Geek out with me about critters and plants on a mountaintop in Virginia. I’ll share what I’m learning as I try to bring native plants back on 200 acres of old farmland and tell stories from my encounters on the mountain.

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In this issue

• Field notes: Black locusts and bats

• Signs of life: The birds!

• Recommended reading

• Book news

• Another meadow mystery…

• The Official Mountain Poodle

Field notes

Who knew?

I feel safe guessing that there are thousands of black locust trees growing on the mountain. The black locust is a native tree that supports local wildlife and pollinators, and the wood is valued for its strength and rot-resistance—it makes good fence posts. The branches have small thorns, so watch out if you’re handling them.

What I didn’t realize is that the locust also produces gorgeous flowers. The bloom season is short, and this is the first time I’ve had a close look. Hummingbirds are drawn to them, and I can understand why—their appearance and scent remind me a little of the fragrant flowers used in traditional Hawaiian leis. This is a fast-growing pioneer tree, a first step toward turning a meadow into a forest. If I’m not careful, these trees will quickly gain height in a sunny field and shade out the plants that I’m trying to encourage, so I take out locust seedlings when I find them entering new parts of the meadow.

You can have too much of a good thing—I don’t want a monoculture of black locust trees (or tulip poplars, which are even more aggressive here), because I don’t want any one plant to dominate. Plant diversity here will support wildlife diversity. The black locust is native from Pennsylvania to Alabama, but I didn’t realize that in places just outside of its native range, in particular in parts of Canada, New England, and the Midwest, the tree is considered invasive. I guess it’s not surprising, given what a “successful” plant it is, but I’m still surprised whenever I hear that a plant is invasive on the same continent where it’s native. My guess is that that’s relatively unusual. Plants introduced from another continent are far more likely to become invasive, in part because of a lack of predators.

The bats!

Erin Shibley, a biologist with Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL), is piloting a study of bats on farms and other private lands in the region. She’d like to find out which bat species are active here, how much bat activity is occurring, and what kinds of landscapes the bats prefer. Cave-dwelling bats have been particularly hard hit by white nose syndrome, whereas tree-dwelling bats have not been as severely impacted, and for that reason, Shibley might expect to see more tree-dwelling bats here, but she’s hoping for more variety. An ultrasonic microphone perched atop a 9-foot metal post will record bat calls, which Shibley can then analyze to determine how many times bats passed near the device, and which species of bat the recorder picked up. The first week here, the recorder did not get blown away or knocked down, despite a few days of high winds, so that’s a victory in itself…and the device picked up 542 sounds! Some of those sounds might be insects, like cicadas, but insect sounds and bat sounds look very different in the data, and Shibley will be able to separate them. Stay tuned for info on which bats are living on the mountain—same bat time, same bat channel! (Sorry, couldn’t help it!)

Signs of life

The birds!

I don’t wake up at 5:30am for anything anymore—anything that is, except my son’s grad-school graduation ceremony, and the first bird survey on the mountain in four years. (Which means I woke up at 5:30am twice in one week and I might be a little sleepy right now.)

In the spring of 2021, VWL conducted bird and plant surveys on the mountain, in order to help inform their research. These surveys were key to my understanding of what was growing here when I first embarked this project. The goal of these new surveys is to try to find out what, if anything, has changed. Of course, my hope is that the diversity of plants and birds here has changed in a good way!

There will be three surveys over the next couple of months. During each survey, three specific parts of the meadow are monitored for ten-minute time-blocks. Once the data has been reviewed, I’ll receive an official list of the birds that were seen and/or heard, and how many of each species were encountered.

Only one day of surveys, and already there is some news to report! The prairie warbler is brand new to the list. We heard its call in every area we visited. It likes densely overgrown fields and scrubby places, and it’s pretty fond of blackberry vines, so it should be right at home here.

Another takeaway: there are a lot more Eastern bluebirds here than there were four years ago! Back then, the survey counted only one lone bluebird. But this week, I think we saw at least ten—not even including those we saw outside of the official survey areas and time blocks. There were so many that I stopped counting. I’m sure it helps that we now have four bluebird nest boxes in the meadow, but they’re nesting in other places, too. I see them perching on downspouts and reflector poles around my house and scanning the ground for food.

The great crested flycatcher is another new summer visitor. The flycatcher likes to hang out in old orchards, and it collects snake sheds to use as nesting material; judging by the number of snakes here, I’d guess it will find a plentiful supply.

I’m no good at taking photos of birds—I don’t have a zoom lens, and for some reason the birds don’t hold still when I walk toward them??? so this photo of a great crested is not mine…

Recommended Reading

One book that’s on my to-read list right now is Phenology by Theresa Crimmins, which is part of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series. What is phenology? The book description says it best: It’s “all about timing—when trees leaf out, flowers bloom, birds migrate, animals bear young and hibernate.” It’s about seasonal activities, many of which we can observe ourselves, and the impact of climate change on those events. It’s also a call to action—readers can record what they’re seeing around them and contribute their observations to a larger collection of data that could help guide the response to climate change.

Book news

This month, I spoke with Margaret Roach, New York Times garden columnist, on her podcast, A Way to Garden. We talked about the trials and tribulations of bringing back native meadows, fighting invasive plants, and managing succession. You can listen on her website or on your favorite podcast platform.

I was interviewed on a podcast called “The Good Dirt” by the folks at Lady Farmer. The theme for their programs is “slow living,” which is what I feel like I’m doing here a lot of them time, especially when I’m waiting to see what will grow in a field…

I spoke at an event held by the Shenandoah National Park Trust called “Wine on the Rooftop.” The event took place in Charlottesville, VA, on the roof of the Light House Studio, and wine was donated by DuCard vineyards to raise money for the Trust.

This month, Birch Tree Bookstore in Leesburg, VA, discussed Bad Naturalist as part of their read! plant! grow! book club. Want me to visit your book club? You can reach me through my website contact page.

Bad Naturalist is available wherever books are sold in stores and online, in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook formats. You can sample the audiobook here.

You can find these links and more on my website news/event page.

Upcoming Events

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come out and say hello!

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, keynote speaker, LWC 30th Anniversary/Annual Meeting. Sunday, June 8. (RSVP required)

Missouri Botanical Gardens, featured speaker, St. Louis, Missouri, Tuesday, July 22, 2025 (registration required)

New events and the latest details can be found on my website. If you don’t see your city or town on this list yet, please reach out, and I’ll see what I can do to get there!

Check my website event page, or my Instagram or Bluesky feeds for details about events, and for more interviews, podcasts, and features.

A special request

If you read the book in any format (and if you enjoyed it!), please post a review on the Amazon book page! It helps!

A new mystery!

Who made these holes in the ground? I don’t think these are vole holes, because there are no tunnels attached to them, and voles make obvious raised tunnels that snake along the ground. The openings themselves are around the size of a half-dollar. (Remember those? Do they still make them?) The earth around the holes is sort of funnel-shaped, sometimes packed down, and sometimes disturbed. Could it be snakes? Toads? Tarantulas? Help me out here?

Tell me where you are and what you see this month in a park near where you live, or in your own yard or window box. Send me a photo if you like.

And don’t forget to tell me about your favorite nature-related book or podcast.

The Official Mountain Poodle

Here she is, Her Regalness, looking very serious (as if that would fool anyone), just before racing off after a rabbit.

Now’s a good time to subscribe for more mountain discoveries, book news, and the requisite poodle photos.

Thanks for joining me on the mountain!

Until next month—

Paula W.

P.S. The cover photo this month is a tree frog that sat on our fence for a few days. I’m hoping the iNaturalist folks will weigh in on its species, but if anyone has a guess, please send me a note!

Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop

Now available in hardcover, audiobook, and e-book everywhere books are sold!

You can also…