Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

The winter issue of the Habitat Herald is hot off the press! We’re assembling our team of labelers and sorters and will be mailing this next issue to all Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy members during the first week of January.

Here’s a quick preview of what’s inside:
- A Update on Citizen Science in Loudoun County
- Part II of our Woodpeckers of Loudoun article
- A great write-up on our Birds of Loudoun Atlas project
- Persimmons - a really interesting native tree
- Upcoming programs and field trips through April
- Adventures of Zoom and Compass….a story of a red bird
- and lots more!

If you’re not yet a member, you can join online. Your membership will be good through December 2009!  ($20 for an individual, $30 for a family) and, it is tax deductible as allowed by the law. 

If you join soon we can get this latest issue of the Habitat Herald out to you in our next mailing - if you join after we have our mailing party then you’ll receive a copy of this issue in your New Member Information packet. The Habitat Herald is a member benefit and is published each quarter.

The cold front seems to have brought a number of Pine Siskins to Loudoun and our surrounding area!  I noticed a number of them at our platform feeder here in Waterford this morning - mixed in and feeding alongside the Goldfinches and House Finches.

I emailed with Joe Coleman about this and he shared the following: “You wouldn’t believe how many siskins are being reported at feeders from north of Baltimore to south of Roanoke & in some cases as many as 50 to 80 birds in a yard.  None had come to my feeders until a few days ago & now their numbers are swelling every day & are they feisty!”

I haven’t been able to get a good photo yet (ok, so it was too chilly for me to sit out there and wait for the birds to come back after I spooked them off with the camera) but here is a photo taken through our very dirty window. Keep an eye on your feeders - these sweet birds may be descending into your backyard too!  Sunflower chips seem to be a hit. Watch for the streaking as well as the yellow on the wing and the slender pointed bill.  The photo here is of a female and you can just barely see the yellow on the wing.  The male has more yellow visible.

New regional park in Loudoun proposed
By Holly Hobbs
Source: Loudoun Times-Mirror
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3 2008
UPDATED THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4 2008

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority is looking to add another park to its realm of outdoor space, creating White’s Ford Regional Park in Loudoun. Park authority leaders announced Dec. 2 that they have filed a land-use application with the county to turn 275 acres of land northeast of Leesburg along the Potomac into a regional park.

The authority is looking to buy the land from a property owner within a year and is waiting for county approval before purchasing.

The authority’s Executive Director Paul Gilbert said he envisions hiking, camping, boating at the park.

“This property is perfectly in line with our mission, and we’re pleased to be able to offer this land to residents of our region for recreation,” he said.

The purchase would fall nearly in line with the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, with which White’s Ford has a link.

“During the Civil War, [Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah V.] White owned the property as a farm,” Gilbert said. “On the way to the Battle of Antietam, a large contingency camped on the property.” The Battle of Antietam was fought near Sharpsburg, Md.

Gilbert said before choosing land for a regional park, the authority looks at historic significance and natural features. White’s Ford, he said, has both.

Also, he said, having regional park status would offer some protection from houses being built at the park site.

White’s Ford is located about one mile from Temple Hall Farm Regional Park, host to the annual Corn MAiZE and just north of White’s Ferry.

Gilbert said the park will have no effect on the ferry, which would lie outside of park grounds.

For more information about the White’s Ford Regional Park plans or the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, visit www.nvrpa.org .

Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is seeking applications for prospective interns for 2009. Information about our Internship Program can be found on our website along with the application form and resume request.

In past years, interns have engaged in our stream monitoring and amphibian monitoring programs, helped developed educational materials that are handed out at fairs and other venues, acted as co-leads for our nature camp, and helped coordinate and execute habitat restoration projects.

Work includes both field work as well as back office support such as research, writing and data entry and analysis. This is a paid internship. Applications will be accepted from December through March.

Read about it here in their announcement flier. The funds from this grant have been instrumental in enabling us to expand our programs, engage in more habitat restoration events and reach more people across our county.

The fall issue of our Habitat Herald newsletter just came back from the printer and will be mailed to all Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy members in the next week.

This is another robust and interesting issue filled with great articles on local flora and fauna as well as updates and activities. Here’s a quick preview of what’s inside:

- Part 1 of a 2-part story on the Woodpeckers of Loudoun County
- Insect Id: The Camel Cricket
- 12th Annual Butterfly Report
- Native Plant…Poison Ivy…
- The Adventure of Zoom and Compass..Spiders, Spiders…Oh My!
- Christmas Bird Count and Snickersville Hawk Watch updates
- Programs and Field Trips planned for the next few months as well as programs offered by our partners

If you’re not yet a member of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, you can join now and get 15 months for 12…your membership will be good through December 2009!  ($20 for an individual, $30 for a family).

If you join soon we can get the Habitat Herald out to you in our next mailing - if you join after we have our mailing party then you’ll receive a copy of this issue in your New Member Information packet. The Habitat Herald is a member benefit and is published each quarter.

Nature Photography Workshop - Special Discount for LWC Members: Jim Clark, nature photographer and contributing editor for Outdoor Photographer Magazine, will be teaching an “Introduction to Nature Photography” workshop this fall at the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. The workshop is offered through Mountain Trail Photography Workshops (http://www.mtphotoworkshops.com/Intro_Nature_Photography.html) and the company is offering a 15% discount to LWC members. Dates of the workshop are October 17-19. Classes begin on Friday evening and run through Sunday noon. There will be both classroom and field sessions and the class will cover the spectrum of topics for enhancing one’s images of nature. If you have questions, you can contact Jim at jimclarkphoto@comcast.net. His website is www.jimclarkphotography.com

At our last get together, the idea of having a free choice meeting was discussed. We decided to give it a shot and so, at our next meeting, each person can come and talk about the book of their choice. That way, all of us can learn about a number of different nature titles!

You need not prepare a lenghty treatise- just a few words about the book will be fine- did you like it? strengths? weaknesses? That sort of thing.

To sign up for this get together, please visit our book club web page.

If you’re reading a book on nature, we’d love to know what it is and what you think of it! Feel free to post it here, come to the meeting, or both.

Next Meeting:
October 9, 2008, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Rust Sanctuary in Leesburg (please sign up via our web page above so we can contact you if the date, time or location changes)

Wow what a great weekend we had last Sat and Sun for the fair!  As in past years, our booth was set up at Ms.Luckett’s Garden near the kids stage so we had entertainment, shade from a big ‘ole oak tree and a nice breeze that passed through every now and then.  We had lots of people visit us at the booth asking questions about local flora and fauna and sharing stories of their wildlife encounters.

For those who filled out our survey of interests (which helps us come up with new program ideas), we held a raffle for a book called “Wildlife at Your Back Door:  How to Create A Haven for Nature’s Friends”. (drum roll please….) And the winner of the raffle is Amanda Sanes of Leesburg.   We’ll be mailing the book to Amanda this week so she can start enjoying it.  Thanks to everyone who participated! 

Many thanks to all our volunteers who helped set up and man the booth: Sandy Ruefer, Nancy Walker, Nicole Hamilton, Bonnie Eaton, Lynn Webster, Lisa Taylor, Casey and Candi Crichton, Barbara McKee, Debbie and Lloyd Burtaine, Ellie Florance and Richelle Brown

As always, the fair was really well run and had so much to offer.  We look forward to doing it again next year!

Charity Corkey from the Washington Post joined up with one of our count teams last Sunday to see what exactly we do during this great butterfly count.  Her report of the event, with quotes from our participants, can be found here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080503808.html

Charity tells us it will come out in the print version, in the Loudoun Extra section, later this week and they may do a follow-up article as well. We really appreciate the spotlight being shined on this event and the value of citizen science!