Tuesday, March 17 | 10:00am

March Guided Tree Walk

Enjoy a fun and informative winter walk in the woods with Charlottesville Area Tree Steward David Marrs at the beautiful Ivy Creek Natural Area.

David will begin our 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 meet at the Ivy Creek Natural Area kiosk as you go from the parking lot towards the barn

Minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Please register on Eventbrite here.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1983879768793?aff=oddtdtcreator Registration limited to 15.

This walk is free, but donations are always welcome. Thanks!

Saturday, March 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, March 21 | 9:00am

March Native Plant Walk

Ivy Creek Plant Walk, Sat., March 21, 9:00-11:00 am. Meet at the Kiosk.

After a brutal winter, join us on the second day of Spring to search for early signs of Spring. With luck we may find some trees and shrubs such as spicebush, maple, alder and hazelnut beginning to bloom. We will also identify evergreen leaves and look for blooms of hepatica, yellow corydalis, and pennywort. Some non-native plants are the earliest bloomers, so hairy bittercress and non-native lawn weeds should be flowering.

Co-sponsored by Jefferson Chapter of VNPS and Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm.

Saturday, March 21 | 10:00am

Little Naturalists

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 and third and fourth Saturdays of every month. 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.