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** July-August 2025
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** NVBA ([link removed]) HOME ([link removed]) ([link removed]) DONATE ([link removed]) JOIN ([link removed])
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** A Letter to Our Members
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** Common Eastern Firefly, Judy Gallagher
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I have been admiring the fireflies in my backyard recently. I didn’t see them there for many years, but I’ve attracted them by making several simple changes.
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** Dyke Marsh: A Fragile Treasure
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** A view of Dyke Marsh, Dixie Sommers
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The Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, in northern Mount Vernon along the Potomac River shoreline, is the "nearest thing to primeval wilderness" in the Washington area, wrote Louis J. Halle in 1947 when he biked from the city at dawn to watch the wetland awaken.
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More News
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** Happy Bees, Happy Yard
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** Spring Beauty Bee, Judy Gallagher
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Gardening to attract as many bees as possible is more than a rewarding pastime. It’s a blend of purpose, beauty and connection to something grand and greater than we are.
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** The Bobolink
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** Bobolink, Calvin Borgmann/Audubon Photography Awards
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The Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryaivorus, also called the rice bird or rice bunting, is yet another migrating songbird that has declined in population over the last fifty years.
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Monthly Features
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** A Closer Look: Nature All Around Us
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** Milkweed with several insects, Judy Gallagher
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Judy Gallagher is an NVBA board member and a regular surveyor of local wildlife who also captures photos of what she sees, in particular the less common species.
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** Wildlife Sanctuary Almanac: Creating Habitat for Butterflies
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** Monarch Butterfly with Thistle, Judy Gallagher
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Do you want more butterflies around your home? Consider creating a butterfly habitat that will attract not just adult butterflies passing through but will support butterflies throughout their life cycles.
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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 ([link removed]) calendar ([link removed]) for our full schedule of events.
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** Butterfly and Dragonfly Surveys
Tiger Swallowtail, James DeMers via Pixabay
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Join us for this ongoing citizen science project, which provides valuable data on butterfly and dragonfly populations and the habitat that supports them. Surveys are carried out in temperate months (April-October), normally on Friday mornings, at one of four sites around Occoquan Bay, all within the 15-mile diameter circle established for the annual North American Butterfly Association's Annual Count.
Read about the results of this year's annual butterfly count held on June 28 ([link removed]) .
When: Every Friday morning, April through October
See the upcoming survey schedule ([link removed]) .
Locations: In rotation at Occoquan Bay NWR ([link removed]) , Meadowood SRMA ([link removed]) , Metz Wetlands ([link removed]) , and Occoquan Regional Park ([link removed])
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** Bird Walks
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Birding, Camila Cerea
Check our Bird Walks page ([link removed]) for upcoming walks! Registration is no longer required for NVBA-sponsored walks.
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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.
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National Audubon Society Action Network
The National Audubon Society invites all Auduboners to join its action network ([link removed]) . 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.
Too many emails? Now you can update your profile ([link removed]) to let us know how often you'd like to receive email communications from NVBA.
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Copyright © 2025 Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, All rights reserved.
You subscribed to this list when you joined the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance directly, joined the National Audubon Society and live in the Northern Virginia area, are an NVBA volunteer, or asked to receive our email updates.
Our mailing address is:
Northern Virginia Bird Alliance
11100 Wildlife Center Drive
Ste. 100
Reston, VA 20190
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