NATURE NOTE - Number 100                                                                     September 14, 2024

Introduction:

I’ve been writing these notes since July 2020.  This is Number 100 – the last one.

Our Current Topic:  Impact

I hope there has been some.  Hopefully, some of you have found ways to use these NN to pass on knowledge and interest in nature to your scouts, or other adults.  As you know, that was my intent.  Do it however you can.  And continue to do it, with or without NATURE NOTES.  I have enjoyed creating topics, doing the research and writing them.  I have learned a lot myself, and it has made me more aware of some parts of nature I was lacking in. There is never a shortage of “nature things” to discuss, and there is a lot of material out there to use:  field guides, other books, periodicals, the internet, personal observation, discussions with other interested parties.  All you need is some interest and time.  I have been blessed with some of both.  Much of my interest stemmed from early experiences in scouting:  taking merit badge classes at Camp Powhatan in the late 1950’s; teaching merit badges at Camp Ottari in the early 1960’s, and then again as a volunteer from 2006-2016;  going to Virginia Tech for a degree in forestry; and in more recent years becoming a Virginia Master Naturalist.

As part of the closing of this writing adventure, I want to offer thanks to several folks who have helped me edit my NOTES, such as Dr. Jack Pitcher, Bob Almond, my wife Anne, and a special thanks to Gil Armour (a council volunteer), Tina Carroll and Laura Conner of the BRMC staff who have posted these notes to the website for four years.  THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

I don’t know how long the website will carry the old NATURE NOTES, but if any of you want a particular copy, please let me know and I will send a copy to you.  Some of you may have been saving them in printed form as part of you unit nature center (See NN  #86).  Attached is a complete list of all the NN posted since 2020 – from lizards to spiders. 

It would be great to find someone willing to take on this project and continue with NATURE NOTES or some other way to regularly and consistently make nature information available to scout leaders within the council.  If anyone wants to step forward, let me know. 

As I have said before, do all you can to expose our future citizens and leaders to nature.  THANK YOU for what you do, and THANK YOU for reading 100 NATURE NOTES over the last four years.  The latest count on the number of “hits” on NN over 4 years is over 125,000, so someone is reading them.  Thank you.

Keep learning and teaching about nature.  Take a Virginia Master Naturalist class (www.virginiamasternaturalist.org).  You, and hopefully your scouts, are not done yet.  Good luck and happy wanderings in nature.

Bob Garst

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List of NATURE NOTES on the BRMC website (as of Sep 14, 2024)  Links to thr articles are at the bottom of the page.

Posted in 2020:

1  Lizards

2   Intro to Birds

3   How a Tree Grows

4   Why study nature?

5   Hawks vs vultures

6   Fall leaf colors

7   Who owns the forests?

8   Wildlife Management

9   Winter Birds

10   Field Guides

11   Intro to Geology

Posted In 2021:

12   Watersheds

13   Identifying Evergreens

14   Careers in Nat’l Resources

15   Our Wild Cats

16    Daylight

17   Fire on the Mountain

18   What is Forestry?

19   Wildflowers

20   Tree ID

21    Insects

22   Reptiles

23   American Chestnut

24   Bear with Us

25   Wildlife Behavior

26   Problem Wildlife

27   Turtles of Virginia

28   Mushrooms

29   Nat’l Forests vs. Nat’l Parks

30   Success Stories

31   Wood

32   Forestry in the U. S.

33   Turkeys

34   Nature and Christmas

35  A Winter Nature Hike

Posted In 2022:

36   Owls

37   Bats

38   Water pollution

39   Woodpeckers

40   Soil

41   Deer

42   Springtime

43   Pollination

44   Conservation Projects

45   Forest Insects

46   Forest Patterns

47   Salamanders

48   Arthropods

49   Grasses, vines and ferns

50   Humming Birds

51   Butterflies, moths and stealth bombers

52   Armadillos

53   The Blue Ridge Mountains

54   Forests of Europe

55    Plant Succession

56   Words

57   Urban Forestry

58   What I want for Christmas

59   Possums

Posted In 2023:

60   Foxes

61   Winter Ducks

62   Acorns

63   Solar Farms

64   Crows

65   Summer Camp

66   Virginia’s Trout

67 Waders & Inland Shore Birds

68 Water Mammals

69 Rabies

70 Swifts and swallows

71 Lichen

72 Ivy

73 Scientific names of plants and animals

74 Heat Islands

75 Caution

76 Hawk Migration

77 Atlantic Puffins

78 Golden Eagles

79 Slimy Things

80 Odds and Ends

81 Elk in Virginia

82 Spruce, fir & cedars

83 Quotes

Posted in 2024:

84 State Nature items

85 Wilderness

86 Unit Nature Center

87 Maple Trees

88 Fish Mgt

89 Love ‘em but kill ‘em

90 Geobotany

91 Invasive Species

92 Crawdads

93 Nature at CP

94 Mimic Thrushes

95 The Mighty oak

96 Look Up

97 Spiders

98 Nature’s Diversity in VA

99 Importance

100 The End