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Reflections on the York River

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I had a lovely time investigating the York River this semester. The structure of my semester made me take the time to do the things I like, and remember why I am pursuing environmental science and natural resource management in the first place. I returned to some of my favorite spots, like Yorktown Beach, Colonial Parkway, and York River State Park and although I might have changed since I was there last, I still love to be out standing in nature! Working to give back to the environment and connect people with nature is what it is all about. Identifying specific threats to biodiversity along the river and exploring tools that can be used to asses/address them was such a nice way to turn passion into productivity. I am proud of the work I have done this semester, but more importantly, I am proud I pushed it out on this blog. I can get so stressed out about things and a desire for perfection prevents any forward momentum. I often let perfection be the enemy of good, but having a deadline...
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Classification of Virginia Iris

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Virginia Iris are a gorgeous species of wetland flowers. They grow in brackish water (less salt preferred) and can be found in areas like the marshes along the York River. I love love LOVE Virginia Iris, but my knowledge of the species would go deeper. Let's look into the taxonomy! Iris virginica by Eric Hunt First - Levels of Taxonomy and How to Remember Them The different levels of classification are used to organize species in to categories based on shared characteristics. These groupings start off extremely general get more specific as you go, until one species remains. The categories are as follows: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species In high school, I leaned the mnemonic "King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti" to help remember the levels. These levels also give us scientific names by combining the genus and species names. Why are scientific names important? I've heard people say Virginia Iris, Virginia Blue Flag, Southern Blueflag, or Caroli...
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Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

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Native Trees Along The York River

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Merlin Bird ID Saves The Day!

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Have you ever met a bird person before? Someone who truly loves birds? I have, and let me say that I thought I was a bird person before I knew how deep some people's knowledge goes. My first interaction with a real bird person was in my freshman year of college. It was also my first time bird watching. My professor assigned nature walks for a series of homework assignments (which was very amusing to my roommate for some reason) and he was offering a guided session for our first submission. I arrive with my notepad, hand-me-down binoculars, and phone, ready to to take pictures of whatever we may find. The first assignment was simple: identify three birds and upload them to iNaturalist. Once our group was ready to begin our walk around the pond, I instantly knew how out of my depth I was. Identifications were flying from my professor for birds that I could not even see (he was very good at identifying calls). A few of my classmates, more experienced that I was, joined in, pointing to...
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Invasive Plants and Animals in York River Habitats

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York River Basin Climate Resources

 Below are some resources for climate data on the York River Basin. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/yorktown%20virginia Data from this site is provided by the good and reliable National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The specific highlight here is the precipitation dataset that has entries as far back as 2012. https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.237423&lon=-76.511572 This site is NOAA's National Weather Service page that presents current weather and forecast information. The "Past Weather" tab allows users to see daily highs and lows, weather charts, and other information all the way back to 1874 (although data becomes sparse). https://weatherspark.com/y/21660/Average-Weather-in-Yorktown-Virginia-United-States-Year-Round  This link shows year-round weather averages forYorktown Virginia. Although it has many different variables available, I found its temperature data specifically appealing. Other datasets I reviewed did not ha...
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