Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Who is on your Birdathon team?  Do you have different roles on your team? Bruce Hill (missing from the pic), Gerco Hoogeweg, Larry Meade, Donna Quinn.

Donna is the Designated Driver who somehow manages to stay on the road even while looking for birds through the sunroof. Special talents include making abrupt U-turns while eating a snack and drinking tea.

Gerco is Birder Extraordinaire and also has the sacred role of Keeping the List.

Larry usually finds One More Bird which has made all the difference.

And Bruce, well Bruce can hear a bird from the car going 45 miles an hour. He is our Location Expert and knows every nook and cranny we might find a bird and what that bird is.

When are you doing your birdathon?  Saturday, May 5, rain date May 6. We usually start around 4:30 AM and bird until 8:30 PM or so.

How many species to you hope to get?  Two years ago, Mary Ann Good put together a list of the birds seen by all the teams in the Birdathon. Combined, we found 125 species. Raven Loonatics would like to find as many as we possibly can – 125 would be nice. We always hope to beat our number from the previous year so this year we will hope to count at least 110 species.

How much money do you hope to raise as a team?  We are so grateful to all Birdathon sponsors for their generosity and support. It would be fantastic if the teams could collectively raise $10,000 for the birds!

What bird(s) are you stretching to get this year?  We always make extra effort for Loggerhead Shrike and Red-headed Woodpeckers as they are hard for us to find in the eastern part of the county.

We like to get our namesakes, ravens and loons. We always hope to see as many owl species as possible, just because it’s so cool to see owls.

How long has your team been doing this?  This will be our 3rd year.

What’s the best part of the birdathon?  Running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Being together – birds of a feather…

What’s the toughest part of the day?  Listening to Larry’s puns such as, “Remember, never eat a bittern. It will leave a bittern taste in your mouth!”. Watching Gerco eat Cheetos. Imaging the pain tall Bruce must experience sitting in my small car all day. Being a female with three males and roughing it without a bathroom all day. Around 2 pm the ’Loonies’ hit us – we begin to hallucinate we won’t see another bird for the rest of the day. They pass when we (finally) see a new bird species.

Why do you/members of your team do the birdathon?  We love birds and want to protect bird habitat in Loudoun County.

What do you do in preparation for the count?  The Birdathon gives us a good excuse to go birding, ‘We HAVE to go birding because the Birdathon is in (x) weeks!’

What place do you most look forward to birding during the birdathon and why?  Seeing the sunrise over the Potomac is a very special way to start our day. In the past we’ve finished the day at the Dulles Wetlands which is a peaceful and beautiful place to end our day – and usually provides a couple more birds for The List.

You can make a pledge and support the Raven Loonatics here.

Who is on your Birdathon team?   Spring, McKenzie (age 5), and Addison (age 2) Ligi

What day are you doing your birdathon?  Thursday, May 10^th, we’ll do it from approximately 9:00 – 10:30 am

How many species to you hope to get?  20-25 species

How much money do you hope to raise as a team?  $250

What bird(s) are you stretching to get this year?  A Great Blue Heron because this bird reminds the girls of dinosaurs, which they love

How long has your team been doing this?  This will be our fourth year. We started in 2009 when McKenzie was 2 and I was very big and pregnant with Addison

Do you have different roles on your team? The girls are the spotters. They spot all kinds of things…worms, sticks, ponds, and occasionally birds.  We try to identify the birds together using our children’s bird guides.

What’s the best part of the birdathon? Experiencing the joys of nature with my girls – watching their faces light up as they spot a bird or correctly identify it

What’s the toughest part of the day?  Keeping the girls from jumping into the pond while I’m watching a bird :0)

Why do you/members of your team do the birdathon? To share my passion for birding and the great outdoors with my girls and raise money to protect important wildlife habitat

What do you do in preparation for the count?  We watch the birds in our backyard and try to identify them using our field guides. We also line up Grandma and Grandpa to provide back up on our big day. They’re great at keeping the girls from jumping into the pond and poking each other with sticks while I take a moment to identify the trickier birds.

What place do you most look forward to birding during the birdathon and why?  The Rust Sanctuary in Leesburg – it’s a beautiful place with a kid-friendly path for hiking through different habitats and observing different birds

You can make a pledge and support the Ligi Nestlings here.

Who is on your Birdathon team?  Do you have different roles on your team? 

Joe Coleman – Joe is our fearless leader.  Among many strengths he’s the planner, planning our route and schedule to maximize the potential sightings.  He’s a superior all-around birder and has a wealth of natural history and local area knowledge.

Laura McGranaghan – Laura is our spotter and cheerleader.  She has enough enthusiasm for us all, in the unlikely case any of us are lacking any, and probably is the one to spy more birds than the rest of us put together, whether driving along or trying to find a hidden singing bird.

Mary Ann Good – Mary Ann has the uncanny ability to name nearly every bird vocalization we encounter.  What’s even better, she’s often proven right!  Such as, when she didn’t have to eat her hat, as promised if the mystery bird we were hearing along a deep woods stream proved NOT to be an Indigo Bunting.

Gerry Hawkins – Gerry, along with superior skills at identifying birds by sight and sound, has an encyclopedic storehouse of bird information in his brain.  He probably has four complete bird field guides/references memorized so that he can make snap calls on sparrows and flycatchers.

When are you doing your birdathon?   Saturday, May 5; rain date May 6. We usually start around 4:30 AM and go until after 9:00 PM.

How many species to you hope to get?   113+ to beat our previous standing record

What bird(s) are you stretching to get this year?   Our “most wanted” bird is always our namesake, Loggerhead Shrike, which we’ve gotten only once on our actual birdathon.  We’ve tried hard and unsuccessfully for Whip-poor-will and Long-eared Owl.

How long has your team been doing this?   This will be our 7th year.

What’s the best part of the birdathon?   Team Shrike Force—we have such fun!  Sparkling early mornings, ringing with bird song.  Mid-afternoon chocolate cake break at Joe’s house!   Best of all, birds, birds, birds.

What’s the toughest part of the day?   Getting out of bed at 3:30.  The mid-afternoon doldrums.

Why do you/members of your team do the birdathon?   To support a great organization, to beat other teams (we’re very competitive), but mostly because we love birds and birding!  For all of us, it’s the highlight of the year.

What do you do in preparation for the count?   Incantations and secret rituals (otherwise known as planning and scouting).  We can’t give away our best secrets though!

What place do you most look forward to birding during the birdathon and why?   

Mary Ann and Joe most enjoy the warblers and thrushes, and the view, up on the mountain, right after sunrise. 

Laura’s favorite is the Blue Ridge Center where we have so many great memories, how do you choose one? 

The Dulles Wetlands is Gerry’s favorite birdathon spot, as we always get some surprise there, such as 3 Glossy Ibis one year and a Woodcock another.

You can make a pledge and support Shrike Force here.

Here are some shots of the team in action:

The Wild Side by Donna Quinn

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul…
-Emily Dickinson

If you recall last spring’s story, “Imagine…”, you will know why I rejoiced when I read the following:

From: “Wilson, Michael D” <mdwils@wm.edu>
To: <va-bird@listserve.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:12 PM
Subject: [Va-bird] Hope: satellite tracked whimbrel returns to Virginia again

Hope returns to Virginia

Hope, a whimbrel carrying a satellite transmitter, has returned to the Eastern Shore of Virginia after spending the winter on St. Croix in the U.S. Virginia Islands.

The bird has been tracked by a team of researchers through her migratory travels since she was captured on Box Tree Creek in Northampton County, Virginia on 19 May, 2009.

Since that time she has traveled more than 44,100 miles (71,000 kilometers) back and forth 3 times between breeding grounds on the MacKenzie River in western Canada and Great Pond Important Bird Area on St. Croix.

She likely left Great Pond on the evening of April 1st and arrived in Virginia on the morning of April 4th, covering the 1600 miles in approximately 60 hours. She had been wintering on Great Pond since September 14, 2011.

Hope has taught the research community a great deal about the migratory pathways and habits of whimbrels. She has made tremendous nonstop flights, moved great distances out over the open Atlantic, confronted storms while at sea, navigated with precision to stopover sites and shown high fidelity to her breeding site, her wintering site, and several staging areas.

Hope is one of more than a dozen birds that have been tracked in a collaborative effort between The Center for Conservation Biology, The Nature Conservancy and other partners designed to discover migratory routes that connect breeding and winter areas and to identify en route migratory staging areas that are critical to the conservation of this declining species.

A single flight of 60 hours non-stop flying across ocean! 44,100 miles logged since May 2009! To give a little perspective on this, the planet is 24,906 miles in circumference so Hope has traveled the equivalent of almost twice around the globe just in the past 3 years. And Hope weighs only about 15 ounces. Imagine that!

While Hope’s travels truly inspire hope and give us pause to reflect on the wonders of birds and migration, decreases in many bird species tell another story. Devastating loss of habitat, increased levels of toxins in the environment, and environmental hazards such wind turbine installations, glass-fronted buildings, bright lights at night, and hydraulic fracturing exact heavy tolls on birds. If that isn’t bad enough, birds represent the fate of countless other animals, insects, and plants whose habitats are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. Ancient symbols of wisdom, love, hope, peace and freedom, we must listen carefully to what birds are telling us today about the health of our environment.

Saving whimbrels and other imperiled species requires large-scale, often international, cooperative efforts. Here in Belmont, it’s essential for each of us to keep in mind how the choices we make each day impact the lives of so many others. By making small but significant changes in our daily lives, we can make a big difference in the overall health of our local community as well as our larger community, Planet Earth. When we save birds and their precious ecosystems, we utilize our humanity to nurture and protect, rather than to destroy. In doing so, we also create hope for birds like Hope to continue their amazing transcontinental migrations.

10 Easy Ways To Help Birds:

Revised from www.birdday.org/birdday/themes/2012-twenty-years-of-imbd/20-ways-to-conserve-birds

1. Prevent Bird Collisions with Your Windows. Collisions are one of the most frequent causes of bird deaths. Birds see nature reflected in the window or mistake houseplants inside the building for outdoor plants and fly into the glass. Putting up curtains or window decals helps make the window visible to birds.

2. Protect Birds From Pets. Unleashed dogs and outdoor cats can harm birds by disturbing, chasing, and even killing them. Keeping your cat indoors and your dog from straying saves millions of birds each year.

3. Clean Your Bird Feeders. Dirty feeders can spread disease. Disinfect and clean out old seed from feeders frequently and put fresh water in your bird bath every day.

4. Recycle, Use Cloth Grocery Bags and Reusable Bottles. Birds that mistakenly eat plastic trash can become ill or even die. Avoiding plastic bags and bottles reduces plastic pollution and conserves resources.

5. Restore Natural Habitat in Your Community. Birds need a place to live and many bird habitats are disappearing. Work with your community to recreate the habitat that once existed in your area. Plant native plants in your garden to provide food, nest sites, and cover for birds. Avoid the use of pesticides and other chemicals.

6. Buy Bird Friendly Products. You can preserve our birds’ winter habitat in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean by buying shade-grown coffee and cocoa. Shade farms, which imitate native forests, support more bird species than full sun farms.  And the coffee tastes better!

7. Keep Your Distance. Birds need space for feeding, nesting, and other daily activities. Leave fledglings where you find them. They may spend several days on the ground after they leave the nest. You can help by keeping people and pets away so their parents can continue to feed them. If a bird is truly an orphan, call a rehabilitator for instructions (see phone numbers below).

8. Slow Down When Driving. Cars kill millions of birds each year. Driving slowly gives you more time to respond if there is an animal in the road and gives the animal plenty of time to get out of the way.

9. Get Outdoors and Enjoy Nature. Find a local park and go for a walk or just stroll around your neighbourhood (www.loudounwildlife.org/Great_Places.htm).

10. Support Conservation. Join a bird club or other conservation organization to learn more and contribute to protecting birds. Support organizations that preserve habitat and help birds.

Resources:
http://www.birdday.org/ 
www.loudounwildlife.org/ 
http://www.abcbirds.org/ 
http://www.nature.org/Wildlife 
Rescue League: 703-440-0800
Raptor Conservancy (specialize in hawks & owls): 703-578-1175

 Donna Quinn is a Loudoun resident and on the board with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

As we kick off this year’s Birdathon, we thought it would be fun to introduce you to some of the teams that are working hard to find all the birds they can and raise money for Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

We’ve put together some team highlights and tried to squeeze out them some of their best birding secrets.

Watch the blog over the coming week to Meet the Teams and please help encourage them by making a pledge and cheering them on! 

Your donations are tax deductible as allowed by the law and make a difference to wildlife and habitat right here in Loudoun!

As I type this, birders — both hard-core and casual — are formulating their plans and teams are taking shape!

They’re picking their team name, chatting with friends about birding together, strategizing on bird feeders that must be filled, and dreaming of the Big Day they’ll have!

Some teams are even scouring the birding listservs to learn about special sightings in Loudoun that might just put their Birdathon over the top!

So far this year, we have 7 teams registered to do the Birdathon:

Shrike Force: Joe Coleman, Laura McGranaghan, Mary Ann Good and Gerry Hawkins
Raven Loonatics: Donna Quinn, Larry Meade, Gerco Hoogeweg and Bruce Hill
Grumpy Old Men: Phil Daley and Paul Miller
Ligi Nestlings: Spring, McKenzie and Addison Ligi
The Tweeters: Linda Millington, Christine Purdue, Emily Southgate
Larkolinks: Laureen Megan and Sally Brenton
[Team Name TBD]: Nicole Hamilton and Joanne Bradbury

But what is all this Birdathon talk? What is a Birdathon?

The Birdathon is our big annual fundraising event, held each May since 2006, and is the fundraiser that has helped us grow more and more support for wildlife and their habitats right here in Loudoun County.

Teams will pick a day between May 5 – May 13th to do their big count, gather pledges, and count birds.

You can form a team (all age and experience levels are welcome) or support a team by making a pledge.

Let’s make this Birdathon our best yet!

Learn more about the Birdathon and the different guided walks we have here.

Cerulean Blues author Katie Fallon ─ Wednesday, April 25, 7:00 p.m.

Pete Dunne wrote in his review of Katie Fallon’s Cerulean Blues, “Cerulean Blues is part journey, part documentary, and wholly engaging; a tribute to a bird that bridges continents with its wings and to a rising star among contemporary nature writers.”

Cerulean Warblers breed in Loudoun County and are an incredible bird that we sometimes encounter on our walks at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship.

They depend on our habitat for breeding and habitat in South America for winter, but threats are abound in both locations.

Meet Katie Fallon and hear about her search for Cerulean Warblers at this free program sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

Location for this event is the Ida Lee Recreation Center in Leesburg. Registration Required: Sign Up Online or contact Joe Coleman at jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org.

Have you tried the GoodSearch Toolbar? It’s a toolbar that, after you download it, shows up as part of your browser and whenever you search the web using the toolbar, you raise money for Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy  http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/loudoun-wildlife-conservancy

The toolbar has two new aspects too:

GoodShop – this aspect shows you coupons from over 2,400 popular online retailers. When you buy from them, a percent of every purchase will go to us.

GoodDining - this is another option that you can register for if you want to.  You set up your credit card and every time you dine out at one of the participating restaurants, 6% of your bill will be donated. Hundreds of restaurants in Loudoun are participating so there’s a really good chance that you’re already going to some of these places.

You can download the free GoodSearch toolbar here: http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/loudoun-wildlife-conservancy.

Setting up our tent at the local fairs is one of the most important things we do to connect with new people and share our information.  But there are so many going on this spring that we are short-handed and need your help!

Volunteers hand out materials, talk with visitors about their interests and Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s mission and programs, and invite them to get involved. Volunteers can also help with setup or breakdown.

No experience is necessary, all the needed info will be provided and you will work with at least one other person who has done it all before.

Volunteers also receive a free Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy t-shirt and free admission to the fair.

We really need some help at these three upcoming fairs:

EarthDay@Loudoun: April 22. Located in Broadlands. Event runs 11am-4pm, we are particularly looking for a volunteer noon-2pm.

Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival: April 22. Located in Leesburg. On Sunday this event runs 10am-5pm, we are particularly looking for a volunteer noon-3pm.

Arbor Day: April 28. Located at Morven Park in Leesburg. Event runs 10am-3pm, we are looking for volunteers for all shifts.

Contact Lydia Johnson at LJohnson@loudounwildlife.org if you can help or would like to learn more. We have more fairs in the summer and fall as well that we will need help with.

You can also visit our website http://www.loudounwildlife.org/Volunteer.htm to view other volunteer opportunities.

Here’s your chance again to see it:

Film:  Bag It: Is your life too plastic?  65 minutes

Date: April 20, 2012,   7:30pm

Place: St James UCC,  10 E Broad Way,  Lovettsville VA

Bag It has been garnering awards at film festivals across the nation. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. 

Watch the trailer at http://www.bagitmovie.com/trailer.html

This showing is an encore presentation for those who may have missed the screening in February in Leesburg at the Tally Ho.  

This FREE public showing in celebration of EarthDay 2012 is made possible by the support of St James United Church of Christ, Lovettsville.  

Doors open at 7:00.  For more information, please contact Holly and John Flannery at HollySFlan@aol.com.