Monday, February 16 | 9:00am

ICF Board Meeting

A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ivy Creek Foundation.  To learn about the current month's agenda or request presentation time at a board meeting, please contact the Executive Director or the President. Meetings are being held virtually until further notice.

Monday, February 16 | 5:00pm

Volunteer Appreciation Gathering

Dear Volunteers,

2025 was a wonderful, busy year at Ivy Creek. Thanks to your hard work and dedication we have welcomed thousands of visitors to appreciate the environmental and historical beauty of our site. You all are a pleasure to work with!

In thanks, we would like to invite you to our rescheduled Volunteer Appreciation Gathering on Monday, February 16th. We will gather from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Education Building for a meal, celebration, and fellowship. Our snow date for this event is February 22nd. Please join us and your fellow volunteers to share some winter cheer and reflect on a year of dedicated service at Ivy Creek!

If you have any dietary restrictions, please email them to chloe@ivycreekfoundation.org.

Please RSVP at the link here.

Warm regards,
The Ivy Creek Foundation Staff
 

Wednesday, February 18 | 10:00am

Winter Walk with a Tree Steward

Our partners, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, are holding a fun and informative walk with Tree Steward David Marrs at Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm. David will begin the walk with a conversation about the area’s trees and landscapes, exploring how they reflect both cultural and natural history. The winter season is a wonderful time to see and learn more about a tree’s story and he will share tips for identifying the most common species.

This will be an easy to moderate walk on established trails that are well maintained with some inclines and declines. Our walk will be in the open and in wooded areas so we recommend wearing sturdy shoes or boots, dress in layers and bring water.

Please register at this link. Limited to 20 participants. Minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Meet at the Ivy Creek Natural Area kiosk as you go from the parking lot towards the barn.

Thursday, February 19 | 9:30am

School Tour Guide Training

Are you interested in volunteering as a school guide for upcoming field trips to Ivy Creek? 

All guides need to complete a training session before leading groups of school-age children on tours of our site. You will learn how to give tours about the ecology and history of Ivy Creek to our youngest visitors, most of whom will be first graders from Albemarle County Public Schools.

Register here.

Saturday, February 21 | 7:30am

Young Birder's Club

The Young Birder’s Club, a part of the Piedmont Bird Club, is available for youth between the ages of 7-16 interested in exploring Virginia’s natural world, with a focus on birds. With leaders and mentors, they explore various natural world settings seeking bird sightings in order to discover how to identify birds through sight, sound, behaviors, and habitat. It is free of charge. A parent/grandparent/guardian must remain on site with the minors and are welcome to accompany the group.

The group meets the first and third Saturdays each month in the ICNA parking lot at 7:30 AM. The birding activity takes approximately two hours. This program was recently approved for a $500 grant from the VSO (Virginia Society of Ornithologists) to support the program. These funds will be used to purchase new binoculars! Group mentors and leaders include include Reed Keller, a graduate from the original bird club, Tom Rapp, Louis Sokolow, Carol Wise, and Janet Paisley, members of the Piedmont Bird Club. In September, the group is hopes to offer an offsite visit to Afton Mountain to observe the hawk migration. Parents and guardians are responsible for transporting their child/children.

For more information, please contact Janet at paisley.janet@gmail.com.

Saturday, February 21 | 10:00am

Little Naturalists - Saturday

Introduce your three- to five-year-old to nature! Trained guides explore topics such as food chains, hibernation, how trees grow and more with three- to five-year-olds and their accompanying adults. The program starts indoors for 20-30 minutes where the children engage with the guides through reading nature centered books and doing a hands-on activity related to the learning in the book. This is followed with a short moderate hike on one of the ICNA trails. Little Naturalists meet  on the second Mondays, third Saturdays, and fourth Thursdays of every month. NOTE: Starting in March, the fourth Thursday meeting will be moving to the fourth Saturday. Gatherings are held from 10:00 to 11:30 am. We prefer that people preregister for these programs. The link to register for the next third Saturday is here.  Siblings are also welcome to attend.

Little Naturalists follow the weather cancellation policies for Albemarle County Schools.  When the schools are closed or there is a late opening, the Little Naturalists will not meet on that day.