Love Hummingbirds?

Hummingbirds at Home

Audubon’s New Citizen Science Project

Hummingbirds visit our yards each spring to breed, looking for nectar from our gardens and feeders. Fascinating to watch, hummingbirds captivate us with their magical feats of flight and their showy colors.   The Continental US is breeding home to 14 species of hummingbirds, with a few other species making rare appearances.

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Advocacy Events

Elevate Natural Resources in Parks

ASNV wrote the Fairfax County Park Authority urging that the agency give a higher priority to funding for natural resource management and restoration.  FCPA Board Chairman William G. Bouie responded that FCPA will be revising the natural resource management plan over the next year "to help better organize when and how we conduct resource management activities."  ASNV participated in the last round of developing the current plan and hopes to participate again.  ASNV has also urged that in hiring the next director, to fill the current vacancy, that the agency hire someone committed to making natural resources a higher priority than they have historically been within the county parks system.

Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline 

The National Audubon Society urges all Auduboners to help halt construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline through the Midwest.  "From the boreal forests of British Columbia to the Gulf of Mexico, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline spells trouble for birds, habitat and people. Recent spills in Arkansas and Minnesota foreshadow even greater dangers ahead," says NAS.  The U.S. State Department is considering the permit application.  You could let the State Department and our Congressional delegation know your views.  To share your views with Secretary of State John Kerry, visit http://contact-us.state.gov/app/answers/list.  To contact your congressman and our two U. S. senators, visit www.senate.gov and www.house.gov. To read Audubon President David Yarnold's letter to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, click here. 

ASNV Opposes Spraying for Fall Cankerworm

ASNV sent a letter to Fairfax County, drafted by several concerned Auduboners, objecting to the county's plan to spray a pesticide from helicopters in certain county communities.  Noting that the pesticide the county uses Bacillus thuriengiensis (Bt) kills all caterpillars of all moths and butterflies, ASNV wrote:  "Cankerworms are native insects and hatch just at the time that many species of songbirds are migrating through Northern Virginia...this spraying will kill off a major food source for thousands of migrating songbirds that will be arriving in the area at exactly the same time as the county plans to spray.  Birds are natural predators of these insects.  It is their 'job' to keep the caterpillars at sustainable levels." Read more...

Volunteer

If you help with advocacy, contact Glenda Booth at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy Launches County-wide Monarch Butterfly Campaign

Graceful, brilliant, they are the Monarch Butterflies. We see them in our gardens from July through October.   We learn about their remarkable 2000+ miles great annual migration from the United States and Canada to central Mexico.  We discover that in Mexico, they congregate by the millions in a tiny mountain area and rest for the winter.  We await the return north in the spring to lay eggs for us to marvel at their metamorphosis and savor their beauty.

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Birdathon 2013 Recap

Birdathon 2013 has come to an end. Look for more information about the teams and their outings in the coming weeks. If you pledged, or even if you didn't have a chance but still want to donate, please click here.

Other News

• 2013 ASNV Northern Virginia Bird Survey. The 20th year of the ASNV Northern Virginia Bird Survey will take place in June. This breeding bird survey involves a one time, five-minute count between dawn and about 9:30 a.m. at mostly 250-meter grid points located at over twenty-five areas (mostly parkland). Included is Manassas National Battlefield Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway's Great Falls Park and Dyke Marsh, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the BLM's Meadowood, and Lorton/Laurel, Riverbend Park, and Huntley Meadows Park (and a number of other Fairfax County Park Authority areas). If you have an interest in participating contact the NVBS Director Carolyn Williams at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 703-273-1961. All types of birders are welcome - experts, intermediates, and novices. To learn about past surveys,  click here.
• Waterbird Surveys. Volunteers familiar with waterbird identification (waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds)are sought for biweekly surveys during peak migration, breeding, or wintering; monthly surveys during non-peak periods. Read more...
• The Bird Feeder in Reston offers a 10% discount to current ASNV members, good on all purchases excluding optics and sale merchandise. When you visit, just tell them you are a member of ASNV and ask for the discount. Read more...

See the calendar (at right) for more events.

Counts and Surveys

The table below has links to various counts and surveys in which ASNV participants participate along with upcoming dates. The links on the left point pages with additional information about the count—often including links to compiled data from previously held counts.