Bag Lunch Series. More HERE.
 21st Annual Call of the Wild Conference
Friday, November 11-Sunday, November 13. Best Western Inn & Suites Conference Center, Waynesboro. All about wildlife rehabilitation. Hosted by the Wildlife Center of Virginia in collaboration with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. More HERE.
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Basic Training Class Begins!
Cohort V first day of basic training with Eric Jones, Tuesday, September 20. Weekly Tuesday evening classes are being held at the McKinney Science Center at Bridgewater College. Field trips are scheduled throughout this fall session.
Photo by Sandy Greene.
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HMN Board & Member Meeting at Natural Chimneys
Sunday, September 25
Thanks to Program Committee Chair Judy Tammi for making all the arrangements and Bill Patterson for sharing his wealth of knowledge about our local grasses!
Photos from top then left to right::
- HMN bimonthly meeting of the Board of Directors chaired by HMN President Sandy Greene. From left to right: Sandy, Secretary Lacey Dean, Vice President Judy Tammi, Continuing Education Committee Chair Margaret Speicher, Membership Committee Chair Kelly Rourke, guest HMN Betty Forrest, Historian/Parliamentarian Malcolm Cameron, Website/Newsletter Committee Chair Adrie Voors, Outreach Committee Chair Janet James, Basic Training Committee Chair Brian Lux. Photo credit Volunteer Service Projects Committee Chair Peggy Plass
- Judy, Janet and Betty by the hefty potluck spread. Photo credit Peggy Plass
- USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service Grazing Specialist Bill Patterson with grass samples. Photo credit Sandy Greene
- Judy pulling out grass samples for Bill to identify. Photo credit Chip Brown
- Photo of Bill Patterson by Peggy Plass
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RareQuest River Adventure
HMN RareQuest Team 1
 Last August, Chris Bowlen and Kathy Byers, two members of Headwaters Team 1 for the RareQuest project, launched an adventurous kayaking trip to find a rare species of goldenrod in Page County, VA. The team was anxious for success as one rare bird and another plant species had eluded the team earlier in the year.
Read about this from Kathy Byers HERE.
Photo credit Kathy
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RareQuest Update
HMN RareQuest Team 2
 Headwaters Master Naturalist RareQuest Team 2, Ginny Hoffman, Elaine Smith, and Chip Brown, conducted their final outing for the season on September 25th to search for Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak) in Rockingham county.
Read about this from Chip Brown HERE.
Photo credit Elaine Smith
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CWD Check Station Volunteer Opportunity
 VDGIF Wildlife Veterinarian Megan Kirchgessner is recruiting volunteers to help with "... our Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance, which occurs every fall. CWD is a fatal disease of deer, and we try to determine each fall the percentage of deer that are infected and where the disease has spread.
Even if you have never volunteered at a check station before, please consider helping us out this year! If handling dead deer is not something you are interested in, have no fear! We also need help with filling out data cards and checking deer. Properly filled out paperwork is just as important as the sample itself. You can help sample deer, or help with checking in deer and filling out data cards, or do both!"
Volunteers are needed all day on the first two Saturdays of the regular firearms season, November 19 and 26. Check stations are all in the CWD containment counties of Shenandoah, Warren, Clarke and Frederick. Station locations and more details HERE.
Photo credit: Shenandoah National Park
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 Introduce Yourself to Cohort V
As a means of getting the Basic Training class members introduced to the Headwaters Chapter, all members are invited to spend 5-10 minutes at the beginning of any class to let this Cohort know how you are involved, places you like to visit, a favorite project ... This could be a show and tell with items of interest or just a little bit about you. Imagination and creativity encouraged!
Contact Brian to sign up to a Tuesday evening class for this fall or next spring.
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Shenandoah Mountain Featured in "This American Land"
The Headwaters Chapter partner organization Friends of Shenandoah Mountain and its Co-chair Lynn Cameron facilitated the filming of an episode of "This American Land" last fall. It is now available for viewing!
From Friends of Shenandoah Mountain:
"The collaborative effort to permanently protect Shenandoah Mountain has gained national media attention. 'This American Land', a conservation newsmagazine series aired on public television, has just released an episode that includes a segment on Shenandoah Mountain. The series promotes public awareness and informed debate about serious issues affecting America’s landscapes, waters, and wildlife.
The 8-minute segment on Shenandoah Mountain is the third story in Series Six, Episode #602, beginning at about 18 minutes into the episode. View the episode online or wait until it comes to a public television station near you."
More about this HERE.
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Learn More on Facebook
 Washington, D.C. area professional naturalist and honorary VMN Alonso Abugattas generously shares his extensive knowledge of the natural world through a blogsite and public facebook group. With 1800 members and counting in the public facebook group, you are sure to have your questions addressed and images scrutinized for a satisfying consensus. If you don't mind spending time on facebook, consider joining! Find the Capital Naturalist Public Group page HERE.
Follow Alonso's Capital Naturalist blogsite to learn more about everyday findings out your front door as the seasons progress ... like all those woolly bear caterpillars crossing the roads just now.
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 Submissions please!
The HMN newsletter and website need your input! Please send articles, photos or ideas to Adrie. Newsletter item deadlines are the last day of the month for the following month's issue.
 Wind your way HERE for a Naturalist-related events calendar for our area. Contact Adrie if you know of events to add to the calendar.
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