WVU Morgan County Extension Service

05/05/2026

Looking for a nice gift for Mother's Day? Check out some of these plants: they are native born species and are not being wiped out by the boxwood moth.

05/05/2026

Looking for a good mulch for your garden? Here is a fun diagram to explain some with pros and cons. REMEMBER: always do your own research when making a final decision. Call the extension office at 304-258-8400 to hear from expert Master Gardeners!

Mulch can help a garden so much, but the wrong kind can create a whole new set of problems you did not plan for 🌿
🍂 I usually stick with simple options like shredded leaves, straw, arborist wood chips, or plain cardboard under mulch.
🌱 What works best for me is a light, breathable layer that holds moisture without smothering the soil.
🚫 I’m always careful with anything that heats up, mats down, or looks too processed, because that can cause trouble around roots.
🪴 Thick fresh grass clippings are one I avoid using in a heavy layer since they can get slimy fast.
🍅 Around vegetables, I like clean straw or chopped leaves because they are easy to work with and break down nicely over time.

05/01/2026

Reminder to refill your feeders for the incoming migrating birds. They are very appreciative and will remember the route for the way back!

Hello. I'm the Oriole. Yes, I drank your entire nectar feeder last night. Yes, it was full yesterday at 5pm. Yes, it's empty at 7am. I know you're annoyed.
Let me explain what happened.
I arrived at 9pm last night. I've been flying since dawn yesterday. I flew 200 miles in 14 hours. I'm exhausted.
I'm migrating from Central America to Canada. Total journey: 2,000 miles. I'm halfway there.
Your feeder = critical refueling station.
Migration energy needs:
Flying 200 miles = burns 30% of my body weight in fat reserves.
I weighed 34 grams when I left yesterday morning. I weighed 24 grams when I arrived last night (lost 10 grams = 30% body weight).
I MUST regain that weight before tomorrow's flight or I'll die mid-migration.
Your nectar feeder had 16 oz (480ml) of sugar water.
At 4:1 ratio (4 parts water : 1 part sugar), that's 120g sugar = 480 calories.
I need 400-600 calories to replace fat reserves for tomorrow's 200-mile flight.
I drank almost the entire feeder. So did 3 other orioles who arrived same time.
We were desperate. We drained it by midnight.
Why May = critical:
May = peak migration for orioles (and 30+ other species):
Warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, hummingbirds, buntings
All flying north. All need food. All arriving at same feeders.
Your feeder serves:
5-10 orioles nightly
20-30 warblers
10-15 other migrants
That's 40-50 desperate, exhausted birds arriving 8pm-11pm every night looking for food.
One 16oz feeder = gone in 2-3 hours.
What to do:
REFILL DAILY (Morning + Evening):
Morning: Refill for day residents
Evening (6-7pm): Refill for overnight migrants arriving at dusk
USE LARGER FEEDERS:
32oz feeders instead of 16oz
Or multiple 16oz feeders
OFFER ORANGES + GRAPE JELLY:
Orioles LOVE these (in addition to nectar)
Put out fresh orange halves daily
Grape jelly in small dish (they'll eat 4-6 oz daily)
PLANT NATIVE BERRY SHRUBS:
Serviceberry (ripens early May)
Mulberry (peak May-June)
Elderberry (mid-late summer)
MIGRATION TIMELINE:
Early May (now): Northbound migration peak
Orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks arriving
Need food EVERY DAY for 2-3 weeks
Then they disperse to nesting territories
Late May: Migration slows
Residents stay (lower feeder consumption)
Migrants moved on
Your role in migration:
You're a stopover habitat.
Stopover sites = 80% of migration survival.
Birds can fly long distances IF they can refuel at regular intervals.
No stopover food = they don't make it.
Your feeder empty = I fly tomorrow without refueling = I die 50 miles from here when I run out of energy.
Your feeder full = I gain 10 grams overnight = I make it another 200 miles tomorrow.
Multiply by 50 birds using your yard = you're saving 50 lives per night in May.
Or not. Depends if you refill.
I drained your feeder because I'm flying to Canada to breed.
I'll be back in September (southbound migration) and drain it again.
Refill daily May + September.
We'll make it to Canada and back.
Without you, we won't

05/01/2026

Nightjars have been declining for a while now. If you hear the repeated calls of the males this summer: the iconic "Whip-poor-Whill" just remember that they have been decimated by declining moth populations and habitat loss. Here is a vetted charity that is dedicating their resources to helping their populations bounce back: https://www.globalnightjar.org/support

He Has Sung the Same Song for Four Years. No Female Has Answered.
In a pine-oak forest in southern Indiana, a male Eastern Whip-poor-will calls from the same low branch every dusk. He has done this for four consecutive springs. Whip-poor-will. Whip-poor-will. Three notes, repeated 400 times an hour, sometimes for six hours after sunset.
Nothing answers him.
We say nightjars are common. We remember them from childhood camping trips. We assume the woods are still full of them.
In reality, the native Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus, Status: Near Threatened, IUCN; population down >70% since 1970) is collapsing across most of its eastern US range. Habitat fragmentation, light pollution drowning out his call, and catastrophic moth declines (whip-poor-wills feed almost exclusively on moths) have left some forests without a single breeding female within hearing distance of him.
He cannot know that. He sings anyway.
When a population thins below a critical density, the male's song no longer reaches a receptive female before exhaustion takes him. He becomes, in the language of conservation biology, a ghost individual — alive, calling, unmated.
If you remember whip-poor-wills from your childhood and have not heard one in a decade, the silence is not your memory failing. It is his
References: Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Eastern Whip-poor-will species account & population trend; Audubon climate vulnerability assessment; IUCN Red List.

05/01/2026

Turtles are slow but steady, if you see one in the road, give it a hand properly with the help of this infographic:

Spring is the season of movement for turtles. Every female snapping turtle, painted turtle, and box turtle in your region is on the move from now through early July, looking for sandy soil to dig a nest in. 🌿

This is where most of them die.

Every year, the number one cause of adult snapping turtle and painted turtle death in eastern North America is being hit by cars. A female snapping turtle is old. She may have hatched in the 1980s. She is traveling, on average, a quarter-mile from water to find the exact nest site she has been using for years. If you swerve, you save a forty-year-old life.

But if you move her from the driveway, there are two rules that matter more than anything else:

🐾 Rule 1: Move her in the direction she was walking.

Not back to the water. Not to what looks "safer." The direction she was going.

Turtles have territories. They have maps in their heads. If you put her back in the direction she came from, she will immediately turn around and cross your driveway again. If you move her in the direction she was heading, she keeps going and finishes her journey.

🐾 Rule 2: Never pick up a snapping turtle by the tail.

It dislocates her spine. You cause a serious injury doing this — the turtle will look fine walking away and die of the spinal injury over weeks.

🪴 The right way to move a snapping turtle:

- Place a car mat, a rubber floor mat, or a large piece of cardboard behind her.

- Gently, from behind, coax her onto the mat. She will hiss. That is fine.

- Drag the mat across the driveway in the direction she was heading.

- If you must lift, use both hands at the back of her shell, near the tail base, with her body hanging forward and away from you. She can bite objects eight to ten inches in front of her face — not at her sides.

🌱 For painted turtles and box turtles:

- You can pick them up gently with both hands on the sides of the shell, body held low to the ground. Still — in the direction she was heading.

- Never take her home. Never move her to "a better spot." Every turtle in North America is on its way somewhere specific, and moving her to a new place almost always ends with her dying looking for home.

The slow things crossing your driveway this spring are as old as you are.

You have ninety seconds. Don't hit her. Don't change her direction.

04/23/2026

It is boxwood moth season: for advice on how to deal with the boxwood moths - contact the extension office at 304-258-8400. If you wish to replace your boxwoods, here are some alternatives proposed by the WV Dept. of Ag:

Northern Byberry, Inkberry, Ninebark, Oregon Bark, Lawson Cypress, Azaleas, Bird's Nest Spruce, Common Juniper.

For more information on these plants, visit the extension office today for a free handout!

Send a message to learn more

04/23/2026

A great opportunity is available in Marshall County for anyone interested in bettering public health and knowledge, contact Lisa Ingram at [email protected] for more info!

Join Our Team!
We have an upcoming opening for an Agricultural Program Assistant--email [email protected] for position description and application information.

04/23/2026

Feel like there's something we (the extension office) can do more of? Here are some important dates coming up to make your voice heard! Closest one is taking place on May 7th at Kearneysville at the Jefferson Extension Office.

WVU Extension, strives to improve the lives and livelihoods of all West Virginians by delivering relevant, research-backed educational programs throughout the state. To ensure that these programs address critical issues that affect our communities, WVU Extension will launch a statewide needs assessment.
These efforts will begin with a series of listening sessions to be held across the state to hear from stakeholders.

•May 2, 9 a.m. – WVU J.W. Ruby Research Farm, Reedsville
•May 7, 6:30 p.m. – Jefferson County Extension Office, Kearneysville
•May 11, 7 p.m. – WVU Jackson’s Mill Assembly Hall, Weston
•May 14, 6 p.m. – Wood County Courthouse Annex, Parkersburg
•May 20, 6 p.m. – Eastern Community College, Moorefield
•May 26, 6:30 p.m. – WVU Building, State Fairgrounds, Fairlea

Register for a session here ➡ https://tr.ee/PRXPam

In addition to the listening sessions, the statewide needs assessment will include a stakeholder survey that will be available in late spring.

04/21/2026

Hello everyone,
On May 2nd, please join us at the senior center for a lovely community event raising money for the senior center from 9am - 2pm. There will be a Community Yard Sale and an Indoor Craft and Vendor Sale at 106 Sand Mine Road, Berkeley Springs, WV, 25411. There are 10' x 10' vendor spaces available at 15$ per space for the yard sale and 10' x 10' spaces available for the indoor craft fair. All proceeds will be going towards the repairs and maintenance of their vandalized and totaled vehicles. Please use the QR codes to secure spaces, or contact Debby Frey at 443-280-4419 or email her at [email protected] for more information.
Don't miss out on this excellent opportunity to aid our community's most vulnerable.
This is not a WVU extension event, just a noble cause that needs more attention.