Nature journaling is a powerful tool for learning about plants and animals, a mindful practice for connecting to nature, and just a great way to spend time outside. Managing Director and passionate nature journaler Eleanor Harris runs quarterly nature journaling meetups to help people develop their nature journaling skills and meet other nature journalers in […]
Come join us to birdwatch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know […]
Join us for a walk around the field station to see what we can see! Led by a staff naturalist, we’ll encounter birds, bugs, plants and more. Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Date and time subject to change dependent on weather. Please check your email for updates on […]
Come join us to birdwatch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know […]
In this installment of our Science Saturdays series participants will have the opportunity to participate in our vernal pool monitoring project. Vernal pools are fish-free bodies of water that are safe for amphibians to breed in. Here at Clifton, we have multiple made by beavers, humans, and natural depressions, where Spotted Salamanders, Jefferson Salamanders, Eastern […]
In this program Co-Director and amateur lichenologist Bert Harris will teach participants the basics of lichen biology and identification. He’ll then lead participants on a lichen tour of the rocky outcrops and mature forests of the Clifton Institute. We have some exciting lichens here, but we are just starting to study our lichen community, so […]
Do you want to learn how scientific research is done? Or figure out how the world works? Or do you just want to spend the day exploring nature with a group of kind and curious people? Then join us for our first ever DIY Science day! In this day-long workshop, we'll teach you how to […]
Come join us to birdwatch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know […]
Come join us to birdwatch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know […]
Join us for a walk around the field station to see what we can see! Led by a staff naturalist, we’ll encounter birds, bugs, plants and more. Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Date and time subject to change dependent on weather. Please check your email for updates on […]
Nature journaling is a powerful tool for learning about plants and animals, a mindful practice for connecting to nature, and just a great way to spend time outside. Managing Director and passionate nature journaler Eleanor Harris runs quarterly nature journaling meetups to help people develop their nature journaling skills and meet other nature journalers in […]
Come join us to bird watch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us […]
In 2022 we started a collaborative research project with the Turtle Conservation Ecology Lab and Joe Kolowski at the Smithsonian’s NZCBI to study Box Turtles. We are studying Box Turtle movements and habitat selection so that we can learn when it’s safe to mow fields in our area. In the third installment of this event, […]
Join us for a visit to an active Bobolink nesting colony in partnership with our friends at Virginia Working Landscapes! Bobolinks are unique and beautiful birds that select hay fields for nesting. Sadly, they are declining as a result of nest losses from cutting the hay early in the summer. We should enjoy views of […]
We still have a few spots for this program. Please email bharris@cliftoninstitute.org if you'd like to join. Join us at the residence of our co-directors to experience a remnant prairie, a planted meadow, and a native plant garden. The remnant prairie on the property hosts a remarkable assemblage of native wildflowers and grasses over sandstone […]
We love going out on a summer evening to see hundreds of fireflies flashing in the trees and we’d love you to have you join us for this magical display. In this program, Co-Director Eleanor Harris will give a brief talk about the biology and identification of fireflies (there are several species in our area!) […]
We still have spaces for this event. Please email bharris@cliftoninstitute.org if you'd like to join. Join us for a day of counting dragonflies across Rappahannock County! Our goals are to learn which species of dragonflies and damselflies are found in our area, to monitor changes in their populations, and to help everyone learn more about […]
Come join us to bird watch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us […]
We need help repotting some of our native seedlings into bigger pots! Habitat Specialist Andrew Eberly will be leading this event and will be happy to answer any participant questions about growing native plants. Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children ages 12 and up, accompanied by an adult. Bring: Please bring gardening gloves if desired. […]
Dragonflies and damselflies are some of the most mysterious and beautiful animals that live at the Clifton Institute, and June is the perfect time to search for them. Join us for a workshop that will cover the basics of dragonfly identification and biology. We will then practice what we learned by visiting lakes, streams, and […]
Coral Hairstreaks, the star of our logo, are rare in Virginia but we’re lucky to have one of the best sites in the state to see them and on a good day in June we can see many of them flitting from patch to patch of blooming butterfly weed. We thought it was high time […]
We still have spaces if you would like to join us for this event! Please email bharris@cliftoninstitute.org if you're interested. Join us for our sixth annual Dragonfly Count! Our goals are to learn which species of dragonflies and damselflies are found in our area, to monitor changes in their populations, and to encourage everyone to […]
Come join us to bird watch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us […]
Join us to learn about butterfly identification and biology. Co-Director Bert Harris will give a presentation on the identification of common butterflies in our area. We will then take a walk around the field station to look for butterflies (and perhaps some dragonflies as well.) All skill levels welcome! Cost: Adults – $15 All proceeds […]
Online registration is closed but we still have spaces for this program. Please email bharris@cliftoninstitute.org if you're interested in joining us! Skippers, the Little Brown Jobs of the butterfly world, can be hard to identify, but with a little practice you can learn the variations in color, pattern, size, and shape that distinguish each […]
Online registration is closed but people are still welcome to join us! If you're interested, email bharris@cliftoninstitute.org. Every year community scientists help count butterflies in 15-mile-diameter circles all around the country and contribute their data to the North American Butterfly Association (NABA). This summer we will host our 30th annual butterfly count and celebrate our […]
If biodiversity excites you, come learn about one of the most species-rich groups on the planet: beetles! Worldwide, there are over 400,000 beetle species, and that list grows longer every year. They are all around us, they are beautiful, and they are endlessly fascinating. Join Will Ponder, a former ground beetle parataxonomist with the National […]
Join us to look and listen for creatures of the night! Summer is an ideal time to observe several species of katydids, crickets, cicadas and birds. We will also look for beavers, reptiles and amphibians, and other animals! Back at the farm house we will see what kinds of moths and beetles we can attract […]
Come join us to bird watch around the field station! Cost: Free! Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult. Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall). Registration is REQUIRED. Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us […]
Did you know that bats offer numerous ecosystem services globally, including pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal? Here in Virginia, bats are critical members of our agricultural ecosystems, consuming thousands of insect pests each night. Erin Shibley, a wildlife biologist with the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, will present an interactive program about the behavior […]
