On August 8th, four of us worked on the shrubs and trees that were planted along the tributary that flows into the Catoctin on the western edge of the Phillips Farm. We were pleased to find the trees and shrubs that were planted on April 22 thriving.
To keep them healthy we first hand weeded around the plants and then put mesh guards around them to keep the deer, rabbits, and rodents from gnawing on the stems and eating the leaves. We managed to complete about half the trees and shrubs there but need to go back and finish the reminder there as well as work on the trees and shrubs that are near the village. That’s where we could use your help!
On Wednesday, August 19th, from 9:00 to noon we will complete this project if enough volunteers can come on out and lend a hand.
We’ll meet at the mill and put mesh guards around the plants which are experiencing some deer, rodent, and rabbit damage and remove some of the aggressive invasive alien plants in the planting area. We also plan to so some hand weeding around the trees and shrubs so if you have some favorite weeding tools please bring them and work gloves along. A mallet to hammer the mesh strakes in would also be useful. One group will finish the work along the tributary while the others will work on the trees and shrubs closer to the village.
We’ll also water the new plants with our new pump if it doesn’t rain between now and then.
Please come out and help if you can and leave when you need to. If you are planning to come, please let Joe Coleman know: 540-554-2542 or jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org
Thanks for your help in making this restoration a success!
Six of us went out stream monitoring today at the Phillips Farm in Waterford where the south fork of Catoctin Creek runs through. The water was 69 degrees and we had a slight breeze blowing which made it a great day to be out stream monitoring. This team is led by Helen Van Ryzin, who was certified last spring in the Virginia Save our Streams (VA SOS) protocol, which is the protocol used by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.
We set up our table under a nice tree, had our sorting trays all ready, and then went out into the water to collect our critters. It’s such a fun process to be involved with – after doing the collections in the net, we brought it back over to the table and the excitement begins – it feels like Christmas as we spread the net out and inspect what we caught. I was hoping for a caddisfly all wrapped up in it’s stone house but we didn’t find any of them today. We did have a significant number of net spinners, a bunch of riffle beetles, lots of mayflies, a clam, and I believe some damselfly larvae too.
I’ve posted photos to our facebook page. Anyone can come out and learn how to monitor a Loudoun stream. It’s really quite fascinating to look at the aquatic insects and understand how their presence (or lack of presence) tells the story of water quality. They’re really beautiful in their own ways with their feathery gills and interesting legs and tails. It’s a whole new world of Loudoun’s nature and environment to learn about and explore.
Here in Loudoun, we are fortunate to have a lot of streams that run through our yards, neighborhoods and wild places. For some fun, you try your hand at the Loudoun Streams wordsearch puzzle. Then, come on out and join us in stream monitoring - its a great time outdoors and really interesting to see all the different creatures that live in our streams.
More puzzles on Loudoun nature and wildlife can be found on our Educational Resources page.
By all accounts, the tree planting along the Town Branch stream on Saturday was a great success! Gem Bingol from Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) kicked off the event with an overview of the project, talking about the stream and how the riparian buffer will help improve water quality and describing the task that we would undertake of planting 204 native trees and shrubs and 144 native perennial wildflower plants.
She then turned it over to Jeff Wolinski, the consulting ecologist and wetlands expert, who helped plan and select the plant species that we’d be planting. He selected a great diversity of plants for this project which will not only benefit a wide variety of wildlife but also provide a more natural look to the restoration.
The tree and shrub species include 2 species of dogwoods, elderberry, 2 species of serviceberry, ironwood, hazelnut, river birch, hackberry, black gum, red maple, red bud, 3 species of oaks, and arrowwood. Among the perennials, they include monarda (Wild Bergamot) , eupatorium (Joe Pye), New York ironweed, coreopsis, senna, culver root, blue indigo, mountain mint, gayfeather, switchgrass, indiangrass, and blue vervain.
After giving a quick overview of the plants, Jeff demonstrated how to plant the trees and talked about fertilizer as well as the interrelationship between a beneficial fungus that grows in the soil and the plant roots.
Thankfully, Jeff, along with LWC’s Craig Himelright and Rocky Fera and a few others others spent Friday preparing for the planting by auguring the holes for the trees, getting the trees in place at each spot, bringing out the mulch and doing other preparations. This pre-work made the planting very straightforward, as volunteers could focus on planting the trees and mulching around them rather than digging the holes.
The work went quickly with over 50 volunteers from Piedmont Environmental Council, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and an energetic boy scout troop 998 jumping right in. Volunteers came prepared with work gloves for getting hands on with the planting. Shovels were provided to help break up soils and put it back around the trees as they were settled into their holes. With the rain that we had the last few days, the ground was very wet and a number of holes had filled with water over night making this a rather muddy but good planting. As the designated photographer for the event, I think I was the only one who left the event without muddy pants….not that I don’t enjoy playing in the dirt too
Eight people worked until 4pm doing the final wrap-up of putting deer protectors around the trees and watering the plants.
And, I’d be remiss in not calling out Neely Law from the Center for Watershed Protection for her great work. Neely was instrumental as she got the required permissions along with the Leesburg Town Council’s support for the project, including their agreement that the planting area would be a no-mow area so it could be a viable riparian buffer.
Thanks to all who supported this event! It was a great team effort and a wonderful showing of our care for the community! We met new people, shared stories and put in place a beautiful riparian habitat that will benefit our wildlife and provide enjoyment to all who live in and visit Leesburg.
There’s a wonderful little stream called Town Branch that runs though Leesburg and many of us may not even notice that it’s there.
It runs along Catoctin Circle near the Village Lanes Bowling Center and is the site of a really great habitat restoration project that is happening this Saturday.
Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) is leading this project and we are supporting it. In the future, there will be a walking trail that runs through here and we are also talking about doing some additional habitat restoration for the amphibian population that use the vernal pools there too.
This is a great event for the whole family. The holes will be dug in advance so the main activity will be to plant the trees and shrubs that have been put out. Here is the flier for the event so you can read more about it and the important impacts that this habitat restoration will have our our local water.
I’m sure the wildlife will be pleased by the restoration. When I went out to take some “before” photos, a Kingfisher, which is likely nesting in the area, came by to protest my presence. It landed just a few feet from me on the dumpster and made its rattling call. It was likely hunting in the stream for small fish.
The tree buffer that is planted here will help restore the water quality of this stream, giving great food sources for birds like this kingfisher. Kingfishers nest in burrows along stream banks – perhaps one day, the kingfishers will even nest in the banks of this stream!
Celebrate our Planet and Help a Stream Environment!
On Earth Day, April 22 (3 to 6 pm) and on Saturday, April 25 ( 9 am to noon) help the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Waterford Foundation plant trees and shrubs along a stream on Waterford’s Phillips Farm. While there is already a nice stand of small black walnut trees along one side of a small tributary which flows into the South Fork Catoctin, there are very few trees on its other side.
We will plant about 300 native trees and shrubs along the stream and remove the invasive alien vegetation which is beginning to take hold there. Doing this will help stabilize the stream bank by creating a wider stream buffer. This will not only reduce erosion it will also provide valuable wildlife habitat in the area.
Everyone is welcome, and it’s fine if someone doesn’t want to work the entire three hours.
If you know anyone or a group that might be interested, please forward this message to them.
Please let Joe Coleman know if you would like to join us on either or both days and if you have any questions. Joe can be reached at 540-554-2542 or jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org.
We should have a flier by Monday & if you’d like a copy to pass on pls let me or Joe know.
Some couples like to play golf, see a movie or visit museums. Scott and Lee Meyer of Sterling would add stream monitoring to their favorite list of couple activities. For the Meyers, wading into a Loudoun County stream in hopes of finding aquatic insects—benthic macro invertebrates or animals without backbones—is a great date.
“We believe we’re making a difference together,” says Scott, a technical consultant manager in VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) implementations with Unified Communications. “It gives us common issues to discuss. You will always find yourself closer to someone who shares the same interests.”
Lee agrees. “We’re both pretty independent,” insists the telecommunications professional. “Stream monitoring is one of the activities that helps us to grow as a couple. It helps us to maintain a balance.”
The couple, who met while serving in the U.S. Army, have been married for 20 years. They share a love of nature and the outdoors. Lee has always had an interest in horticulture and hiking. And as the national vice-president of the Isaak Walton League of America and president of the League’s Virginia-wide chapter, Scott has taken his enjoyment of the outdoors into strong leadership positions. Although involved in high level conservation work, Scott says he receives a great deal of personal reward from doing in-the-trenches monitoring activities.
“As a hunter and angler my involvement in conservation hits several areas,” says Scott, who admits to being an avid trash collector in nature. “If there is no habitat conservation, there will be no where for the animals to live. As a fisherman, I understand the need to take care of our watersheds. Stream monitors are the front line of defense in determining the health of our watershed. We have the ability to act as an alarm system.”
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) monitors streams all over Loudoun County including Sterling and Ashburn and all points west. LWC provides expert training for stream monitors and experienced leaders guide the field expeditions. As LWC stream monitors, both Scott and Lee believe they learn something new every time they go out.
Team work is the name of the game on monitoring day. First, areas within the stream that will yield the best insect samples are carefully chosen. This includes ripples and pools. Macro invertebrates live on rocks, logs, sediment, debris and aquatic plants. A big net is dipped into these locations and the catch is brought up for examination.
A card table is set up on the stream bank where all of the “tools of the trade” are spread out. The contents of the net are emptied on to the table and the team begins its search for insects. Eye droppers, spoons, forceps and magnifying lenses help to select and examine insects such as stoneflies, mayflies, alderflies and caddisflies. Plastic tubs and ice cube trays hold the tiny specimens. The presence of these animals—so tiny that they often resemble specs of dirt—provides valuable information about the effects of sediment, organic pollutants and other toxic materials. A log is kept indicating what types of specimens are found and how many.
“The data collected by stream monitors provides clues as to the types of issues present in the area and possible remedies,” Scott says. “After a remedy is attempted, stream monitoring then becomes the report card that tells if the selected remedy is working or not. If it is working, you may want to continue the effort, and if it isn’t working, you can try another remedy or a different direction entirely.”
“Water is necessary for life to exist,” Lee adds. “Water quality affects our health, our environment and our future.”
Working side-by-side for the sake of the environment is the backbone of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s stream monitoring program. For individuals, families, couples and community groups, there’s the added enjoyment of being outdoors, under the tree canopy, listening to bird songs and sharing the experience with others.
To get involved in stream monitoring, visit our website. We have stream teams lined up to monitor different streams across the county and offer training in the protocol.
Meg Findley, David Ward and Otto Gutenson have collaborated to put on a series of five stream monitoring videos demonstrating the protocol that we use.
Each video is fairly short (about 2-3 minutes long).
As these were our first attempt at making videos (we won’t give up the day jobs just yet…) the audio quality isn’t as great as it could be. We were competing with the natural sounds of the stream and the cicadas. But, if you turn up your volume you should be able to hear Meg alright.
In the future we’ll make other videos that will support the bluebird monitoring and amphibian monitoring programs as well.
Hope you enjoy these and find the information useful!
runs through. The water was 69 degrees and we had a slight breeze blowing which made it a great day to be out stream monitoring. This team is led by Helen Van Ryzin, who was certified last spring in the Virginia Save our Streams (VA SOS) protocol, which is the protocol used by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.
By all accounts, the tree planting along the Town Branch stream on Saturday was a great success! Gem Bingol from Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) kicked off the event with an overview of the project, talking about the stream and how the riparian buffer will help improve water quality and describing the task that we would undertake of planting 204 native trees and shrubs and 144 native perennial wildflower plants.
After giving a quick overview of the plants, Jeff demonstrated how to plant the trees and talked about fertilizer as well as the interrelationship between a beneficial fungus that grows in the soil and the plant roots.
Eight people worked until 4pm doing the final wrap-up of putting deer protectors around the trees and watering the plants.
There’s a wonderful little stream called Town Branch that runs though Leesburg and many of us may not even notice that it’s there.
On Earth Day, April 22 (3 to 6 pm) and on Saturday, April 25 ( 9 am to noon) help the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Waterford Foundation plant trees and shrubs along a stream on Waterford’s Phillips Farm. While there is already a nice stand of small black walnut trees along one side of a small tributary which flows into the South Fork Catoctin, there are very few trees on its other side. 
