Last month, we found a box turtle under the edge of our bottom deck. She stayed there several days, left and then came back again. My husband noticed she had a large ear abscess. So, I c...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2020/10/rescued-turtle.html
In June, we had visits from three Woodland Box Turtles (Terapene carolina carolina). Formerly, these were named Eastern Box Turtles. The first one to see on June 6 was a delight because he was re...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2020/06/turtle-visits.html
Southwest Virginia is experiencing an onslaught of the 17-year cicadas. I experienced them in 1986 and 2003 but was not home all the time as I am now so it has been very interesting to watch th...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2020/06/cicada-invasion.html
During this time of stay-at-home school, I urge parents to have their children make nature journals. I like to make small journals from construction paper and white copy paper. For grades 4-6...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2020/05/nature-journals-for-children.html
Like everyone else, I am hunkered down at home per governor's orders. I get out perhaps once a week to pick up groceries and to hunt for the elusive toilet paper package. I am thankful though I...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2020/04/spring-is-comfort.html
Fall seemed to come a little late this year with the peak around Oct. 28 (rather than Oct. 22 in earlier years). We thought we would not get much color because we had a severe drought in this pa...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2019/11/fall-foliage-2019.html
For the last 3 days, we had another eastern box turtle visit us or more accurately, our puddles in our driveway. This turtle had buried himself partially at the edge of the puddle. He stil...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2019/07/another-turtle-visits-us.html
Every year, box turtles come back to visit our yard and eat the blackberries when they are ripe. This one appeared on July 11, about one week after the blackberries started to ripen. I had...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2019/07/turtles-back-to-eat-blackberries.html
Every year, the butterfly plants attract many butterflies. I planted this butterfly milkweed plant 20 years ago but it has not spread that much. The most butterflies I saw were about 9 at ...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2019/07/butterfly-plant-with-butterflies.html
Every year, a friend and I attend the Mt. Rogers Naturalist Rally which is held Mother's Day weekend. Like last year, we hiked from Elk Garden to beyond the Lewis Fork Wilderness Area on the A...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2019/05/2019-mt-rogers-rally-pre-hike.html
Last week, a fellow Virginia Master Naturalist and I held an after-school program on nature at Pearisburg Public Library. Our emphasis for this November 29 workshop was on what you can find tha...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/12/nature-is-fun-lichens-mosses-and-ferns.html
Dogwood November 3, 2018 Fall peak foliage here is usually Oct. 20 but not this year and even last year too. Typically, dogwood trees begin turning maroon color in September. This yea...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/11/late-fall.html
References for presentation on Nature Journaling this evening: Joseph Grinnell: field biologist Berkeley handout on using his methods on journaling: American Museum of Natural History on...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/07/references-for-presentation-on-nature.html
We emptied the rain gauge several times so probably 8 inches or more of rain in May. Thankfully, the rains did not come in all at once so that we did have flooding like other areas of Virginia. ...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/06/rain-everyday-but-some-love-it.html
I attended the Mt. Rogers Naturalist Rally in southwest Virginia. Before the rally, my friend and I hiked from Elks Garden to the Lewis Fork Wilderness Area. The photo above shows how spring...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/05/mt-rogers-naturalist-rally.html
Winter and spring have been very unseasonable to say the least. January started off with bitter cold like many other years then became warmer until it was downright hot in February, days at a t...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/05/crazy-spring.html
Today is warm (54 degrees) and cloudy. On my way to buy a Sunday paper (can't get it delivered anymore!), I saw a pair of ducks on Walker Creek. I took this quick photo and tried to remembe...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2018/01/today-is-warm-54-degrees-and-cloudy.html
Earlier this fall, I helped middle school students plant Chestnut and other trees in a local park. I was lucky to get a small group of enthusiastic tree planters. Landscape ...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2017/12/planting-chestnuts.html
A couple months ago, I found an injured box turtle in our driveway. He was dragging his leg which was badly infected. I called around and took the turtle to Kim in Radford who then brought her ...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2017/09/box-turtle-rescue.html
The previous weekend, a friend and I attended the Mt. Rogers Naturalist Rally at the Konnarock Community Center. On the way Friday, we visited the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltv...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2017/05/appalachian-trip.html
Spring happens so fast. Before I know it, the trees have all leafed out and we are enclosed in the forest. Toothwort and Bloodroot are long gone and replaced with wild geranium and woodland plo...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2017/05/natives-gone-wild.html
VIRGINIA BLUEBELLS (Mertensia Virginia) I never get tired of seeing Virginia Bluebells along Walker Creek. They are gorgeous all along the rivers. This spring-fed waterfall is righ...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2017/04/love-bluebells.html
This Saturday, July 16, I will make a presentation on nature journals to the 2016 Virginia Master Naturalist Class. Here is a list of resources for nature journals. Many of the links I lis...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2016/07/nature-journals.html
SPIDERWORT Tradescantia virginiana A friend gave me some spiderwort plants last year so I planted them or more honestly just stuck them into the ground at the edge of a flower garden. �...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2016/07/spiderwort-and-jefferson.html
Spring has finally arrived with a vengeance in Appalachia. I haven't posted in almost a year, mostly posting on Facebook. Today was different and I felt like I needed to return to my old...
http://joansnaturejournal.blogspot.com/2016/04/spring-changes.html