Charity Spotlight Volunteers help plant 975 trees in a 100-acre native grassland.
The Clifton Institute: Educating All Ages about Our Biodiversity By Eleanor Harris, PhD, Managing Director - Just north of Warrenton sits the Clifton Institute, an environmental non-profit located on 900 acres of forests and fields. When you turn in at the driveway, you’ll want to go slowly because you never know what you’ll see along the way. If you’re lucky, you’ll spy an American Kestrel, the smallest bird of prey in North America and subject of the Clifton Institute’s latest research project. Listen, and you’ll hear the Red-Tailed Hawks soaring above and calling out with their signature whistles and squeals. You’ll pass a sign urging caution as you drive over a rat snake hibernaculum! Soon, you’ll see the lower pond edged with milkweed that attracts busy pollinators. During migration season, you’ll see Buffleheads and Wood Ducks bobbing out on the water. The industrious beavers keep the waters active, too. No matter what season, there’s something to see and do at Clifton.
Leading the operations of this gem in Fauquier County are co-directors Bert, and Managing Director Eleanor Harris teaches Eleanor Harris. Both have a student how to identify tracks. their doctorates in biology, and both are passionate about conserving Virginia’s biodiversity and educating people about the amazing plants and animals that live here. Every month you’ll find education programs for different ages and on different topics, from bird walks to a workshop on mathematical patterns in nature and even a book Photo credit Alex Shipherd: An American Kesclub. Every Saturday from trel catching a mouse at the Clifton Institute January to October, the trails are open to Friends of the Clifton Institute (people who donate at least $40 per year to the organization). This summer, the Clifton Institute offered an array of camps for all ages: Piedmont Polliwogs for preschool children, Young Explorers for 7-12-year-olds, and Young Scientists for 13-18-yearolds. Coming up in August, there will even be a new Nature Camp for Grownups! Every session is designed to give the campers a better understanding of our natural surroundings
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and the confidence to continue spending time outdoors. In the fall, children can attend biweekly Nature School classes, hike with their families during monthly Family Nature Walks, become a member of Nature Club, or come on a class trip with their schools. Adults can look forward to attending talks, walks, and workshops about wildflowers, pawpaws, raptors, nature journaling, and more. While the education programs may be the most public-facing aspect of Clifton, its research and conservation programs are of equal importance. For over twenty years, volunteer community scientists have been helping to conduct annual butterfly and bird counts. In 2021 the Clifton Institute organized an inaugural dragonfly count, and participants documented over 50 species, many of them found in the Brookside wetlands! Anyone can contribute to the Institute’s iNaturalist project, an Children on a family nature walk visit a online database of every beaver lodge. plant and animal found on the property so far. Nearly 2,000 species have been identified! This year, the Institute joined with the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation to study the nesting habitat requirements of American Kestrels. The species is declining across the Executive Director Bert Harris helps a student country, and little is known at the Young Scientists Research Experience about how to manage survey fish in the pond. fields to make them hospitable for nesting kestrels. In the spring, the team attached GPS transmitters to 19 female kestrels so that they could see what kinds of fields they were foraging in. One adventurous female flew more than 11 miles from her nest to bring back food for her chicks! The results of this project will inform how the Clifton Institute manages its 100-acre native grassland and will be shared with other landowners as well.
