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1)
15th Annual Northern
Virginia Bird Survey (NVBS)
June 2008
ASNV's on-going
breeding bird survey, the Northern Virginia Bird Survey (NVBS), has been
following populations and distributions of area breeding birds since
1994. Currently, over 600 points in 25 parks and other locations are
being monitored.
Thanks to the efforts of 228 dedicated volunteers over the years, over
136,000 birds have been counted, and the project's database up through
2007 contains over 73,000 records. Learn more here.
2) Butterfly and Dragonfly Surveys
Every Friday from 8:30 am - noon
Experience the
summer magic of some of our region's most beautiful creatures by joining the
experienced ASNV team of naturalists documenting the occurrence and
abundance of these fascinating creatures in a long-term series of surveys at
Occoquan Regional Park, Meadowood, the Metz Wetlands, and Occoquan Bay NWR.
For details, contact Jim Waggener, 703-567-3555.
3) Citizen Science Opportunities
From backyards and city streets to remote forests, anyone who counts birds can contribute to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's research. Data from the projects are used to monitor bird populations and outline conservation efforts.
Fall and winter projects include Project FeederWatch, the Great Backyard Bird Count and Classroom FeederWatch. For more information,
visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's site here.
4) 2008
Manassas-Bull Run
Christmas Bird Count
When:
Sunday,
December 14, 2008
Birders of all skill levels are welcome to participate in this scientific
endeavor, and families are encouraged to participate. We will survey the
area around Centerville including: Manassas National Battlefield, Bull Run
Regional Park, undeveloped areas around along Bull Run
Post Office Road, and many other locations.
At
mid-day, we will gather for a hot lunch and to compare check lists at the
Walney Visitor’s Center at
Ellanor
C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly. New this year: Feeder Watching will
be incorporated into our Christmas Bird Count.
Our leader and compiler again this year is Bob Shipman.
Data is submitted to National Audubon Society, the National Park Service and
other public lands managers. This is critical citizen science that has been
volunteer-driven for more than 100 years!
To volunteer or learn
more,
contact the ASNV office by e-mail
info@audubonva.org or call
703-256-6895.
Please mark the date on your calendar!
2007 Manassas Christmas Bird Count (CBC)
Recap
The 27th Manassas-Bull
Run CBC proceeded despite rain and a looming winter storm. Though the
weather definitely held down the turnout, we still had 56 intrepid
volunteers who managed to observe 76 species and some 19,000 birds.
Among the highlights of
our count were three Red-breasted Mergansers, the first Ring-necked
Pheasant since 1984, two Great Horned Owls, three Red-headed Woodpeckers
(there were none last year), a Brown Thrasher, an American Tree Sparrow,
two Pine Siskins, and a Rusty Blackbird.
It is difficult to state
much with certainty about trends in bird presence given the weather
conditions and other variables. Nevertheless, some facts do stand out.
The number of birds counted is the highest since
2003, and the number of species is the highest since 2004. The number of
Cedar Waxwings was an all-time high, and Common Mergansers were near an
all-time high. Numbers for American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted
Titmouse, and Eastern Bluebird continued to rebound from low count
numbers of 2003 and 2004. Finally, the number of Red-winged Blackbirds
was the highest since 1988.
See the composite results for the '07 Manassas Christmas
Bird Count here.
5)
2009 Waterfowl Count
When:
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Studies have
revealed that some waterfowl species are facing population decline and
habitat loss. Join us in counting for conservation and collect important
scientific data about trends in our local waterfowl population.
Birders of
all skill levels will join up to count waterfowl in Fairfax, Arlington, and
Prince William counties, including the Potomac and Occoquan watersheds.
Novice birders will be paired with expert bird enthusiasts. All ages are
encouraged to participate.
Larry
Cartwright is our volunteer compiler for this year’s waterfowl count. For
more information and to join the team, please e-mail
info@audubonva.org or call (703)
256-6895.
Your
tracking and trekking across Northern Virginia today will help protect the
threatened species of tomorrow!
2008 Waterfowl Count
Recap
The 2008 Waterfowl Count was conducted
on January 19. 2008. For the purposes of this count, I used the term
waterfowl in a broad sense to include not only ducks, geese, and swans,
but loons, grebes, cormorants, and coots as well. Note that duck hunting
may have affected the dispersal of waterfowl and that we may consider
doing the count on a Sunday next year.
Eight teams provided nearly complete
coverage of the Potomac River and adjacent wetlands and other bodies of
water along the shoreline from Algonkian Regional Park in eastern
Loudoun to Leesylvania State Park in Prince William County. Four
additional teams covered inland lakes and ponds in northern Virginia.
This is the first year that the survey
was conducted in January, so it is impossible to discuss trends, but
following are some interesting findings:
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After factoring in overlapping
coverage, we determined that Lesser Scaup were present in three
large rafts in the Occoquan and Mason Neck areas. The combined tally
was over 7500 birds.
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Nearly all of the 340 Gadwalls
observed were at Mason Neck.
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Three lingering Blue-winged Teal
were a pleasant surprise as were 2 dozen Northern Shovelers.
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The teams collectively reported 57
Pied-billed Grebes, but what was truly amazing is that almost 40 of
them were found in Gunston Cove near Fort Belvoir!
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From past experience, it appears
that American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, and Ruddy Duck numbers were
rather low, while American Coot numbers seemed quite high.
Results of the '08 Waterfowl Count
The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia
4022 Hummer Road
Annandale, VA 22003
Phone: 703-256-6895 Fax: 703-256-2060
E-mail: info@audubonva.org
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