Meeting October 14

Yes, there is a meeting this Thursday October 14th!
This is a very important meeting regarding the future of the club, and we'll be asking for your input on some things. Please come with that in mind!

Carrie will also be doing a program on Nature Hikes, and what to think about while taking people out on one.

Name the dragonfly?

Spotted this little dragonfly near the water on Sunday. Can you help me identify it? Confirmation from someone else would be helpful.

July 8th meeting coming up! Janice Petko

Congratulations to the June 2010 OCVNer class! Some of the old OCVNer's, Sharon Strouse and Chris Sieverdes met the new OCVNers tonight following their testing. We all enjoyed a dinner organized and put together by Janice Tipton, along with some extra dishes brought in by the old OCVNer's! It was great to meet the new class and it looks like there is a lot of talent with them. Maybe we can all help them get started finding and learning about some volunteer opportunities. I hope they will be able to come out to our meetings at The Wilderness Center on the 2nd Thursday of each month in order to learn more about the opportunities available, and meet all the great people in the club.

I'd like to thank Pat Dutton and Dee Pendlebury for sharing about their work with The Explorers during our last meeting! I've heard from those who attended that it was a good meeting and the program was interesting. Thanks again, ladies!

July 8th is the next meeting and Janice Petko, a birder and visitor to our club, will be presenting a program on bluebirds and the work she does to protect and care for them. I had the opportunity to accompany her on one of her bluebird trails last weekend and it was fantastic fun! I learned a lot about bluebird and swallow nesting behaviors. This woman is a powerhouse of knowledge and energy! I'm very sure you'll enjoy hearing and seeing her presentation as well as meeting her. Her professionalism and passion for her work is impressive.

Not only is Janice a great birder, but she is a talented photographer. She travels and makes wonderful notecards to sell at a reasonable price and the photos are phenomenal. I'm hoping she brings some with her. I've bought quite a few, and like to give them as gifts. Please join us at 7:00 pm on July 8th. We'll also have a short meeting afterwards for volunteer opportunities and discussion!

New OCVN Class

The 2010 OCVN class is underway today. Six new students are participating this year, and it looks like we'll have another great group! If you would like to help welcome this group, join us for a welcome dinner on Friday June 25th, 5pm at TWC. The chapter will be providing this meal after their test. Please let Janice Tipton know if you plan to attend the supper or can help with food preparation. Welcome class of 2010!

June 10th (7 p.m.) is our next meeting.

May's meeting presentation was brought by Marvin and Sandy Smith. As we were talking about going outside for the botany walk, the winds picked up a little, so instead of a walk, we were treated to a great "virtual" wildflower walk, from the comfort of a nice dry chair. Marvin

certainly " wowed " us with the number of plants he was able to bring to us by way of slides. The extra information he brought to our attention about the use of the plants made it even more enjoyable. He had us pick a card depicting a wild flower and when we saw it on the screen, we helped in identifying it by reading what he had written on the back of the photo which we held in our hand. The trick to learning these flowers Marvin said is "Learn them one at a time". It was a beautiful way to enjoy a dreary evening.

Next month's (June 10th) meeting will be held outside. Pat Dutton, Dee Pendlebury and others who work with the group called " The Explorers" will be bringing us some information on what they do with the young people in Fredricksburg, for our evening program. This is a great volunteer effort on their part, and I've been curious to hear more about what they do. perhaps some of you can join them as you look for volunteer opportunities! I saw their display at the OCVN conference that I thought was interesting. This will be a lively presentation and it will be held outside in the picnic pavillion near the interpretive building. Hope you can make it for that night!

Future programs will involve Bluebirds, carbon footprints and recycling, and the intricacies of Land Snails! Keep with us and you'll be well involved with Natural History!

Don't forget to sign up for the Naturalist Refresher Classes:

Each class is $10.00 and you can contact Carrie Elvey for more information at 330-359-5235.

I'm really looking forward to these classes!

• Herpetology Field Day - July 31st
• Ohio Fossils - August 21rst
• Animal Signs and Tracking- September 9th
• Birding the Killbuck Wildlife Area - October 7th.

We have a FACEBOOK area that Jean Paddock set up for us also. There we can post photos and discuss sightings that are of interest to us. Here's the link!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116026211758632&ref=ts

Until the next meeting, we hope you all keep on exploring!

Greetings from Holmes County West!

Wally Road is beautiful in spring, and we would love to show you its natural wonders. Watch this space for an invitation - a chapter meeting will be held at the Mohican River Inn very soon!

Meanwhile, we need volunteers. Many of the pieces are in place for a brand new bluebird trail, but we need help at various levels. The plan is to have local landowners act as box monitors, but we want supervisors to make sure they're getting the work done and reporting their findings. We also will be involving scouts and 4-H groups. There will be a work day for assembling boxes and for installing them, and for educating the monitors.

So please, contact Vivian Ashcraft at 330-377-4001 or ninipapa@roadrunner.com. I also started a website, http://bluebirdtrail.webatu.com. It's still under construction, but I like it!

If you haven't been to Wally Road, or if you haven't been there for a while, you need to come visit! I'd be glad to show you around and so would Andy Miller, another OCVN, and owner of the Mohican River Inn.

May 13th Presenter... Marvin Smith.

The spring is passing so quickly! The temperatures are terrific for a spring hikes! I hope you all have been able to explore some and enjoy just being outside to "play".

I'm really looking forward to our May meeting program! If it's a non-rainy evening, Marvin Smith will take us out on a wildflower walk at TWC. If it's rainy, we'll take a virtual walk via his slides!

Please join us May 13th, and for those of you who don't want to walk far, I was down at TWC last weekend (April17th) and noticed a few things sprouting up around the building. The pond near the offices is coming to life also. It might be just a nice time to spend some time outside! There weren't that many things in bloom on the 17th, but I expect with the rains and 3-4 more weeks time, it will be even more beautiful in the woods as well as around the areas of the parking lots and prairie!

Soon we'll be spotting Lynda Price waving her butterfly net! That's one of my favorite images of summer! I know it's truly summer when I see the butterfly search on! In the following photo Lynda is sharing her love for butterflies with a visitor at TWC.

Our last meeting program was given by Carrie, and she spoke to us about skulls and what they can tell you about the animals' lives. This is what I found most interesting. That you could tell so much by the way the skull was anatomically as to what the animal eats, how it might hunt, and what it may have been struggling with health wise before it's death. There were fascinating things learned by the attendees at this meeting! She passed around skulls of Dear, coyote, bobcat, heron, turtle, rabbit, and a groundhog with severe dental problems!

A special call was given out by Gary Popotnik for us to help with garlic mustard pulls, at:

TWC May 8th

Doughty Gorge May 1

Wiles Woods May 15

So if any of you might like to get outside and do something to keep the wild things as they should be, please call Gary or write him. gary@wildernesscenter.org or at 1-877-359-5235.

On Earth Day, Bob Hopp and I headed out to TWC to do Wilderness Watchers. It was cold and windy and there weren't people just hiking about for pleasure, so we called it a short day. I recommend this for those of us that aren't great presenters but still like to share our enthusiasm with others about the natural world. I'm planning on trying it again some time soon!

Janice Tipton has volunteered to put together a post class dinner for the OCVN graduates of this year. Bob Hopp told me he won't be available to help, so I expect Janice would love to hear from any of you that have a gift in that area. You can write Janice @ jtipton212@yahoo.com or catch her at one of the coming meetings. I'm sure she'd love to have a small committee to help with this!

I know there were many other volunteer opps mentioned at the meeting. If any of you want that on this blog you'll have to write me, zorahh@sssnet.com because I can't remember all the details!

We do miss some of you that haven't been able to come to the meetings lately. We understand it's hard to do everything... but I do hope you will make it back whenever you're able to. Keep reading this blog to keep updated about the meetings and people, until you can make it back!

We'll see you all May 13th!

Shreve Migration Sensation

The event was a great time and it was a gorgeous sunny day for people flocking to Shreve on Saturday the 27th. I was out in the marsh and found this emerging from the water. I couldn't resist putting this photo up for you all. Thought *most* of you would like it.

Volunteer opp! In Shreve. this Saturday the 27th

I'll just let Carrie and Chris' e-mail announcements speak for themselves!

From Chris:


Hello OCVN Graduates and Alumni (Holmes County Chapter)

Carrie Elvey at The Wilderness Center asked that
I get in touch with you regarding the annual
Shreve (Ohio) Migration. Shreve Migration is a
terrific day long workshop focusing on birds,
water fowl, and related topics. Volunteers are
needed this coming weekend. Check out the
website for schedule details. See Carrie's
notice below. The Shreve Migration is a perfect
way to earn 8 hours of re-certification credit
for OCVN folks in their second or longer year after initial certification.

Chris

This note was from Carrie:

Hi everyone - we are still in need of volunteers
for Shreve Migration! If you can help =, please
contact Joe Edinger at (330) 231-4459 and let
him know. We need help starting 9am Friday
morning to help set up until evening. On
Saturday, we need help with registration and
tear-down at the end of the day. If you
volunteer, you get two free passes to the event.
Please help if you can - this is a great event!
Thanks!
Carrie Elvey

Carrie Elvey, Naturalist
The Wilderness Center, Inc.
PO Box 202
Wilmot, OH 44689
330-359-5235

April 8th meeting. Carrie Elvey is our special presenter.

Carrie Elvey spent a whole night out with the salamanders, watching their migration to the vernal pools. Please be sure and ask her about it.

Sal says please try and come to the next meeting of OCVNer's. Carrie will be presenting on "What We Can Learn From Dead Stuff" and what it can tell us. You know this has got to be good! Hope you all can come!

Up for May is a special wildflower walk with Marvin Smith. If we can't get out, he'll have a special indoor presentation for us.

Pollination Jubilation'

Received this from Sharon Strouse: Thought I'd blog it so you can see what's developing.

I was on the list as well, but hadn't said I'd be able to do it. I'd be working during this event and my boss might not appreciate it! Some of you not mentioned by Sharon, can contact her if you're interested, even if it's in a stand in capacity. I have seen the OARDC's bug zoo. It's really very interesting and fun.

From Sharon:

"Hello friends,

Here is the message that I sent to Roger Downer at OARDC today per his request.
I will assume that he will contact you to ask if you can help teach the 'pollination jubilation' session described below.

I have agreed to meet with Roger on this coming Monday and for him to share his teaching resources that he has for this lesson --- so that I can share them with those of you that agree to volunteer --- if needed.

So, be in touch if you need any teaching resources...

Here are the emails of the OCVN trained individuals that were potentially interested.

They were thinking two persons each day -- and then I told them that we could keep others interested "on call" in case there was a volunteer cancellation.

Here are there names and emails:

Pat Dutton: duttonp@wifi7.com (Wednesday)
Sharon Hunter: cat_1724@yahoo.com (Wednesday I believe)
Kathy Hanlon: khanlon1@mac.com (Tuesday I believe)

John Abt was recommended by his fellow classmates but was not in attendance when we were asking for help: johnjabt@gmail.com

If you are not able to reach these volunteers by email -- you can contact Chris Sieverdes our local volunteer coordinator by phone or email (330-231-8576; csieverdes@ag.osu.edu) to get more contact information.

The volunteers are interested in seeing your powerpoint -- and knowing what materials are at the station that they can use. I can meet with you (before you leave) on Monday, the 15th in the early afternoon to see what is available and then the volunteers can get materials from me if necessary. (I will be out of town the week of April 11 in Minnesota) -- "

Pat

salamanders

Just F.Y.I - I am going out tonight to look at the vernal pools for salamanders - they should be here if it starts raining. I will be heading out directly after tonight's meeting, any and all are welcome. Dress for the weather - hopefully it will be raining!

Congratulations to Carrie!

Congratulations go to Carrie Elvey for receiving the OCVN Teacher of the Year award!

This highly deserved award was presented to her during the OCVN conference at Camp Ohio.
It is in recognition of an outstanding OCVN training instructor, and in development of curriculum and other areas of service.

Please help us in recognizing her for getting this award!

We'll see you on March 11th for our next meeting!

March 11th 7: 00 p.m. meeting

We hope you all got the message one way or the other about the February meeting. Carrie told me to listen to the school closings and usually when Fairless schools are closed, TWC's programs are cancelled. If in doubt about meetings, please check here on the blog. We'll try to post any cancellations the day of the meeting.

So, that being said, we will postpone Carol Connelly's Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Fancy and Famous until April 8th. I've talked to her a couple times as she prepared for her program. It promises to be very very interesting! She told me just a couple of things that made me excited about hearing her speak at greater length. I think you all will find it chock a block full of fun stuff!

March 12th program will be from our President Bob Hopp. He'll speak to us about the train trip from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Churchill. He says he will talk a bit about why polar bears gather at Churchill which is located on the Hudson Bay. He will show slides and present information on Polar Bears as well as the need of "polar bear jail". Hmmmm. I wonder if any get out on bail? I wouldn't want to be around in that case!


***Please don't forget our OCVN conference March 6th in Licking county, Ohio at Camp Ohio. For information, please write Sharon Strouse at strouse.1@osu.edu. To call her, her number is 330-263-3831. I'm going. I hope you all will be able to also! ***


I'm sorry we had to cancel February's meeting, but we hope you had a good time enjoying the beautiful snow and relaxing at home. Can't wait to see you all on March 11th.

Pat

Feb meeting cancelled

The meeting for tonight - Feb 11 - has been cancelled. Stay home, stay warm, and enjoy the snow!

January meeting, salamanders and other bits...

Our meeting speaker for January 14th was Chuck Jakubchak who presented his talk: Natural Behaviors, Common Birds, and Uncommon Thoughts.

This was an excellent review of some of our course material about some of the basic ideas such as Commensalism, Mutualism, Parasitism. Chuck gave us many great examples for these concepts,and I'm sure if you didn't get it all the first time, these examples put things into perspective for you. He also gave us a quick talk on the symbolism of Ohio. Many of us found this program extremely enjoyable and interesting. The meeting was well attended by 19, and we seem to be growing in numbers and maybe pounds as Bob Hopp and Connie provided snacks for us. We want you all to know that we welcome other OCVNers from other areas too! Don't think that just because we are the Holmes Co. chapter we wouldn't love to have people from other areas come to our meetings! We can all stand to share ideas and opportunities to volunteer in all places all over Ohio.

During our meeting this month, we received a special note from Sharon asking Holmes Co. chapter OCVners to share in the co-hosting the conference. Some of our chapter members have shown an interest in helping with conference needs from 3-5 pm on Friday, March 5th. Please, if you are able to help Sharon and Chris, please send her an email
at strouse.1@osu.edu . Or please call Chris Sieverdes. I hear we will be getting more information about the conference via e-mail during the coming weeks. I'm planning on going to the Saturday sessions, and would be there for the set up on Friday if not for work. I do hope some of you *can* help out with the conference set up. This sounds like an excellent way to get more volunteer hours in and help your fellow OCVNers have a great time!

February 11, 2010 is our next meeting and we have a program by:

Carol Connelly, On Ohio Shell Bearing Land Snails
The title of her talk is: Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Fancy and Famous.
Hmmm. Even the title is enough to make me want to hear what she has to say. I do look forward to this talk, and I think it will be different from most of what we've heard so far.

Spring is coming and the salamanders should be moving!
That blog from Carrie about searching for the salamanders sounds like great fun to me!
We hope to see you at the next meeting, on February 11th!

Vernal Pool walks

After the chapter meetings in February and/or March Carrie will be hiking out to the vernal pools to check on the frogs and salamanders. We'll only go if the weather is right for amphibian migration - that means warm and rainy - so dress for the weather. Anyone who would like to come is welcome.

January 14th 7:00 pm meeting at TWC

Holmes County chapter OCVN meeting for 7:00 pm at The Wilderness Center.
January 14th, 2010"

Chuck Jakubchak will be presenting his program.... Natural Behaviors, Common Birds and Uncommon Thoughts at the beginning of our meeting, and a short business meeting will follow. There are some interesting items and opportunities to be discussed, coming up in the near future.

Chuck gave me a small run-down on what his program will involve....

Chuck's program examines the roles that different bird species play in our environment. Basic natural concepts will be discussed such as mutualism, brood parasitism, the food chain, invasive species etc. These ideas will be linked to the bird world with specific examples. This might be viewed as a "refresher" to some of the topics covered during our OCVN classes and most should find the pictures and anecdotes both entertaining and educational.

Pat

Reptile Research and Conservation Conference

Kathleen Bradley forwarded this information on to us. Thought I'd put it on our blog...

From Greg Lipps:

Registration is now open for the Ohio Reptile Research and Conservation Conference to be held on Saturday, March 13, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. Sponsored by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio Biological Survey, invited speakers from the Midwest will present findings of recent research and conservation projects involving Ohio’s snakes, turtles, and lizards.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Dr. Mike Plummer of Harding University in Arkansas. Dr. Plummer’s research focuses on the ecology of reptiles, including Green Snakes, Hog-nosed Snakes, and Softshell Turtles, for which he has published 49 articles and notes. He has also contributed to numerous books and co-authored the Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas. As with so many herpetologists, Dr. Plummer’s interest in reptiles blossomed in the buckeye state, when he moved to Massillon, Ohio at the age of 11.


If you are interested in learning more about Ohio’s reptiles and networking with other herpetologists and naturalists, then be sure to reserve this date and register for this meeting. A limited number of spaces are available for those wishing to present posters relevant to the conference topic.

The Conference will start with setup and registration from 8:30-9:00 AM. Paper presentations will commence at 9:00 AM. Lunch will be provided as part of the regular registration fee of $35 ($25 for students). All registrants to the conference will also receive an inaugural Ohio Wildlife Legacy Stamp (a $15 value). On-site registration fees are the same, but with no lunch. The conference concludes at 5 PM.

For more information, including registration materials and a draft program, visit: http://ohioamphibians.com/reptile/