Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

May is a crazy time for birding – you have birds that wintered here departing, birds that wintered elsewhere arriving, birds calling out for mates and establishing territories, nests being built – whew – trying to enjoy all this, I’m not sure when we have time to go to work

It’s because of all this great activity though that we also celebrate International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) and hold our most important fundraiser of the year, the Loudoun Wildlife Birdathon – and we’d love for you to be a part of these.

These activities, our IMBD bird walks and the Birdathon are great for all ages and experience levels. 

On May 8, the official day for IMBD, we have 10 different bird walks lined up – in Leesburg, Ashburn, Sterling, Neersville, Waterford and more. Each is led by an experienced birder and the whole goal is just to get outside and enjoy nature, spotting and observing the variety of birds that are around us on our different walks.

The birdathon is the fundraiser that we do during the same time during IMBD. For this, you form a team of 2-6 people and ask people to sponsor you for your count to raise money. You can raise as little as a dollar and it will still help Loudoun wildlife so no pressure – ever bit helps, just have fun and participate, that’s the key. It’s also a great way to tell people about Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and that’s really important too.

For the birdathon, you can come on one of the IMBD walks and get a little help identifying birds or go out on your own for a few hours during any 24 hour period between May 1-15.  You can even do your birdathon in your backyard or neighborhood.  

This is a great activity for families as well as groups to not only try their hand at birding while raising  a little money for Loudoun wildlife and learning about local birds and habitats. As part of the birdathon, we also have prizes, both thank you prizes for participating as well as a junior birder prize and other awards. It doesn’t matter how much money you raise – every bit helps, and we give recognition to everyone who participates. We truly appreciate your support.

To sign up for any of the IMBD birdwalks or to jump into the Birdathon and help with this fundraiser, please visit our IMBD webpages. It’s all for the birds and other wildlife here in Loudoun!

Each year, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy forms a judges panel for the Loudoun County Science Fair.  On the date of the fair, our judges attend the event, view the science fair projects, talk to the kids about their projects, and select three students as our award winners.

Each of our award winners will receive an award check and letter from Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, which will be presented at our Annual Meeting on May 16th.  The students will have their projects set up at our Annual Meeting as well so you can see what they studied and ask them questions.

This year, the 29th Annual Loudoun County Science Fair was held on March 18th at Briar Woods High School. There were numerous excellent projects and the students were all enthusiastic. It was a tough decision for our judges, but our three winners and their projects are:

1st Place: Alexa Rizzo, from Dominion High School in Sterling. Alexa did a study on the composition of fish ear bones to determine fish migratory routes. Ear bones absorb certain chemicals in water so studying the composition of the ear bones can provide insight into where a fish was born and developed.

2nd Place: Aubrey Higginson, from Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn. Aubrey’s project was on quantifying the economic value of tree cover. Aubrey used aerial photos of Loudoun county to better understand current tree cover.

3rd Place: Lyons Sanchez Concha, from Park View High School in Sterling. Lyons project was titled “Which root grasps soil best,” and was an interesting study of whether grass is the best plant to use to prevent soil erosion on a hillside.

You can see the listing of our past Science Fair award winners on our website at LWC Science Fair Awards.

Given the number of Government buildings in our area, I thought this action alert from the American Bird Conservancy would be especially applicable to us.

From the American Bird Conservancy:

As many as one billion birds, both residents and migrants, die annually in the United States after colliding with buildings. You can help prevent these unnecessary deaths.

A new bill, the Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2010 (H.R. 4797), calls for each public building constructed, acquired, or altered by the federal government to incorporate, to the maximum extent possible, bird-safe building materials and design features. The legislation would require the government to take similar actions on existing buildings where practicable. This has already been demonstrated to be attainable, as some newer government buildings are already bird-friendly.

This bill will help prevent the deaths of millions of  birds that collide with windows at thousands of federal buildings across the country.

Take action now by sending an email to your Representative asking them to support this bill using American Bird Conservancy’s Action Alert System. The system is fully automated, so all you need to do is enter your details and submit. However, the impact of your action will be greatly increased if you take some extra time to add your personal thoughts and comments.

I recently picked up this field guide, Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians, by William C. Roody.  I had been looking for a good book on fungi for awhile and have a couple but this one is turning into a favorite even though it’s not exactly for our area.

It has great photos of the mushrooms and fungi that are close up, showing different details (like the sides and undersides as well as more traditional views). It also has both Latin and common names, the type of habitat where you’re likly to find the species and key identifiers and comments for each species.

In addition to the facts though, I like how the book is organized. On the side of each page there’s a grouping key that has the shape/type of the fungi so you can quickly get to the right part of the book and then start thumbing through to narrow your search.

So, for example, you can go quickly to the section on bracket fungi or gilled mushrooms or cup fungi, and then look for the specific species that you’re trying to identify.

Mushrooms and other fungi are tricky but because this book is focused on West Virginia and the Central Appalachians, the species in the book are at least likely to be here in Loudoun.

Another field guide I found recently is titled Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic, by Bill Russell. This book is organized by season. It has the text for each species in the first part of each chapter and the photos at the end of each chapter. Personally, I like having the photos and text together.

If you have a favorite mushroom or fungi book that’s good for our area, or if you’ve used either of the books listed above, please post a comment and let us know what you think.

I often think of April as early spring since there are a lot of seasonal changes happening but there’s still some overlap with the slumber of late winter.

Of course by late April, the balance certainly is tipping with migrant birds coming through regularly and wildflowers popping up all over. But, since I’m writing this in the first week of April, I thought it’d be nice to stop to think about those early signs of spring that we see. 

Here are a few that come to mind for me:

- Violets popping up in the lawn, ready for the earliest of pollinators
- Frogs and toads on a rainy night, followed by tadpoles
- The dawn chorus, so much louder than in previous months, such that it wakes me before any alarm
- Dogwoods and Redbuds starting to bloom
- The sweet smell of viburnum through the air
- Black rat snakes warming up in the sun
- Spring azures, Commas, Question Marks and other first of season butterflies flying with purpose
- Cleaning out nestboxes so they’re ready for Chickadees, Bluebirds, House Wrens and others
- Chipmunks back to the ground-level seed feeder, filling up their cheeks
- Hummingbird feeders, cleaned and filled, ready for the first visitors
- Opening all the windows and letting the fresh air blow through

What are some early spring signs of the season for you?

The Habitat Restoration Project at the Rust Nature Sanctuary, which took place April 9 and 10, was a great success. This event was a follow-up to past restoration efforts at Rust that took place last year and the team made some great progress! 

Ann Garvey organized and led the effort as Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy habitat restoration volunteers, as well as several Virginia Master Naturalists (VMN), worked together to remove invasive plants on the property, and replace them with native plants. 

Mary Lopresti was one of the volunteers pulling and planting that day and she sent over this great report:

Friday’s Team worked extensively down by the pond, using shovels and other tools to dig the cattail roots and stalks out of the ground.  These rather muddy volunteers did a wonderful job clearing out a large section of cattails from the pond, which was no easy task. 

When a cattail grows, its roots branch out on either side of the plant, forming a web or mat of crisscrossed roots.  Overtime, this mat can become heavily weighted with silt and other pond particulates, creating more space for new cattails to grow or take root in.  Because of their ability to spread so quickly and build up and out in surface area, cattails can be considered a threat to small ponds. 

After removing the cattails, volunteers planted several native but non-aggressive wetland plants, in the freshly cleared space, including: Rushes, Sedges, native Virginia Southern Blue Flag Iris and Buttonbush.  Rushes and Sedges are water-loving plants that have deep-penetrating roots, which help prevent erosion by providing structural support to stream banks, or in this case ponds.  The Blue Flag Iris provides beautiful blue flowers for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, and ground cover for amphibians and nesting waterfowl.  The extensive root system of the Buttonbush also helps prevent erosion and preserves water quality by pulling nutrients out of the water.  It attracts butterflies and nectar-feeding insects to its blooms, in addition to providing nesting and shelter for many other birds and animals. 

Some members of Friday’s Team helped clear invasive species.  They also planted native plants such as Red Columbine and Chokeberries.  While Red Columbine provides nectar for pollinators such as hummingbirds and bees, chokeberries attract birds and provide excellent understory for other wildlife to seek shelter in.  

While two members continued clearing cattails, the remaining members of the Saturday Team (myself included) focused primarily on clearing the wooded area behind the pollinator garden.  We cleared out several types of invasive species, including the highly aggressive Wisteria and Garlic Mustard plants, as well as Japanese Honeysuckle and Wineberry. 

Wisteria is a not native to the United States; it originates from China and Japan.  While this vine may have lovely purple flowers, it can quickly grow out of control.  Gardeners who mistakenly plant wisteria to cover their arbors or trellises will find that the plant grows immensely thick and heavy enough to crush wooden posts and strangle large trees.  Wisteria allowed to grow on houses can cause damage to gutters, downspouts, and other structures. 

Garlic Mustard aggressively monopolizes light, moisture, nutrients, soil, and space, which out-competes and threatens native plants and animals by depriving them of their essential food sources.   

Japanese Honeysuckle, a non-native species, has few natural enemies, which allows it to spread widely and out-compete native plant species.  This perennial vine can kill shrubs and young trees by twisting and squeezing around them tightly.  A dense growth of Japanese Honeysuckle can kill plants by blocking sunlight from reaching their leaves.      

Wineberry, my least favorite plant of the day, has long stems that are covered by red hairs and small (very painful) spines.  This prickly stemmed plant grows upright, arching outward up to 9 feet long.  It produces a large number of fruits that are eaten and dispersed by birds.  Seeds passed by birds sprout and form dense, tightly packed thickets, which crowd out native vegetation.

Some of the most immediate and rewarding benefits of clearing out the wisteria at Rust Sanctuary included the discovery of numerous Jack in the Pulpit plants.  Plus, the group also enjoyed Ann’s homemade cookies during a mid-morning water break (thanks Ann)!  Possible future sanctuary projects could include the removal of a Paulownia tree, another aggressive grower, and the addition of flowering redbud trees, which produce seeds eaten by birds and deer. 

Want to help with some other upcoming Habitat Restoration Projects? We have a couple tree and wildflower plantings planned and could really use your help:

April 22, in Waterford at the Phillips Farm in Leesburg
April 24, in Leesburg at Town Branch

More information is on our April Nature Programs page or contact Joe Coleman at jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org

Loundoun Wildlife Conservancy’s walk at Algonkian Park on Wednesday morning drew eight people, who were treated to good looks at Palm Warblers and a Red-headed Woodpecker, among other birds.  Many thanks to Bill Brown for leading this walk! The complete list of species seen includes:

Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch

They sneer at gravity,
laugh at physics,
and humble the colors of the rainbow.

- Pete Dunne

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy offers many opportunities for citizens to participate in nature programs that promote the collection of important environmental data across the county.

Stream Monitoring

Interested in what you might find in a stream near you?  Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy works alongside the Loudoun Watershed Watch in monitoring our local streams for all types of bacterial and invertebrate life. Sign up on our Stream Monitoring page to join a stream team in the search and identification of species integral to monitoring the quality of Loudoun’s streams. Requires a commitment of 3-4 hours at each of three monitoring sessions between the months of April and November.

Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring

Bluebirds, some of our most beloved songbirds for their beautiful colors and cheerful songs, need our help to thrive.  Join LWC’s Nestbox Monitoring program and observe the nesting behavior of this magnificent species, while at the same time providing valuable census information on the local population of bluebirds. We have trails across the county – from Leesburg to Ashburn and Sterling to Neersville, Purcellville and Waterford. Requires about 2 hours per month from April through August on a public trail or you can register your home nestboxes with us and report your data. Visit our Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring page to become a part of this rewarding experience.

Amphibian Monitoring

Amphibians are wonderful natural indicators of the health of wetlands and forests. In order to gauge just how well these fascinating creatures thrive in Loudoun County, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy launched the Loudoun Amphibian Monitoring Program (LAMP). Help monitor the health of our amphibious population through frog and toad call surveys, amphibian site surveys, and migration mapping. Time commitment can be as little as a few hours in each of the four monitoring windows from February through July or more if you really get into it. To volunteer for any of these subsets of LAMP, or for more information, visit our Amphibian Monitoring page.

Bird Atlas

Participate in Loudoun County’s unique bird atlas program, in which volunteers track and record the species and numbers of birds found in Loudoun. The county is divided into 75 blocks, and each of these 10 square-mile blocks is assigned to a different individual or group to ensure countywide coverage. The atlas has been an ongoing project since 2009, and is set for publication in 2014. Volunteer while you can – more eyes on the ground mean better data for the atlas!  You can sign up as a helper for a block or a block owner, or just sign up to report incidental sightings. All birds count so this is a great activity for people of all experience levels. Time commitment can be as much as you like.  For more information, please visit our Bird Atlas page.

Here’s a nice event being organized by the Virginia Society of  Ornithology (VSO) coming up in June. While it’s not in Loudoun, it will provide some really fun birding and other nature experiences.

VSO Foray 2010
Culpeper and Fauquier Counties
Focusing on the Loggerhead Shrike

The 2010 VSO Foray will be held June 12-20 in Culpeper and Fauquier Counties.  These counties contain a large portion of the newly established Culpeper Important Bird Area (IBA) (http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/virginia/Documents/Culpeper%20Basin.pdf), which focuses on habitat for grassland and scrubland birds.  Forest birds have traditionally received most of conservationists’ attention, but there is an increasing awareness that grassland and scrubland birds have been neglected.

Among these understudied birds, we will pay special attention to the loggerhead shrike, “one of the few North American passerines whose populations have declined continentwide in recent decades” (according to “Birds of America Online”). Virginia lies at the northern edge of the range for non-migratory loggerheads.  These year-round residents tend to occupy permanent territories, so we are hoping to find overlooked shrike populations during the foray.  Other “species at risk” in the Culpeper IBA include Upland Sandpiper, Henslow’s and other sparrows, and Northern Bobwhite quail.

The counties will be divided up among foray participants, who will canvas their areas as thoroughly as possible. We will carry out eBird-style “traveling counts” of up to five miles per count, counting all birds seen and collecting additional information on habitat and exact location if/when a shrike is seen.

The foray headquarters will be the Best Western in Culpeper (540 825-1253), where we will convene for dinner on the two Saturday nights.  There are several other motels in the immediate vicinity (within easy walking distance), including Rodeway Inn (540 825-8088), Microtel (800 771-7171), Comfort Inn (540 825-4900 or 877 424-64230 and the Holiday Inn (540 825-7444 or 877 863-4780).  Those foraying Fauquier County may prefer to stay in Warrenton.

Anyone wishing to participate in the foray should contact Susan Brown, either by email (susanbb@umich.edu) or telephone (757 665-4364).