On Tuesday June 25th the Blue Ridge Naturalist Network hosted its first walk featuring dragonflies and damselflies at Charles D. Owen Park in Swannanoa.  Blessed with a beautiful early summer day under partly cloudy skies we had a total of 27 people participating.  Our walk leaders were local dragonfly and butterfly enthusiasts Gail Lankford and Vin Stanton.  We began by touring the perimeter of one of the small lakes at the park and soon began seeing interesting damselflies and dragonflies.  The damselflies were especially tricky to spot given their small size, but gradually we calibrated ourselves and began to notice them all around the lake.  A special treat just before lunch was spotting a Harvester butterfly along the lakeshore.

The Blue Ridge Naturalist Network and the West Asheville Public Library will host speakers from Appalachian Wildlife Refuge which is a nonprofit that coordinates the needs of wildlife rehabilitation in Western North Carolina providing care for injured and orphaned wildlife, support for the wildlife rehabilitation network and conservation education to the community. 
5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the West Asheville Public Library
Free and open to the public.

Gary Kauffman, USDA Forest Service Biologist will give a presentation ‘with imagery’ about the Serpentine Bald, near Franklin.

Buck Creek Serpentine Barren or woodland, on the Nantahala National Forest in Clay County, is one of the rarest plant communities in North Carolina and the Southern Appalachians.  The dominant rock types, serpentinized dunite and olivine, influence the striking vegetation present on this site.  Over 20 grass species, including six listed species dominate the site. The grass dominance is reminiscent of prairie vegetation and presents a striking contrast to the regionally typical herbaceous layer consisting of mesophytic, broad-leaved forbs.   Included in the grass matrix are three endemic herbs, Rhiannon’s aster, Buck Creek ragwort, and Buck Creek heartleaf.  Twelve other state listed plants and six butterflies are present across the site.  In the spring, emerging grasses have scattered displays of Indian paintbrush  and Buck Creek ragwort.   In mid September there is a display of blooming  little blue stem and big bluestem grasses with showy pockets of  bigleaf grass-of- parnassus and fringed gentian. 

Tuesday, May 14, 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the West Asheville Public Library.
Open to the public

There will be a field trip for BRNN members in September at the Serpentine Bald with Gary Kauffman.