Volunteer Opportunities
Girl Scouts Love VASP 2021, Belle Isle State Park. — photo by Debby Tupper
Pollinator Power: Monarchs, Bumblebee Buffet & Jewels of the Night
Friday, September 9 — September 11, 2022
FRIDAY, Sept. 9, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm:
Butterfly and Moth Identification workshop & Mothing experience preparation
Lead by Northern Neck Master Naturalists. This is a good activity for MN's who like to work in small groups to help participants learn to identify local butterflies and explore night pollinators through a Mothing experience.
Butterfly ID workshop: basic materials are prepared. MN volunteer opportunities to fine tune resources and create a simple hands-on experience. Volunteer to join chapter lead: Anne Clewell
Mothing experience after Campfire: Chapter Lead: Debbie Tupper
MN volunteer opportunity to develop a teaching station on Night Pollinators (moths!). Volunteer to join chapter lead.
MN volunteer opportunity to create and help Scouts set up a Mothing experience using simple household items (and maybe a couple store bought items also!). Plan to move finished set up down to campfire for evening Mothing after campfire. Volunteer to join chapter lead.
8:00 pm — Friday night campfire, Amphitheater - campfire set up by Park Staff and campfire stories by our own Lesley Newman, environmental education and storyteller.
9:00-ish — Mothing Experience: Chapter Lead Debbie Tupper!
Volunteers needed to help with mothing experience. No experience needed.
Saturday, Sept. 10, 9 am - 4:30 pm:
9 am - Noon — Pollinator Power: MNs will set up 3 stations at Picnic Shelter area down by the Motor boat launch (rain location: visitor’s center) for education and hands on projects on a variety of pollinators: Monarchs, Bumblebee buffet and Jewels of the Night (fireflies). Small groups with a master naturalist guide will move from station to station. There will be a lead Master naturalist who will stay at the station.
Volunteer for the Monarch team: team up with Karen Williams to develop and present materials focused on Monarchs, identification, migration (Monarch Watch) and creating monarch stations. Karen raises Monarchs! but can’t be at the Saturday event. A Monarch release event is a possibility. Butterfly identification materials from Friday night will be available. Volunteer to join chapter lead: Anne Clewell
Volunteer for Bumblebee Buffet team: Volunteers needed to develop the Bumblebee Buffet theme and present materials on bumblebee identification, ground-nesting bees and what constitutes a buffet for them. Volunteer to join chapter lead: _____________
Volunteer for Night Pollinators team featuring Fireflies: Though we will be past the firefly season this station will expand on one of the most magical night pollinators - fireflies. Moth materials from the night before will be available. Volunteer to join chapter lead: Audrey Vaughn
Volunteers needed to set up/break down, guide and share, Set up drinks and snacks.
1:00 pm — Trick your stick & Mulberry Creek hike. Location: Kayak Launch picnic area: Belle Isle rangers will host the Trick Your Stick program followed by a short hike along the Mulberry Creek Trail Boardwalk to test it out.
2:30-ish — 4:30-ish pm — 2nd Annual BISP Butterfly Safari - Citizen Science project
Location: Kayak Launch Picnic area (smaller teams disperse to various sites throughout the Park)
This is a good activity for MNs who have an interest or experience with butterfly identification, quarterly butterfly counts held on the NN and creating butterfly garden habitats. Casual, small groups will head out to several different Park locations to identify and record butterflies.
Visual count sheets have been developed. Last year’s Girl Scouts picked up identification quickly. Buckeyes were plentiful and exciting to ID.
Photos will be uploaded to iNaturalist: Biodiversity of Belle Isle State Park project and to a shared Cluster photo sharing group.
Description shared with Girl Scouts: Each year local Master Naturalists set out to identify and count the various types of butterflies and skippers found on the Northern Neck. Now, they want you to help find and document the fluttering beauties found at Belle Isle.
Leads and sweeps are needed. Volunteer to join chapter leads: Anne Clewell and Audrey Vaughn
Possible Sunday, September 11 event
9:30 am
Hunting Arthropods: TBD
Contact Anne Clewell, anne.clewell@gmail.com or Audrey Vaughn, virginiariverbreeze@gmail.com
updated 8.16.22, posted: 07.20.22
Anne Clewell