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** April 2025
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** NVBA ([link removed]) HOME ([link removed]) ([link removed]) DONATE ([link removed]) JOIN ([link removed])
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** A Letter to Our Members
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** Blackburnian Warbler, Kat Bradley Bennett/Audubon Photography Awards
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As spring transforms our northern Virginia landscape, millions of birds take to the skies in one of nature's most spectacular phenomena. This annual migration brings both opportunities for celebration through events like birdathons and responsibilities for ensuring that these travelers reach their destinations safely.
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** Good News at the I95 Landfill to Offset Some Bad News
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** Bobolink, Gerald Sneegas/Audubon Photography Awards
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First, the bad news: The U.S North American Bird Conservation Initiative just released its State of the Birds 2025 report, and the birds with the most dire losses continue to be grassland birds, a 43% decline since 1970.
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** Bird Flu: An Update for Birdwatchers
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** Northern Shovelers, Steve Jessmore/Audubon Photography Awards
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Bird flu is a “highly pathogenic avian influenza” caused by the H5N1 virus. It’s being found in both wild birds and domestic fowl and, less commonly, in mammals, even humans.
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More News


** Don't Let Light Pollution Spoil Spring Migration!
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** Purple Martins, Keith Kingdon/Audubon Photography Awards
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The spring migration for birds is happening NOW - from March 15 through May 31 our feathered friends are making their long journeys north. Migration usually occurs at night, and many birds use the stars to navigate.
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** The Prairie Warbler
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** Prairie Warbler, Matt Felperin
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There are more than 50 species to see and hear at this time of year. Most migrants pass through, but the Prairie Warbler, Setophaga discolor, breeds in northern Virginia.
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** Our Hog Island Scholarship Winner
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** Hog Island coastline, Kirk Treakle
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NVBA is pleased to announce that Deborah Hammer is the 2025 winner of our scholarship to attend "Sharing Nature: An Educator's Week" at Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine this coming August.
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** Early Spring Blooms for the Garden
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** Spring Beauty, Margaret Fisher
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Our woodlands and meadows are about to awaken and burst into a vibrant display of spring ephemerals, the transient native beauties we love to see, especially after the cold and snowy days of winter.
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Monthly Features


** A Closer Look: Nature All Around Us
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** Humped Beewolf, Judy Gallagher
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Judy Gallagher is an NVBA board member and a regular surveyor of local wildlife who also captures photos of what she sees, in particular the less common species.
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** Wildlife Sanctuary Almanac: Beyond the Spraty
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** Ebony Jewelwing, Judy Gallagher
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A recent presentation highlighted how conventional mosquito spraying is jeopardizing efforts to create thriving wildlife habitats and offered effective alternatives that protect both people and pollinators.
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**
Upcoming Classes and Events
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We have some exciting classes and events coming up, both virtually and in-person! Click any event to learn more and register. You can also check our calendar ([link removed]) for our full schedule of events.


** Let's Play Wingspan Together
Playing Wingspan, Tina Dudley
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We’re hosting a hands-on introduction to playing a prize-winning, bird-themed board game called Wingspan. If you love birds and you love board games - you’ll love Wingspan! Imagine a game of Monopoly, but instead of using cash for real estate transactions, you are building a wealth of birds on your wildlife preserves by using real-life information about North American birds and their habitats, feeding behaviors, and nesting preferences.

When: Thursday, April 3, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Fee: FREE

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Fireside Chat: Spring Emergence, a Time to Reflect
Photo Haiku, Esther Peters
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In spring we think about the emergence of new life, the return of abundance, and uncertainty - in our climate and in our world. Join us for a discussion about finding joy in nature and finding reassurance in our environment's natural annual cycles. Tom Wood and Judy Gallagher will share stories of spring, and we want to hear your stories too! To get in the mood, select a photo you have taken this spring and add a haiku.

When: Wednesday, April 16, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Online
Fee: FREE

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Birding By Ear for Beginners with Colt Gregory
Carolina Wren, David Smith/Audubon Photography Awards
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Did you know you don’t even need binoculars to explore the big world of birds? Often it is faster and easier to identify a bird by its song – if you know how to bird by ear. Join Colt Gregory to learn the benefits of birding by ear, hear some of the songs and calls of birds in our area, and get to know resources and apps that will help you bird by ear.

When: Thursday, April 17, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Online
Member ticket: $10
Non-member ticket: $20

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Bird Walks
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Birding, Camila Cerea


Check this page ([link removed]) for upcoming walks! Registration is no longer required for NVBA-sponsored walks.


** Weekly Bird Word
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** Mallard, Alan D. Wilson, Wikimedia
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Our new feature, the Weekly Bird Word, introduces a new bird-related vocabulary word each week.


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** Conservation Counts
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Rusty Moran

Join Jim Waggener in his ongoing natural resource surveys at two of Northern Virginia's best birding spots. Surveys alternate between Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area on Mason Neck.

Read more > ([link removed])

National Audubon Society Action Network

The National Audubon Society invites all Auduboners to join its action network ([link removed]) . When you subscribe to the Society’s newsletter, you'll receive alerts about important congressional actions and information about how you can affect legislation by contacting your members of Congress.
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Copyright © 2025 Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, All rights reserved.
You subscribed to this list when you joined the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance directly, joined the National Audubon Society and live in the Northern Virginia area, are an NVBA volunteer, or asked to receive our email updates.

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Northern Virginia Bird Alliance
11100 Wildlife Center Drive
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Reston, VA 20190
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