The latest news and events from Audubon Society of Northern Virginia

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** January 2024
ASNV HOME ([link removed]) DONATE ([link removed]) JOIN ([link removed])
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** President's Corner
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** Common Loons, Howard Arndt/Audubon Photography Awards
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As 2024 begins, I look ahead and I am thankful for birds. I appreciate their role in actions such as pollination, dispersal of seeds, production of guano fertilizer, and provision of food. But it is their intangible services that truly earn my gratitude.

Read more > ([link removed])


** Help Trees Thrive: Tear Up Some Turf
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** Tree with native shade plants, Plant NOVA Natives
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It’s fairly common in residential neighborhoods to see trees surrounded by grass or by small mulch beds, but did you know that your trees would be healthier and grow faster if you replaced that turf and those mulch volcanos?
Read more > ([link removed])



** Help ASNV Advocate for Conservation
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** Virginia State Capitol Building, Wikimedia user Skip Plitt via CC BY-SA 3.0
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Would you be interested in joining with members of ASNV’s Advocacy Committee to advocate for legislation that will help protect our environment?
Read more > ([link removed])



** Resolve to Help Birds in 2024!
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** Tufted Titmouse, Jocelyn Anderson/Audubon Photography Awards
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New year’s resolutions about more exercise and a better diet are traditional for this time of year, because those actions can help us live better, happier lives. But another way to improve your quality of life is by helping the birds.
Read more > ([link removed])

Monthly Features


** Observations from Meadowood
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** Dilemma Orchid Bee, Judy Gallagher
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Judy Gallagher is a long-time participant in the Meadowood Recreation Area survey. Here are some of her findings.

Read more > ([link removed])


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**
Upcoming Classes and Events
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We have some exciting classes and events coming up, both virtually and in-person! Click any event to learn more and register. You can also check our calendar ([link removed]) for our full schedule of events.


** The How and Who of Urban Wildlife Conservation with Dr. Charles Nilon
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** Dr. Charles Nilon
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Join us Sunday afternoon, January 7, for a virtual Audubon Afternoon that features the first of our Stretch Our Parks Lectures featuring Dr. Charles Nilon, an ecologist and professor from the University of Missouri.

Dr. Nilon’s decades of research and service have combined two of his lifelong passions – understanding how to safeguard urban biodiversity and making conservation biology more inclusive. He has been a lead researcher on projects combining data from more than 150 of the world’s cities to assess how ecological and socioeconomic factors influence birds in urban environments. He will share his ideas about what actions cities and towns might take to protect biodiversity as human density increases, and why making conservation efforts more diverse, inclusive, and just is paramount to their success.

When: Sunday, January 7, 2023, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Where: Online
Fee: FREE, but registration is required

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Preventing Avian Extinctions: What Works with Dr. David Luther
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** Cerulean Warbler, Matt Felperin
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Join Dr. David Luther for a program on preventing avian extinctions. More species in the world are threatened with extinction today than at any other time in recent history. However, at the same time, a number of programs have made great strides in successfully conserving threatened species and preventing their extinctions. Dr. Luther will explore the state of birds globally, the threats they face, and what is working in the field of conservation biology to prevent the extinction of endangered bird species. The talk will focus on global and local examples of successful conservation efforts, his research on conserving endangered species in the United States and around the world, and future conservation opportunities.

When: Thursday, January 11, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Members: $10
Non-members: $15

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Winter Waterfowl Count
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** Birders, Judy Gallagher
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The Winter Waterfowl Count is a citizen science effort organized by ASNV to track data about winter waterfowl. This survey complements the Christmas Bird Count, and the data is shared openly with the public. When it started in 2008, ASNV volunteers covered the Potomac River from Algonkian Regional Park in Loudoun County to Quantico Marine Base in Prince William County, as well as many inland bodies of water. In 2020 ASNV expanded the survey to include areas along the Potomac River in King George and Westmoreland Counties down to the mouth of the Potomac River where it empties into Chesapeake Bay.

When: Saturday, February 3, 7:00 AM – Sunday, February 4 – 2:00 PM
Where: Various
Fee: FREE, but registration is required

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Bird Friendly Certified Coffee: Conserving Birds One Cup at a Time
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** Coffee plant, courtesy of Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification
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Did you know that the coffee you drink can affect the birds in your backyard? The Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification does more than any other certification program to conserve habitat for birds and other wildlife on coffee farms. Bird Friendly Program Manager Kirstin Hill will describe the link between coffee and conservation, discuss what makes Bird Friendly certification the gold standard in biodiversity protection, and share ways to get involved in the movement to “Drink Bird Friendly.” Your coffee is stronger than you think!

When: Thursday, January 18, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Fee: FREE, but registration is required

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Ducks and Waterfowl Identification with Greg Butcher
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** Green-winged Teals, James Fatemi/Audubon Photography Awards
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Join Greg Butcher ([link removed]) , ASNV board member and retired migratory species coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, for an introduction to waterfowl identification. Get to know many of the species that winter in the open waters of our region. You’ll learn how to tell a Bufflehead from a Hooded Merganser, and, you’ll learn the features (and hear the call) of the beautiful Tundra Swans that winter in Northern Virginia. Strategies will include identification by shape and color pattern.

When: Thursday, January 25, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Virtual
Fee: FREE, but registration is required

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Behavior, Society and Sex in Adolescent Birds with Liam Taylor
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** Burrowing Owls, Jean Zuo/Audubon Photography Awards
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Most birds have some growing up to do before they start to breed. Despite reaching full size within weeks or months of hatching, some species will not raise offspring for years, or even decades. Liam Taylor explores the strange things that some birds need to do before they reproduce—from meeting a fishing buddy on a rocky island to finding a dance partner on a rainforest floor. Looking back through millions of years of evolution, Taylor uncovers how behavioral, social, and sexual development continues to create new challenges and opportunities for adolescent birds.

When: Thursday, February 8, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Member ticket: $15
Non-member ticket: $20

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Mushrooms and Fungi with Matt Cohen
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** Fungi diversity, Matt Cohen
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Join us for Matt Cohen’s talk about wild mushrooms. In this introduction to the world of mushrooms, you'll learn about their ecological roles and major groups, what traits to look for to identify a mushroom. Matt also will identify some local deadly poisonous mushrooms and some local edible mushrooms.

When: Tuesday, February 27, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Member ticket: $10
Non-member ticket: $15

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Spring Ornithology II with Dr. Chris Haney (6-week course)
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** Photos and images courtesy of Dr. Chris Haney
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This 12-part online course is designed and presented at an introductory, university level, with two one-hour sessions per week over 6 weeks. The course will cover: History of Ornithology and Recreational Bird Watching (Birding); Anatomy and Physiology; Mechanics of Flight; Biogeography of Bird Distribution; Classification, Evolution and Speciation; and Bird Field Study Research Methods.

This course will be fully virtual. Participants are encouraged to attend at least 3 group bird walks during the 6-week period as homework. Residents of Northern Virginia are encouraged to participate in walks organized by ASNV ([link removed]) or the Northern Virginia Bird Club ([link removed]) .

When: March 4, 2024 through April 17, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Member ticket: $130 early bird, $150 after January 30
Non-member ticket: $155 early bird, $175 after January 30

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Birding and Wildlife Safari in South Africa with ASNV
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** Gray-crowned Cranes, Lou Newman
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Immerse yourself in the natural wonders of South Africa, home to amazing scenery, iconic African wildlife, and more than 800 bird species. World-renowned habitats and biological diversity are the focus as you journey from the Highveld grasslands of Mpumalanga province to the cliffs and gorges of the Blyde River Canyon, and through transitional habitats before leveling out in the bush plains of Kruger National Park. For birders, this translates to a superb range of species to be seen, including many regional and country-specific endemics.

Click here ([link removed]) to visit the Holbrook Travel site for trip details. Contact Gerry Abbott (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Panama%20Trip%20Wait%20List) with questions.

When: Tuesday, October 29, 2024 8:00 AM through Sunday, November 10, 2024 8:00 AM
Where: Kruger National Park, South Africa

MORE INFO ([link removed])


** Bird Walks
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Birding, Camila Cerea


Check this page ([link removed]) for upcoming walks! Registration is no longer required for ASNV-sponsored walks.


** Monday Nature Mystery
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** American Wigeon, Judy Gallagher
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**
Monday Nature Mystery continues! Read on to learn who correctly identified our last mystery and see what this week's mystery holds.
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**
Read more > ([link removed])
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** Conservation Counts
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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Rusty Moran

Join Jim Waggener in his ongoing natural resource surveys at two of Northern Virginia's best birding spots. Surveys alternate between Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area on Mason Neck.

Read more > ([link removed])

E-Activist Network: Volunteers Needed

The National Audubon Society invites all Auduboners to join its e-activist network. When you subscribe to the Society’s newsletter, you'll receive alerts about important congressional actions and information about how you can affect legislation by contacting your members of Congress. [link removed]
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