Monday, March 10 | 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 3 to 5 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 the 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 Monday program 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.

Wednesday, March 12 | 7:00pm

Virginia Native Plant Society: Exploring Pawpaws

Join the Jefferson Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society at the Ivy Creek Education Building at 7 PM on March 12 for:

Exploring PawPaws with Neal Peterson and Rodney Dever

It all began with a fruit Neal Peterson tasted as a student at the University of West Virginia. A native tree in a family of tropical relatives, this atypical species produces large fruit that has a custard-like interior, which can taste like a combination of mango, pineapple, and banana. Neal's goal has been focused on breeding paws with more flavor and fewer seeds. His work has seen many ups and downs as he has tracked down historic pawpaw growers and hybridizers. Currently he has selected and distributed seven hybrids, available through designated nurseries.

No need to register, please arrive 10-15 minutes early so we can start promptly at 7:00PM.

Friday, March 14 | 12:00pm

Second Friday Solar Viewing

Solar Observing sessions switch to second Fridays in December.  The Charlottesville Astronomical Society will present and bring their special Solar telescope(s), which will allow us to safely see sunspots, solar flares and prominences, and other features on the living cauldron that is our sun.  We'll start at noon in the education building for a short presentation, then go outside to the field next to the parking lot at 12:20.  

Cloudy weather cancels.

Although this event is free and open to the public, we ask that you contact the Charlottesville Astronomical Society at vicepresident@cvilleastro.com if you plan to attend.  Only if at least one visitor makes contact and confirms attendance, can the CAS guarantee that they will be at Ivy Creek for their presentation and telescope observing session.

Saturday, March 15 | 9:00am

March Native Plant Walk

Join Virginia Native Plant Society member Mary Lee Epps at 9:00 AM on March 15 to search out early signs that spring is coming. Given the cold winter, things may be behind this year, but with luck we may find some trees and shrubs such as spicebush, maples, alder and hazelnut beginning to bloom. Also, hepatica, trailing arbutus, and pennywort may at least be budding. Even if the wildflowers are not yet open, you will at least know where to look for them when they do begin to flower within a couple of weeks.

No registration necessary. Meet at the kiosk near the parking lot. Co-sponsored by Jefferson Chapter, VNPS, and Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm.

Saturday, March 15 | 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. 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.