I saw my first rough-winged swallow when I was a teenager fishing along a creek in western Pennsylvania. I thought it wasn’t much to look at. It had a graceful swallow shape, but otherwise it was plain and dull. Skimming low over water catching insects along with other swallows, a rough-wing lacks their polished plumage and contrasting, iridescent colors. The back, head, and wings are wood-brown and the throat is drab, shading to gray on the chest and sides. The belly is a dirty, brownish white. Only the undertail feathers are dazzling white. The black, shiny bill looks very short, even for a swallow. Read the Full Story >>
Economy & Environment
Local Land Trusts Aim to Help Protect Drinking Water Supplies
When Jefferson County’s municipal water customers turn on their faucets, they may not think about saving farmland or Civil War battlefields. Martin Burke, chair of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, would like to change that. Read the Full Story >>
Swan Pond Attracts Wintering Waterfowl
A sign beside Route 45 says: “1.5 miles north is Swan Pond Manor, a 2,000-acre retreat set aside in 1745 for use of Thomas Lord Fairfax, once the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia who established an estate at Greenway Court, Frederick County in 1738. So named because wild swans inhabited [the] site.” Read the Full Story >>
Reclaiming the Future of Appalachia
According to Houser, Bordoff, and Marsters, 2017, West Virginia’s total coal job loss from Q4 2011 to Q4 2016 was 12,533. This has been a scary time for many Appalachian people. Severe environmental damage has been done, and social problems, such as drug addiction, continue to threaten their future. To help combat these issues, the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition, a regional collaboration, is pursuing mine reclamation projects throughout Central Appalachia that are responsive to community needs and interests. Read the Full Story >>
Audubon Remains America’s Premier Bird Artist
John James Audubon was a French immigrant who adopted nineteenth-century America as his home. Early on, he resolved to roam the country hunting and drawing birds. “Audubon” has become synonymous with birds and conservation, but few today appreciate his indefatigable genius. Read the Full Story >>
Maryland Pipeline Vote Creates Potential Roadblock for Rockwool
The Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project pipeline would, if built, run from Fulton county, PA, to Jefferson County, WV. The middle portion of the pipeline from Berkeley Springs, WV, to Martinsburg, WV, is almost complete. The portion of the pipeline through the state of Maryland, however, is still in the approval stage—construction has not begun. The terminus of the pipeline in Jefferson county, WV, would be the highly controversial, highly polluting insulation factory run by the Danish multinational, Rockwool. Eastern Panhandle Protectors opposes this proposed coal- and fracked-gas-fueled facility and the pipeline that would provide the gas. Read the Full Story >>
Snowfall Reveals a Fox’s Hunting Methods
Several inches of snow blanketed the ground when I went to the barn to feed the animals. Snow stuck to every branch, stem, and twig, but my eye caught a glimpse of movement in the buffer of trees along the stream. Ducking behind the barn to avoid detection, I glimpsed a red fox about to spring into the air and pounce on a mouse. Read the Full Story >>
Shepherdstown Debates the Emergence of Transient Lodging
Arguably the oldest town in West Virginia, Shepherdstown remains surprisingly on trend within an assortment of social, political, and even municipal categories. Which is why it should come as no surprise to learn that the town began exploring the emergence of transient lodging back in 2017. Read the Full Story >>
Otters Are Back in our Rivers
Once common throughout the United States, river otters were heavily trapped during the nineteenth century when tall hats were in style for classy European and American gentlemen. Beaver and otter felt was the standard material for such hats. Otter became the ultimate standard for durability against which all other furs were compared. Read the Full Story >>
Rockwool: Point – Counterpoint
Last month, The Observer attempted to tell the basic story behind the arrival of the Rockwool plant to Jefferson County. Now we’re taking the opportunity to allow one representative from each side to say their piece. Read the Full Story >>
He Said. She Said. They Said. We Said.
When all the posting, researching, explaining, presenting, disputing, articulating, organizing, mobilizing, etc., is stripped away, it looks like this: one group of people—Rockwool Group North America, the JCDA, and the City of Ranson—wants to bring what has been determined to be an economic opportunity to Jefferson County; another group—mostly Jefferson County citizens and larger groups therein—doesn’t want it here. They each have a story to tell; they each have been attempting to tell that story vigorously for the last month or more. Read the Full Story >>
Grassland Nesting Birds are Disappearing
Eastern meadowlarks used to be common birds in local hayfields. Now they’re on a growing list of field-nesting birds—bobwhite quail, vesper sparrow, American kestrel, and red-winged blackbird—whose numbers have seriously dropped. Now you can drive though the countryside and never see any of them. Read the Full Story >>
Clean & Green—Local Farmers Preserve Natural Lands
As more land is being used for residential and commercial properties, some are concerned that those green spaces will become more difficult to find. In 2000, West Virginia passed the Voluntary Farmland Protection Act, allowing for the creation of county Farmland Protection Boards. Jefferson County wasted no time in establishing its own board that same year—with 21 county boards throughout the state today. Read the Full Story >>
Song of the Wood Thrush
Wood thrush song sounds like cathedral organ music to me. Muted by distance, it’s even sweeter. It invokes childhood evenings in June seated on a porch step, enchanted by an unknown birdsong coming from the neighbor’s woods. Read the Full Story >>
After 20 Years—a Purple Martin Colony!
For over 20 years, my wife and I have wanted purple martins to nest where we lived. We bought books about attracting martins. I set up a wooden, three-story purple martin house with the proper measurements and studied the best places to attract the birds. I made white-painted gourd houses, hung them from a telescoping pole the proper height above the ground, and installed a baffle to deter climbing raccoons and other predators. Read the Full Story >>