February Activities

February 13th thru the 16th is the Great Backyard Bird Count, a worldwide citizen science effort to identify the distribution of birds.   

As part of this event on Saturday morning, February 14th, the Friends of Indian River will host a guided bird walk around the lake between the Indian River Community/Rec Center and the Indian River High School .   When scouting the site, a variety of birds were spotted including Cormorants, Mallards, Pied-Bill Grebe, Bluebirds, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Woodpeckers, and more.  Meet at the Indian River Community Center, 2250 Old Greenbrier Rd, at 8:30 am.  We'll be out for about 1 to 1.5 hours.  We'll have some binoculars and a spotting scope, but do bring your own if you have some!

Even if you can't make it out to the walk, you can report your bird sightings at  http://gbbc.birdcount.org/get-started/  or http://ebird.org/.   If you got photos, there is a new Flickr group to share your nature photos from around the Indian River area at https://www.flickr.com/groups/indianriver/.

Our February meeting was cancelled due to the snow and ice. Jackie Shannon's presentation on Oyster Gardening and Restoration will now be at our May meeting.   At that time we'll learn all about oysters, how important they are to water quality, plans for restoring oyster reefs along the Eastern Branch and Indian River, and how you can help raise baby oysters to restore such reefs.   

Lastly, the Elizabeth River Project and Friends of Indian River are looking for historical photos, maps, and stories about the Indian River and the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River. These artifacts will help us share the story of this branch with its citizens. If you have photos you’re willing to share, or even a story about growing up near the river, send us a message at info@friendsofindianriver.org.

Eastern Branch Restoration Strategy

Here is the link to the new Eastern Branch Environmental Restoration Strategy developed by the Eastern Branch Steering Committee convened by the Elizabeth River Project.   The Steering Committee had participants from citizen groups, non-profits, local businesses, and government organizations from across Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach.   The Eastern Branch Environmental Restoration Strategy is a plan to mobilize government, business, and citizens to improve the quality of the Eastern Branch ecosystem - and the quality of life for the residents of the area.   Key actions include engaging residents and giving them a stake in the river, restoring wildlife habitat, restoring clean water, and cleaning the river bottom.

Also the State of the Elizabeth River, Scorecard 2014 was released in 2014.   This scientific data set and analysis was compiled by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Elizabeth River Project.    Overall the Eastern Branch got a grade of "D".   The Indian River got a grade of "F" due to excessive Nutrient and Bacterial Contamination.   On the plus side, we did get a "B" for the amount of Dissolved Oxygen in the water, which is a good sign.   This scorecard gives us a baseline to measure future improvements.

Envision Hampton Roads

At our last meeting, ​I mentioned that the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission is working on a community-based Regional Strategic Plan for Hampton Roads and is looking for your input. They are holding a "Vision Session" at the HRPDC buidling on Woodlake Drive, 723 Woodlake Drive, (just off Greenbrier across from the Wawa) this Tuesday the 27th at 5:30 pm.   It should be an interesting meeting.