Birding at Harpers Ferry

So in honor of the big bird day coming up I thought I would share what an amazing birding day we had at Harpers Ferry last Friday (a stretch I know). There were 12 students from Heritage Academy doing an great job at Water Canaries. On our way to the site we saw a beautiful pair of cardinals flittering about in the woods. As we collected our samples an osprey was flying overhead and looked to be on the hunt for a good meal. Not to be outdone, soon an eagle was spotted soaring up the valley...amazing. Finally one of the largest V's of geese I have ever seen flew overhead. We all took a moment to watch. It was a fantastic birding day made even better by a fantastic group of students.

Hope everyone has a wonderful turkey day,
Katrina

Newer BTW Song

So it's been awhile since I've blogged from the upper Potomac but inspired by Becca's Rap I thought I would share the new BTW song written by students from Covenant Life School at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

Here goes

We’re gonna bridge the watershed (echo)
And find macro invertebrates (echo)
We’re gonna march until we’re dead (echo)
Cuz we’re bridging the watershed (echo)
Sound off: 1,2
Sound off:3,4
Sound off:1,2 clap, clap, clap 3, 4!

Thanks I'll be here all night folks.
Katrina

BTW Field Study: the rap!

Written by a wonderful student at Lake Braddock High:

I was squishin all the dirt
The amount of water in my boots was absurd
as I was lookin' at the invertebrates
my classmates were trying to say
all of their names

I had a lot of fun
too bad that it's done
what an awesome day i had
yeah it was super fab

Word to your mother boyeeee

(ok, I added that last part... a la 1992...)

Come out to Oktoberfest!

Do you drink bottled water?

Check out the NPLD YouTube Video!

becca

National Public Lands Day = Huge Success!!!

I'm happy to report that the BTW National Public Lands Day at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens was a huge success! We were able to dodge the rain in the morning and spread gravel for paths, remove water lotus, remove invasive plants, and pick up trash along the Anacostia River. Fifty BTW students from four schools came to this event and boy, did they ever work hard!



A massive pile of leaves ready for the compost heap



Students brave the muck to rake out the water lotus leaves from one of the lily ponds.



Northwestern High School students help with the trash cleanup on the Anacostia


Special thanks to Freedom High School, George C. Marshall High School, Poolesville High School, and Northwestern High School for a job well done!

Stay posted for a fabulous slide show of the event. I've got some great pictures to share!

Becca

It's not too late to volunteer for National Public Lands Day!

I'm sure you already have this written in your calendar (right?) but Saturday is National Public Lands Day! There are a huge number of parks that have volunteer events this weekend. You can find an event near you at:

http://www.publiclandsday.org

Volunteers from Bridging the Watershed will be taking part in an event at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens this Saturday (September 26th) from 8:30am to 1pm. There will be FREE FOOD and FREE T-SHIRTS for all our wonderful BTW Volunteers!

Representatives from the Obama Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency will be there to join in the festivities as well.

Sound like fun? Visit www.fergusonfoundation.org/btw/public_lands.html
for more information or to register for the event.

For directions to Kenilworth, visit http://www.nps.gov/keaq

Becca

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Clean-up

Hi folks!

This past weekend was quite an eye opener, as I volunteered to clean-up a stretch of Virginia coastline on Assateague Island. I picked up six bags of trash, nine tires, and a bunch of chemically-treated lumber. The number one thing I found on the beach?



Balloons.

The saddest part is the amount of marine wildlife that die as a result of garbage:




On a lighter note, it's great to see that Ocean Conservancy found so many other volunteers around the world to make a difference last weekend:




Becca

What's happenin' at Rock Creek?

On Tuesday this week, I had the opportunity to go on a field study with an outstanding group of students from Mount Vernon High School in Virginia. We searched high and low for various types of water canaries, although it seemed like most of the focus was on finding the illusive crayfish.


The best part? I got a Mount Vernon High School water bottle! I'm so official now!


The all-around favorite macroinvertebrate found that day? The Dobsonfly.

Special thanks to Matt Thompson for a great field study! Oh and for those of you that were at the field study, Mama Squirrel came by and rescued her baby after we left.

Becca

And I thought it was because I'm so sweet...

Here's a great article about mosquito bites from the Wall Street Journal. It sure explains a lot about why some people get bitten more than others. I wonder if that's true with ticks too...

Finding Smells that Repel

By SHIRLEY S. WANG

If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out.

Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.

Michael C. Witte

Now scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been making headway at understanding why some people can end up with dozens of bites after a backyard barbecue, while others remain unscathed. The researchers have identified a handful of the body's chemical odors—some of which may be related to stress—that are present in significantly larger concentrations in people that the bugs are happier to leave alone. If efforts to synthesize these particular chemicals are successful, the result could be an all-natural mosquito repellent that is more effective and safer than products currently available.

"Mosquitoes fly through an aerial soup of chemicals, but can home in on those that draw them to humans," says James Logan, a researcher at Rothamsted, one of the world's oldest agricultural-research institutions. But when the combination of human odors is wrong, he says, "the mosquito fails to recognize this signal as a potential blood meal."

The phenomenon that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others is well documented. In the 1990s, chemist Ulrich Bernier, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, began looking for what he calls the "magic compounds" that attract mosquitoes. His research helped to show that mosquitoes are attracted to humans by blends of common chemicals such as carbon dioxide, released from the skin and by exhaling, and lactic acid, which is present on the skin, especially when we exercise. But none of the known attractant chemicals explained why mosquitoes preferred some people to others.

Rothamsted's Dr. Logan says the answer isn't to be found in attractant chemicals. He and colleagues observed that everyone produces chemicals that mosquitoes like, but those who are unattractive to mosquitoes produce more of certain chemicals that repel them.

Misguided Mosquitoes

"The repellents were what made the difference," says Dr. Logan, who is interested in the study of how animals communicate using smell. These chemicals may cloud or mask the attractive chemicals, or may disable mosquitoes from being able to detect those attractive odors, he suggests.

Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes cause hundreds of millions of cases of disease each year. As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquitoes can also spread West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and other illnesses.

Currently the most effective repellents on the market often contain a chemical known as DEET, which has been associated in some studies with potential safety concerns, such as cancer and Gulf War syndrome. It also damages materials made of plastic. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has determined that DEET, when used as directed, is safe.

The Rothamsted team set out to get the mosquitoes' viewpoint. The researchers separated human volunteers into two groups—those who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put each of the volunteers into body-size foil bags for two hours to collect their body odors. Using a machine known as a chromatograph, the scientists were able to separate the chemicals. They then tested each of them to see how the mosquitoes responded. By attaching microelectrodes to the insects' antennae, the researchers could measure the electrical impulses that are generated when mosquitoes recognize a chemical.

Dr. Logan and his team have found only a small number of body chemicals—seven or eight—that were present in significantly different quantities between those people who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put their findings to the test. For this they used a so-called Y-tube olfactometer that allows mosquitoes to make a choice and fly toward or away from an individual's hand. After applying the chemicals thought to be repellant on the hands of individuals known to be attractive, Dr. Logan found that the bugs either flew in the opposite direction or weren't motivated by the person's smell to fly at all.

The chemicals were then tested to determine their impact on actual biting behavior. Volunteers put their arms in a box containing mosquitoes, one arm coated with repellent chemicals and the other without, to see if the arm without the coating got bitten more.

Significant Repellency

The group's latest paper, published in March in the Journal of Medical Entomology, identified two compounds with "significant repellency." One of the compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, is a skin-derived compound that has the odor of toned-down nail-polish remover, according to George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who is involved in a separate line of research into insect-biting behavior. The other, identified in the paper as geranylacetone, has a pleasant odor, though there is some question about whether the chemical is formed by the human biochemical process or is picked up in the environment, Dr. Preti says.

Dr. Logan declined to comment about the specific chemicals because of proprietary concerns. He says the findings have been patented and the group is working with a commercial company to develop the compounds into a usable insect repellent. One issue that still needs to be resolved: how to develop a formulation of the repellent chemicals that will stay on the skin, rather than quickly evaporating as they do naturally. The hope is to get a product to market within a year or two, he says.

Some of the chemicals researchers identified are believed to be related to stress, Dr. Logan says. Previous research has shown that these particular chemicals could be converted from certain other molecules and this could be as a result of oxidation in the body at times of stress, he says. However, it's not clear if the chemicals observed by the Rothamsted researchers were created in this way, and research is continuing to answer this and other questions.

Dr. Logan suggests that mosquitoes may deem hosts that emit more of these chemicals to be diseased or injured and "not a good quality blood meal." Proteins in the blood are necessary for female mosquitoes to produce fertile eggs, and Dr. Logan says it might be evolutionarily advantageous for mosquitoes to detect and avoid such people.

Other Research

Other research includes an effort by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, who published a paper in the journal Nature last week identifying a recently discovered class of molecules that inhibit fruit flies' and mosquitoes' ability to detect carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide emissions from long ranges, so turning off the ability to detect the gas, perhaps by releasing the inhibiting molecules into the environment, may be a way of keeping the bugs at bay, the researchers suggest. Another team, at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is launching a study into whether the taste of human skin and blood are related to the insects' interest in biting certain individuals.

Becca (I'm sticking with Off!)

and away we go...

Greetings from the Upper Potomac! I just wanted to share that tomorrow is our first field study of the 2009-2010 school year. I'm super excited to have 3 classes from Washington County and the staff from the Claud Kitchens Outdoor School at Harpers Ferry to do Watershed Watchdogs and Water Canaries. We are also planning to take a small hike up to Jefferson Rock and take in the view from there. It should be a wonderful day and the weather should be amazing. I will try to fully report on the day and what we find next week. I'll also try to upload some pictures so you can check out beautiful Harpers Ferry, and I'll let you know what milkshake flavors are available :) Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.
Katrina

Geocaching!!

Geocaching is a worldwide "treasure hunt" game using GPS. People will hide "caches" (not "cashes"... I wish) in various parks and public places for other people to find. These caches usually contain an assortment of odds and ends and a logbook for people to document their adventure. Although you are welcome to take a souvenir from the cache, you must also leave something.

I went on a bike geocache last night. It's a really fun time, even though using gps is pretty difficult while on two wheels. I almost ran over a little old lady and her dog... multiple times...

The good news is that I found a cache! Check out the loot:

(notice the BTW pencil I added!)

Most of the caches you can find are about the size of a pencil box:


Want to get started? All you need is a GPS - ask your teacher if you can check one out from your school. To find caches in your area, create a free account at www.geocaching.com . This website provides maps and GPS coordinates of caches - you'd be amazed at how many there are (many of which might be in places you visit on a regular basis!).

Oh, and if you find the cache that I found above at N 38° 47.916 W 077° 13.890 email me (rfordham@fergusonfoundation.org) a photo of you at the location with the box and I'll send you a FABULOUS BTW PRIZE!!!

Happy Caching!

Becca

Deep Thoughts

Hello there BTW fans,

This is Katrina, your friendly Upper Potomac Educator. Washington County Schools start today, and that got me thinking about the upcoming field study season and how excited I am to get started again. It also has me reflecting on the past years' field studies. Being in a reflective state of mind I thought I would share a few of my favorite reflections from a few of you who came out this past year. So here goes...

Mud crawls on my knees
water dancing across rocks;
underneath, I'm free.
- anonymous Walkersville High student

fun,disgusting, wet, cold,
squishy, eww, interesting, gross,
awesome, swirly, cloudy,
swell, rushing, damp
- anonymous Boonsboro High student

Even though it is a cloudy day,
I shall not run away
For the water is rushing wild
and we swam and swam until we were tired.
Even though it is a cloudy day,
There's always sun on the way
And even though we may grow wary,
There's always sun in Harpers Ferry.
-Carolyn Emily Snyder

That's it for now BTW fans. Happy Reflecting!
Katrina

Growing Native

If you are looking for a great volunteer opportunity this fall, consider collecting native seeds for Growing Native.

Growing Native is a Potomac Conservancy project that grows native trees to be planted in the Potomac Watershed. In case you don't remember from your BTW field study, a watershed is the area of land through which water drains to the same point. Trees are an important part of the watershed, as they help filter out trash and pollutants before they reach our rivers and streams (think: drinking water!).

Growing Native is an opportunity for you to collect native seeds and bring them to the many drop-off points around the DC area. Seeds that are the most highly sought-after by Growing Native are acorns (oak tree seeds), paw paw seeds, beech nuts, black walnuts, and hickory nuts. Seeds should be collected in paper or cloth bags (not plastic!) and brought to your nearest drop-off site.

For more infomation about Growing Native or to find your nearest drop-off site, visit thier website www.growingnative.org. Please note that you cannot pick up seeds at national parks, as these lands have strict regulations against collection of any park resource!

As always, feel free to contact BTW if you have any questions about volunteer projects!

Becca

Fun (and messy!) Volunteer Opportunity

I talked with Alan Spears with the National Parks Conservation Association. He is looking for volunteers to take part in a huge beautification event at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in the district. I am in the process of coordinating a group of BTW volunteers to come out to the event.

The coolest activity? Removing water lotus from the ponds with kayaks. It's sure to be a good time! Kenilworth also needs volunteers for a wetlands cleanup and for some invasive plant removal. Here's the details:

National Public Lands Day Celebration
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
September 26, 2009
8:30am - 1:00pm

Visit www.fergusonfoundation.org/btw/register.php to register for the event. We can use as many students and teachers as we can get for the event, since there is a lot of work to do! We can provide buses for school groups larger than 30 students too, so if you get your classmates to participate there might be a free ride involved!

Never been to the aquatic gardens? Visit www.nps.gov/keaq to learn more about the park.

Oh, and did I mention you get a free BTW t-shirt and free food in addition to your service hours? Seriously.

What are YOU doing on National Public Lands Day?

National Public Lands Day will be September 26th this year. This is a special day set aside for visitors and volunteers to celebrate the national public lands that belong to all Americans. Although I'm sure all of you have plans to visit a local, state, or national park on September 26th (of course!) the tough part is deciding exactly WHICH one!

I have compiled a list of four lesser known public lands around our fine nation that might tickle your fancy:

1) La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles California Ever sat on an asphalt road on a hot summer day and gotten covered in black tar? This is just like that, but with mammoths.

http://www.tarpits.org/

2) Heavener Runestone State Park, Heavener, Oklahoma As a native Oklahoman, I just had to send a shout out to my home state. Did you know that before European settlement the Vikings travelled all the way to Oklahoma just to carve their name in a rock? Well, there's a rock with some Viking's name on it (I've seen it myself!) but the jury is out as to whether or not it's real.

http://www.touroklahoma.com/detail.asp?id=1%2B5U%2B5325

3) Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado If you are interested in not only getting the best exfoliating scrub of your life but also finding sand in every bodily oriface, Great Sand Dunes National Park is the place to go. It's especially fun if your National Lampoon-esque 1980 Oldsmobile station wagon breaks down on the way. Not that I would know...

In all seriousness, this would be one of my favorite national parks if it weren't for all that sand...

http://www.nps.gov/GRSA

4) Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana Oooohwee! Louisiana has got to be one of my favorite places to visit. This is one of the few places in the world where you can drive a fan boat to a restaurant. Last time I went there I ate the reptile special: frog, alligator, snake, and turtle (no lie). The cook might have slipped a little nutria into my soup as a special bonus. The bridge over the Atchafalaya is pretty scary to drive over, because even if you survive the fall, you are in a swamp full of snakes and alligators...

http://www.atchafalaya.org/index.php?page=heritage

Remember to visit your local, state, and national parks - and not just the mainstream ones! Sometimes the offbeat parks are the most fun!

Got more places? Leave 'em in the comments.

Becca

International Coastal Cleanup

The International Coastal Cleanup will be on September 19th this year. It's similar to our Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, but on a larger scale... alas the "international" part of the name. There are many sites in the DC Metro area that still need volunteers. You can find that information on the Ocean Conservancy's website:

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=icc_home

and click on "Register for a Cleanup near you". I think it would especially cool to volunteer at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The best part about volunteering for a beach cleanup is that you can get service hours AND have a bit of vacation the process. Not a bad deal.

There's also a bunch of sites closer to the DC Metro area as well, especially on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Volunteer and get your service hours early in the school year!

Still not sure? Maybe these little fellas will change your mind:



Becca

Warms my little heart...

Sarah Riggen's class came out in May for the Potomac Gorge field study. We got thank you cards. Totally made my day/year/life. We also saw a one-legged goose on the field study that sparked a conversation about the important role of snapping turtles in the ecosystem at the C & O Canal. I believe the geese would think otherwise.

Becca

Bridging the Watershed joins the hip and trendy!

Yes, our Bridging the Watershed educators might not be the trendiest crowd, with our green L.L. Bean shirts and name tags (or flannel shirts... ahem.. WILL!) but we have now officially joined the world of the blog.

In this new-found thing called the "interwebs" we will now be able to describe our adventures in the field study world, post photos, share student reflections, and hear feedback from you, our trusty blog reader! Myself, Anna, Will, and Katrina will be posting the latest and greatest from our Potomac watershed adventures, as well as other information that may interest you.

Have topics that you want us to discuss? Put them in the comments! Got pictures to share? Email them to me at rfordham@fergusonfoundation.org

Happy Reading!

Becca Fordham
(Your favorite Northern Virginia BTW Educator)