All results / Stories / Glenda C. Booth
Fairfax County’s Streams Are in Trouble
82 percent of Fairfax County’s streams were in very poor, poor or fair condition biologically in 2020.
Five volunteers spent Friday morning jabbing a long-handled mesh net into a stream bottom, scraping the streambanks, scooping up submerged woody debris and rubbing smooth round rocks in the stream’s riffles.
Go Green, Go Native
Mow less, mow high, grow more, choose nature.
The manicured lawn may be an iconic symbol of the American suburbs, but lawns have ecological downsides, and there are alternatives, Tami Sheiffer told members of the Friends of Mason Neck at a March 7 Zoom meeting titled “Mow Less, Grow More.”
The Value of Dead Wood
Tree snags are “a gourmet restaurant,” that is, from a bird’s perspective, Larry Cartwright told a group of Northern Virginia Audubon at Home ambassadors on Feb. 20 in a Zoom meeting.
Flying Squirrels, Our Nocturnal Neighbors
Around dusk or dawn, high up in the tree canopy, keen observers might spot a scurry.
English Ivy: Aggressive Invader
Elite colleges and universities may prize the English ivy climbing up musty old walls, but in the environment, English ivy is a destructive invader.
Talking Turkey, ‘Respectable’ Birds
Virginia has around 180,000 turkeys, elusive in the woods and fields.
Alan Warburton did a double take when he spotted a wild turkey ambling across his Mount Vernon yard in the Tauxemont community in April.
Baseball Bats and Ash Trees Face an Uncertain Fate
Don’t plant ash trees; plant native trees instead.
Baseball bats don’t top the U.S. Senate’s agenda these days, as legislators grapple with a U.S. Supreme Court nomination, the covid-19 pandemic and the Nov. 3 election.
Locals Revisit the Civil War at Fort Willard
By 1865, Fort Willard was southernmost of 68 forts and 93 batteries armed with over 800 cannons protecting Washington.
In 1862 and 1863, at the apex of today’s Belle Haven community, Union soldiers at Fort Willard were on the lookout for enemies coming up the Potomac River or approaching along Accotink Turnpike.
Mount Vernon Farmers Market Vendors Become Familiar ‘Locals’
They get up before dawn every Wednesday from May to December and load up tables, tents and boxes, crates and coolers filled with meats, baked goods, fruits, vegetables, plants and other wares.
Pandemic Pollution: More Trash
Plastic bottles, bags, stirrers, straws, six-pack rings, yoghurt cups, lighters and dental flossers; aluminum cans; cigarette butts; Styrofoam pieces; bottle caps; carryout food packaging; balloons; fishing line; bait cans.
Mount Vernon: Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, a Watery Wonderland
Newcomers & Community Guide
Thousands of drivers whiz through a Mount Vernon jewel every day, harried commuters and soccer parents zipping through a national park and a rare, freshwater, tidal, vanishing wetland.
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