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Headwaters in October ...
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Clockwise from top:
- JMU Arboretum Stream Restoration Project re/planting day, October 30.
- Byron Hukee and Elaine Smith talk to a Bridgewater Retirement Community member about wildflowers at Nature in a Nutshell, October 13.
- Trash haul from Adopt-a-Hwy clean up on Spring Creek Rd., October 7.
- Jerry Hopkins addressing fellow board members at the monthly meeting, October 15.
- Carl Droms' eMammal camera capture at Dellinger Gap, October 1.
- HMNs with Master Gardeners, a JMU student and JMU Arboretum director Jan Mahon, before getting to work on October 30.
- UVA Climatologist Jerry Stenger presenting to the basic training class, October 15.
- Paul Bugas picking through a benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, October 18.
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Events for HMNs ...
 Volunteer with the Rockingham Bird Club Bird Seed Sale Pick Up, Saturday, November 7, 8:00AM-1:00PM. See story below. Contact Jerry Hopkins, (540) 383-1070.
 Birds of the Burg, Saturday, November 7, 8:30-10:30AM, Hillandale Park, Harrisonburg. Guided bird walk with HMN Kathy Byers and others. More here.
 Call of the Wild Conference, November 13-15, Best Western Inn, Waynesboro. Sponsored by The Wildlife Center of Virginia and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Registration required. Information here.
 HMN Projects Committee Meeting, Sunday, November 15, 3-5:00PM. Sandy's house, Mt. Sidney. All welcome to sit in and consider joining. HMN project coordinators attendance would be most appreciated! Contact Sandy Greene, (540) 234-9336.
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 Fall Skills Project
On Tuesday, October 13 the cohort of 2015 held its culminating skills activity, “Nature in a Nutshell” at Bridgewater Retirement Community (BRC). Headwaters Master Naturalist members, trainees and residents at BRC considered the event a big success.
Read more from Kathy Byers here.
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Commencement Celebration 2015!
Thursday, November 12, 2PM
 The 2015 HMN Training Class is winding up and it's time to party! Headwaters Chapter members and their families are invited to a Commencement Celebration on Thursday, November 12 at 2PM at the Bridgewater Municipal Building.
"In honor of the graduates of the new VMN class, we would like to have a reception with some yummy finger foods. If you can bring either food or beverages, or help set up or clean up, please contact Ann Murray (540) 363-5304 or e-mail meadowspringsfarm@gmail.com.
If anyone has flowers or table decorations that they could bring, call me. Please note that the reception is in Arey Hall, that is in the Bridgewater Town Hall. Helpers for setting up, please be there at 1PM.
Let's show this class how much we appreciate all their hard work and studying! Time to party!" - HMN Programs Chair Ann Murray
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HMN Members' Annual Meeting Scheduled
The Annual Meeting for 2015 will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2016, from 10 AM to 2 PM at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 725 S. High St., Harrisonburg. We will have a fabulous potluck brunch, a short meeting with elections, and a program yet to be announced. Please put it on your calendar!
 Book Sale
Recycle your naturalist-related books at the Annual Meeting book sale. Sandy Greene is collecting books you are no longer using for others to get at a great price and boost our general funds.
 Planetarium
The John C. Wells Planetarium on the James Madison University campus has free shows for the public every Saturday at 2:15pm and 3:30pm. Located at 91 E. Grace St., it is less than a mile from Trinity Church. Consider heading over after the meeting to check out the facility and show. Scheduled that day is: To Space and Back.
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Volunteers Needed for the Rockingham Bird Club Seed Pick Up
BFG Supply Company Main Warehouse (formerly Wetzel's), 961 North Liberty St., Harrisonburg
 The Rockingham Bird Club holds a bird seed sale every year as their primary fundraiser. Filled bird seed orders are ready for pick up on Saturday, November 7 from 8AM - 1PM. Help is appreciated anytime during these hours loading the 10, 20, 25, and 40 pound bags into the customers' cars.
These are the people who bring us the Saw-whet Owl Banding field trip we usually do each fall. They could use some help. Their annual sale of high quality bird seed raises funds to provide educational materials to the local libraries and to make donations to groups that benefit birds and nature.
Call Jerry Hopkins for more details and to sign-up to help: (540) 383-1070.
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Highland Retreat Saw-whet Owl Banding from Clair Mellinger
reprinted from the Rockingham Bird Club's November 2015 issue of the Goldfinch Gazette
 Zig and I are gearing up for another banding season at Highland Retreat. We will probably begin banding around November 1. Banding to the north of us in PA and NY is still quite slow but the folks in Ontario and Quebec have had a pretty good year to this point.
I am going to try keeping a blog site this year to keep folks up-to-date about what we are doing and when we are doing it.
You can find the first edition of the blog at: highlandretreatowls.wordpress.com
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 Your volunteer and CE hours are needed!
Your recorded hours are valuable to our chapter! Please take the time to record your hours in the Virginia Master Naturalist Volunteer Management System (VMN VMS).
Logging our hours spent on volunteer service projects, chapter administration, and continuing education is essential for showing our sponsors what we are doing, for insurance purposes, and for determining individual certification. If for no other reason, make this effort for our hard working Annual Report Committee which will soon be convening to compile this all-important document from your submitted numbers as required of the state program by early January. A robust Annual Report proves our worth to our sponsoring agencies, ensuring continued program funding.
Do you have enough hours for re/certification? You need a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of continuing education each calendar year to maintain certification.To find out how many hours you have accumulated this year:
- log into VMN VMS
- click on "View Your Hours" in the upper left-hand corner of the screen
- fill in the "Start Date" and "End Date" boxes at the top with something like "1/1/15" and "12/31/15"
- click "Submit" ... then find your totals at the bottom of the page.
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 Need More Continuing Education Hours?
Don't forget about the archived webinars on the Virginia Master Naturalist website!
Almost two years worth of monthly webinars offer information about feral hogs in Virginia, fracking, climate change, the frog and toad calling survey, vernal pools and much more.
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 Edith J. Carrier Arboretum Fall Newsletter Features HMNs
Find out more about the JMU Arboretum's stream restoration project from Arboretum Director Jan Mahon on page three of the newsletter here. Photos of HMNs Kate Guenther, Ginny Joseph, and Chip Brown complement the print!
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Inside, you will find:
If you haven't already done so, subscribe to get future quarterly issues of The Pollinator.
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Headwaters Chapter Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, November 19, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
 @ Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Office
517 Lee Highway, Verona
Find directions through Google maps HERE.
All members welcome!
If you'd like to add any item of discussion to the Board agenda, please contact Jerry Hopkins, gerald.hopkins@comcast.net, by November 12.
Our Chapter Board meeting minutes can be found in the Documents section of the VMN Volunteer Management System.
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 HMN newsletter and website content submissions are always appreciated!
Please send them to Adrie. Newsletter item deadlines are generally the last day of the month for the next month's issue.
 Wind your way HERE to view our calendar of Naturalist-related events in our area. Contact Adrie if you know of events to add to the calendar.
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