Thank to Our Volunteers! – September 2024 Community Wildlife Chapter Updates

September 24, ecoEXPLORE Ichthyology Badge: NCWF, Pocosin Lakes NWR, and Tyrrell County Library teamed up for our kickoff to the Ichthyology ecoEXPLORE Field Season! Participants learned more about the study of fish and how they can make fish observations over the next 2 months. ecoEXPLORErs ventured down to the Scuppernong River to observe fish and aquatic vegetation using bathyscopes!

September 30, 2024

North Carolina Wildlife Federation staff and Community Wildlife Chapter volunteers rolled their sleeves up for the beginning of the fall planting season, and although the weather was mostly crisp and the outdoors were calling, they also held plenty of indoor educational events while making them available to all that have access to the internet far and wide. In September, NCWF explored the great Coharie River and held a variety of educational outings and webinars with topics ranging from mammals of the piedmont to the impacts of lead exposure on people, wildlife, and the environment. Volunteers throughout the state also removed invasive plants from our habitat and engaged youth in hands-on educational programming. In total, 124 volunteers were engaged, and over 350 people were given the opportunity to connect with nature through one of NCWF’s opportunities this month.

Thanks to partners such as the Duke Energy Foundation, Jandy Ammons Foundation, Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership and Burt’s Bees for helping make these habitat restoration workdays, educational programs and nature outings possible. Explore our Events Calendar to discover where NCWF and our Community Wildlife Chapters are hosting in-person and virtual events near you. Check out a few highlights below from our conservation outreach team.

**At the very end of September, Western North Carolina suffered an unprecedented calamity. Our mountain and southwest piedmont community was pummeled by Hurricane Helene with some areas seeing up to 31” of rain in a period of three days, a historic high for that region of our state. It is still too soon to tell just how much loss our neighbors have experienced and continue to experience, but NCWF stands by our commitment to our community during these trying times. To learn more about how to support recovery efforts in communities affected by this historic storm please visit How to support western NC communities devastated by Helene

August 29, Habitat Builders Moth Night: NCWF MARSH Chapter invited area moth expert Lenny Lampel, and Mecklenburg County Natural Resource Staff, down to Marvin Efird Park for a fun night of mothing. This was the chapter’s first moth event at the park! Over forty folks, kids and adults alike, showed up as the sun went down! Sheets were set up with blacklights, and bait was spread on trees to attract moths. The night’s highlight was a female oakworm moth who laid her eggs all over the sheet!

August 30th, SWC Bass Lake Garden Workday: NCWF South Wake Conservationists Chapter held a garden workday at their native plant pollinator garden at Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs. Volunteers weeded and spruced up the garden with additional shade-loving and deer resistant plants.

September 18, Crystal Encounters: Resin Insect Pendants: In partnership with Pocosin Lakes NWR and Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft, NCWF offered “Crystal Encounters: Resin Insect Pendants” at the refuge’s boardwalk and indoor classroom. Youth and adult participants foraged for deceased insects and fallen vegetation while taking note of the behavior and variety of live insects along the refuge’s Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk trail. Inside, participants preserved their findings in resin where they were able to take home their own pendants!

September 20, Merchants Millpond State Park Invasive Species Removal: NCWF Wildlife Habitat Stewards of Northeastern NC Chapter partnered with Merchants Millpond State Park and community volunteers to remove invasive Japanese stiltgrass from the park’s Coleman Trail. In 2 hours, volunteers were able to remove around 660 lbs of stiltgrass. In October, the chapter and volunteers will come back together to plant native grasses at the site!

September 21st, Pollinator Garden Prep Day at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club: NCWF and the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club in Durham partnered for a garden workday. Volunteers laid down cardboard and mulch to prepare the site for a pollinator garden. Special thanks to the Burts Bees Foundation for their support!

September 21, CWA Kids In Nature Day: NCWF Concord Wildlife Alliance hosted its annual Kids in Nature Day at Woodland Discovery. The event focused and engaging youth and families with wildlife and the outdoors. Kids and adults had an amazing time participating in hiking, fishing, educational booths, give aways, games, crafts, and more!

September 21, SSS Great Coharie River Tour: Participants took a guided tour of the Great Coharie River followed by a tour of the Coharie Tribal Center and history of the Coharie River Initiative. They learned about the significance of the river and toured a museum of artifacts including a 650-year-old dugout canoe.

September 25th, Nature Walk at Annie Louise Wilkerson MD Nature Preserve with NRHC: NCWF Neuse River Hawks Conservationists Chapter participated in a nature walk led by Bryan England, Preserve Manager at Annie Louise Wilkerson MD Nature Preserve. The group learned about the land history of the park and the park’s efforts to (slowly) restore the land to a native prairie ecosystem. The group also got a rare up-close look at two of the park’s rarest plants: Coralroot orchids (the only native orchid in NC) and ghost plants, also known as Indian-pipe.

September 28, CWS Charlotte Monarch Celebration: NCWF Charlotte Wildlife Stewards partnered with City of Charlotte Landscape Management, Wild Ones Charlotte Piedmont Chapter, NC Native Plant Society, and other community organizations to put on Charlotte’s annual Monarch Celebration at Reedy Creek Nature Center. Special shout out to Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation staff at Reedy Creek for hosting again this year! Hundreds of kids and adults showed up for butterfly crafts, pollinator plantings, migration games, and to learn more about monarch butterflies and other pollinators. The event ended with a Migration March led by NWF’s Ranger Rick!

September 29th, Invasive Removal Workday at Occoneechee Speedway with TCC: NCWF Tri-County Conservationists Chapter held an invasive plant removal workday at the Occoneechee Speedway Trail in Hillsborough, NC. Volunteers helped remove a thick line of Chinese privet, English ivy, and autumn olive from a stretch along the trail. This brave group of tree rescuers took down lots of tall privet and an autumn olive tree that was 15 feet tall!

Written by:

Page Turner, Conservation Coordinator