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Quick Links
In This Newsletter
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. From April through October, surveys are conducted primarily for butterflies and dragonflies at those two locations and two others—Occoquan Regional Park and Julie J. Metz Memorial Wetlands Preserve.
More information is available on the ASNV website.
Questions? Contact Jim for more details.
Meadowood on Mason Neck
(7:30 a.m. - noon)
Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge
(7:30 a.m - noon)
Butterfly and Dragonfly Surveys
(will resume in April 2020)
Volunteer Needed, Bird-Safe Buildings
National Audubon has asked its members to advocate for the federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act NAS Bird Safe Windows, and ASNV wants to address the issue on a local level. If you have expertise in architecture, city planning or bird-safe building measures, the Advocacy Committee would like to hear from you. If you can help, please contact Connie Ericson at http://audubonva.org/contact-connie.
Make a Difference!
Speak Up!
E-Activist Network
Volunteers Needed
The National Audubon Society invites all Auduboners to join its e-activist network. 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.
Take Action on Climate Change
How concerned are you about the impact of climate change on our environment? Are you willing to help fight climate change? ASNV is establishing a volunteer working group that will work with local and state officials to urge action on the issue. If you would like to help, email us at [email protected] with the subject line “Help Fight Climate Change” and let us know what county and supervisor district you live in. We’ll be in touch soon!
You can learn more about the National Audubon Society’s concerns about the impact of climate change on birds at https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees.
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President's Corner
By Tom Blackburn, ASNV President
In late November and early December, my mailbox is filled with requests from charitable organizations. Some days there are so many, I’m tempted to ignore them all. But I try not to because sadly, charitable donations have declined over the past several years. Without funding, charitable organizations cannot do the work that is critical to protecting birds and the environment.
As you open your mail and decide how to allocate your own donations, I hope you will keep Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) in mind. ASNV is the primary bird and conservation-oriented organization in Northern Virginia. For over 38 years, we have conducted citizen science surveys of birds, butterflies, plants and other wildlife. We’ve used our data to conserve habitat, advocate before state and local governments and educate our community about the wonder and importance of all native species – birds, insects, invertebrates, mammals and the plants they depend on.
You might not know it, but most of ASNV’s work is conducted by hundreds of volunteers. Our ASNV community is made up of passionate nature advocates who conduct research, lead bird walks and field trips, teach classes and workshops and advise people on how to create wildlife-friendly habitat. You can read more about their efforts in our 2019 Annual Report. We need your donation to support their work!
Please make a donation today to help Audubon Society of Northern Virginia continue the work that is critical to the future of our region and the Earth. You can donate online at Donate to ASNV or send a check to ASNV, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston VA 20190.
It’s up to all of us to save birds and our environment. You can help do your part by making a generous gift to ASNV.
Let’s help birds thrive!
Thank you!
ASNV is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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Upcoming Events, Workshops, and Classes
Christmas Bird Count
Date: Sunday, December 15, 2019
Time: 8:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Centreville, VA
The Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will be on Sunday, December 15. The center of the 15-mile diameter count circle is near the intersection of Routes 28 & 29 in Centreville. Birders of all skill levels are needed. A complimentary hot lunch will be available to participants.
Signing up is easy! Just contact Phil Silas with your phone, email, and birder level (B=Beginner, I=Intermediate, E=Expert), and any notes or comments.
If you participated last year, your sector or route leader should to be in touch soon. If you don’t hear from anyone, or if you’d like to be in a different sector, contact Phil Silas.
We’ll also be offering an opportunity for feeder watchers. If you or someone you know lives within the count circle and cannot go out in the field, he or she can observe from inside, counting the birds that come to a feeder or yard on December 15 as an alternate way to participate.
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Audubon Afternoon: “Winter Waterfowl of the Potomac River”
Date: Sunday, January 12, 2020
Time: 2:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Join us for our post-holiday gathering. Greg Butcher, ASNV Vice-President and Migratory
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Upcoming Events, Workshops, and Classes (continued)
Species Coordinator for the US Forest Service, will be our guest speaker. We’ll learn about waterfowl that visit our area in winter. Please bring a dish to share. This event is FREE and open to the public.
Greg Butcher first became an Audubon member when he was 11 and his grandfather bought him a membership. He has been birdwatching ever since, the last 16 years in the D.C. area. During weekdays, he is the Migratory Species Coordinator for U.S. Forest Service International Programs, working with birds, bats, monarch butterflies, and dragonflies. Greg has previously worked for National Audubon Society, American Birding Association, Partners in Flight, Birder’s World magazine, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He studied ecology in Costa Rica with Organization for Tropical Studies and has worked closely with BirdLife International over the past 16 years. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) and a 2010 TogetherGreen Fellow.
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ASNV Winter Waterfowl Count Workshop
Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Location: National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Field Trip: Saturday, January 25, TBD
 We’ll learn about waterfowl that visit our area in winter. Please bring a dish to share. This event is FREE and open to the public.
Join Greg Butcher, ASNV board member and migratory species coordinator for U.S. Forest Service International Programs, for an introduction to waterfowl identification. Get to know many of the species that winter in the open waters of our region. You’ll learn how to tell a Bufflehead from a Hooded Merganser, and, with luck, you will see the beautiful Tundra Swans that winter in our area. Strategies will include identification by shape and color pattern. This workshop will include an outdoor field trip and bird walk on Saturday, January 25—details will be given in class. After the workshop and field trip, you’ll be ready to rally for a tally during our 12th Annual Waterfowl Count, Saturday, February 8, and Sunday, February 9.
Limit: 30
Fee: FREE
RSVP here.
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 Rally For A Tally: Waterfowl Count
Dates: February 8 & 9, 2020
Volunteer teams will survey the Potomac River from Algonkian Regional Park in Loudoun County south to Quantico Marine Base in Prince William County. Several important inland ponds, lakes, and marshes are included in the survey. To register contact Larry Cartwright: [email protected] or [email protected].
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Winter Birds With Larry Meade
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Location: National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Field Trip: Saturday, March 7, TBD
Cost: $30 member / $40 non-member
March can offer spectacular birding, marking a transition between winter and spring. Many of our winter birds, such as waterfowl and sparrows, are still around, but they are joined by early migrants returning to breeding territories. In this workshop, we will discuss birds that occur here at this time of year, with a special focus on species that are migrating into our region and their arrival dates. An ancillary field trip offers a chance to encounter many of these birds in their natural settings.
Larry Meade, ASNV Education Committee and President of Northern Virginia Bird Club, will lead.
Register here.
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 Lecture and Book Signing with Dr. Doug Tallamy
Along with the Prince William Wildflower Society, a chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia and Audubon at Home will be sponsoring an author lecture by renowned entomologist and ecologist Dr. Doug Tallamy on Sunday, February 23, 2020 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Manassas Park Community Center. Dr. Tallamy, the author of Bringing Nature Home, will have his new book available for signing. Entitled Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, it will be available from Timber Press as of February 4, 2020.
To read more about Dr. Tallamy, click here.
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Cats and Birds – An Unnatural Mix
By Lisa Mackem
Last month, the Potomac Flier article “Three Billion Birds” summarized the alarming decline of birds in the United States and Canada since 1970. Habitat loss is the biggest driver of that decline. The second biggest driver is free-roaming domestic and feral cats. Cats are not a native American species – the colonists brought the first cats to the United States as pets. Free-roaming cats threaten birds and other wildlife, disrupt ecosystems, and spread diseases. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that 100 million cats live in the United States and that free-roaming cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds in the United States annually, making cat predation the largest human-caused mortality threat to birds. Researchers estimate that a single free-roaming pet cat kills up to 34 birds annually, and a single feral cat kills 23-46 birds annually.
ASNV, American Bird Conservancy, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) oppose free-roaming cats and TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) programs for feral cats. PETA opposes TNR programs when the released cats are left to fend for themselves, because in addition to allowing cats to harm native wildlife, living outdoors harms cats. Indoor cats have a substantially longer life expectancy and better quality of life. ASNV has urged all local jurisdictions to initiate public information campaigns to encourage cat owners to keep their cats indoors. ASNV members have met with Fairfax County animal welfare representatives, members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Arlington County’s Joint Natural Resources Committee, and others to discuss this critical issue for birds and small mammals.
ASNV’s membership materials include messaging about the importance of keeping cats indoors, and the American Bird Conservancy has published ideas for exposing cats to the outdoors without allowing them unlimited roaming. A “catio,” an outdoor enclosure that allows a cat to move outside within a sheltered and secure space, is one such option. Another option is modifying an existing fence to be cat-safe, allowing a cat to roam within a private yard, possibly with visual or audio alerts and mechanical obstructions to protect birds. Some cats can be trained to walk on leashes or with harnesses or can be restrained in a backpack or stroller. Indoor-only cats need entertainment, and there are numerous options for feline indoor play. For more detailed information about keeping pet cats and wild birds safe, including suggested products and tips to transition an outdoor cat to indoor life, see the American Bird Conservancy’s Solutions for Pet Cats.
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Youth Education Mini-Grants
 The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) is sponsoring a mini-grant program in 2020 to help teachers, schools, and non-profit organizations educate youth about birds and the environment. ASNV anticipates awarding three mini-grants, up to $500 each.
Funding may be used to support Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs), professional development, field trips, speakers and admission fees, equipment, transportation, trees, plants, etc. All projects must include an educational component.
You must complete the project and submit a one-paragraph summary and photos by December 31, 2020. Your summary and photos will be used in the ASNV newsletter, blog and on the website.
Click here for Application
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ASNV Accepting Applications Now for Educator Scholarship
 Each summer Audubon Society of Northern Virginia offers a full scholarship and transportation to “Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week” at National Audubon Society’s Hog Island Camp in Maine. Next year’s session is July 12-17, 2020 and will feature workshops on educational techniques, a boat trip to the restored Atlantic Puffin and Tern colony on Eastern Egg Rock, intertidal explorations, and hiking through Hog Island's unspoiled spruce-fir forest.
Applicants must be classroom teachers, specialists, or school administrators working in: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, or Stafford counties, or Alexandria, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park cities.
Application Deadline: February 14, 2020
Scholarship Announcement: March 16, 2020
Link to scholarship application: http://audubonva.org/hog-island-scholarship
Questions: [email protected]. For further information about this session at Hog Island, visit https://hogisland.audubon.org/sharing-nature-educator-s-week.
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Take Action
Save Birds by Drinking Shade-Grown Coffee
 Did you know that you can help birds by drinking coffee? The recent announcements of the loss of 3 billion birds in North America highlight seven things you can do to help save birds, and one of them is drinking shade-grown coffee. But not all shade-grown coffee is equally beneficial to birds. Bird-friendly shade, which includes trees up to 110 feet tall, will provide good habitat for 243 bird species, many of which migrate to North America each spring. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center certifies coffees from plantations that grow organic coffee and provide the best habitat for birds. Look for this Bird Friendly seal when you make your next purchase of coffee and help save our birds!
If you can’t find Bird Friendly coffee in your local store, you can buy it direct from the National Audubon Society at Bird Friendly Coffee.
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Construction at the Hampton Roads Bridge and Tunnel Imperils 25,000 Nesting Terns
The Commonwealth of Virginia’s expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel will result in paving over the South Island, an artificial island that is home to the largest seabird nesting colony in Virginia. The island hosts 25,000 terns, including the state-threatened Gull-billed Tern and is the only nesting site in Virginia for Royal Terns and Sandwich Terns. ASNV is joining with the Virginia Society of Ornithology, the Cape Henry Audubon Society, the Virginia Beach Audubon Society and other environmental organizations in urging the creation of a new artificial island near the planned construction that would be an alternate nesting site for the birds. Our letter to Governor Northam, with a copy to Matthew Strickler, the Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources, is here. You can help save birds by writing to Governor Northam and Secretary Strickler urging them to take action to protect the terns.
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WE NEED YOUR HELP!
ASNV is primarily a volunteer-driven organization. We rely on people like you to carry out most of our organization’s functions.
If you would like to volunteer your time to help support birds and the environment, check out the following opportunities. If you are interested, please send me an email at [email protected] and if you have other ideas about projects you’d like to undertake, let me know about those too.
Volunteer Coordinator: We need an enthusiastic person to help us manage our volunteers. You would keep a roster of volunteers, publicize volunteer opportunities in our newsletter and website, coordinate the volunteers’ activities, and help ensure that their volunteer experiences are good ones.
Speaker: We receive requests from time to time for speakers who can talk about birds, wildlife, habitat, and conservation. Let me know if you would like to join our Speakers Forum. ASNV can provide some training, access to photographs from the National Audubon Society website, and an already-prepared slide show of common birds that you can use or modify to suit your preferences.
Public Events Representative: ASNV attends festivals and conferences, where we set up a table with information about our organization and items to purchase such as hats and books. We also have a wide variety of children’s activities. You would pick up materials for the event from the National Wildlife Federation building in Reston and be our representative to the public, discussing ASNV’s mission and current activities and encouraging people to join.
Thanks!
Tom Blackburn
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Bird Walks
 Silver Lake Regional Park, Haymarket, VA
Sunday, December 8, 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.
As winter begins, Toby Hardwick leads this walk sponsored by ASNV.
Getting there: Exit 40 (Route 15) from I-66 24 miles west of I-495. Go south on Route 15 (toward Haymarket) for 0.3 miles to Route 55. Turn right on Route 55 and then after 0.9 miles turn right onto Antioch Road. At 1.3 miles turn right on Silver Lake Road to park entrance at 16198. Continue to end of park drive; meet at parking lot near the lake.
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Laurel Hill Equestrian Center, Lorton, VA
Tuesday, December 10, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Check for all those sparrows with Phil Silas, who leads this walk sponsored by the Northern Virginia Bird Club.
Getting there: From I-495, take I-95 south about 13 miles to exit 163 (Lorton Road). Continue 1.4 west on Route 642 (Lorton Road). Turn left on Route 611 (Furnace Road) and then immediately right onto Dairy Road. Proceed to the parking lot where we’ll meet.
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Burke Lake, Fairfax, VA
Tuesday, January 14, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
See what winter waterfowl have arrived at the lake, with Phil Silas leading this walk sponsored by the Northern Virginia Bird Club.
Getting there: Entrance is off Route 123, south of Burke Lake Road. Follow signs to Park, turning left at second traffic light. Take an immediate left in the park, then meet at the lot on the right (near the mini golf course). 7315 Ox Road, Fairfax Station, 22039.
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Christmas Bird Counts
December 14, 2019 through January 4, 2020
Have you signed up for a Christmas Bird Count? Birders of all levels are welcome! See
http://audubonva.squarespace.com/asnv-events/2019/12/15/christmas-bird-count
and http://nvabc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/NVBC-2019-Nov-Siskin-final.pdf See page 3
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We could use your birding skills!
Do you have a favorite spot to bird that you’d like to share with others? Consider leading a winter or spring walk there for ASNV. Leaders don’t have to be perfect birders—it’s a group effort. Prime responsibilities are setting the date and meeting place, guiding the route, and helping new birders locate the sightings. Call or email to discuss:
Contact Jean Tatalias at [email protected] or 703-281-6099.
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Recurring Bird Walks
Several parks in the area have established year-round weekly bird walks. These walks are not run by ASNV, but may be of interest to ASNV members. They can be found here.
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