The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) counts and surveys engage citizens and partners in scientifically based data collection efforts that identify the distribution of birds and other wildlife in Northern Virginia. Hard, reliable data on species and their populations is needed by stakeholders and decision-makers to make the right decisions about important Northern Virginia habitats.

  
1) ASNV's BIRDATHON
April 25 - May 11, 2008

Songbirds in the morning, raptors in the afternoon, maybe even an owl after dark: BIRDATHON 2008 offers a rare opportunity to team up with friends and family, get into the woods, count bird species during the height of spring migration, and raise funds for ASNV.

Participating is easy. Everyone – amateur to expert – is encouraged to follow five simple steps for a 24-hour bird species count.

1. Form a BIRDATHON team and pick a date between April 25 and May 11, 2008.

2. Notify the ASNV office of your BIRDATHON teammates and date. We will promptly send you a BIRDATHON packet so that you may start asking friends and associates to pledge money for each species identified on your count.

3. Conduct your BIRDATHON in your favorite green spaces in Northern Virginia. Compete with other teams for most species found and most money raised for ASNV.

4. Collect pledge donations and turn in the money to ASNV.

5. Thank those who contributed to your BIRDATHON, using our template or your own acknowledgements.

View the Birdathon Handbook here. BIRDATHON 2008 promises to be a fun-filled, spectacular way to connect with nature and demonstrate your personal commitment to the ASNV cause at the same time. Contact us with questions at 703-256-6895 or info@audubonva.org. Have FUN!
 

 

2) Fairfax County Spring Count
May 3-4, 2008

ASNV is teaming up with the Northern Virginia Bird Club for a Fairfax County Spring Count. 
Spring migration will be at or near peak in early May and we expect to find some great birds. 
On previous spring counts, we have recorded over160 species that included 11 sparrows, 
31 warblers, 6 thrushes, 8 flycatchers, 10 shorebirds, 11 vultures and hawks and 10 
species of waterfowl.
 
We'll be conducting the count like a Christmas Bird Count, with teams assigned to different 
areas and parks within the county, including Huntley Meadows, Wakefield Park, Occoquan 
Regional Park and others. 
 
To volunteer, please contact Rich Rieger at 703-768-1641, zelig88@aol.com or Kurt 
Gaskill at 703-768-2172 KurtCapt87@verizon.net. If you have feeders in your yard and 
care to do a feeder watch, we'd love to have you sign on as well.
 

3) 15th Annual Northern Virginia Bird Survey (NVBS)
June 2008

ASNV's on-going breeding bird survey, NVBS, has been following populations and distributions of area breeding birds since 1994. Currently, over 600 points in 20 parks and other locations are being monitored. To date, thanks to the efforts of dedicated volunteers the project's database contains over 67,000 records. Learn more here.
 

4) 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.

5) 2007 Manassas Christmas Bird Count (CBC)

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.  
 

6) 2008 Waterfowl Count

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:

• 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.

• Nearly all of the 340 Gadwalls observed were at Mason Neck.

• Three lingering Blue-winged Teal were a pleasant surprise as were 2 dozen Northern Shovelers.

• 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!

• 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