Each summer, NVBA offers a full scholarship and transportation to “Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week” at National Audubon Society’s Hog Island Camp in Maine. Here is what our 2024 scholarship winner shared with us.
King Rails at the Tipping Point in Northern Virginia
King Rail populations have declined over the last ten years primarily due to habitat loss. King Rails are among northern Virginia birds that BirdLife International’s State of the Birds 2022 identified as at a tipping point for extinction, having lost half of their population in the last 50 years, and on a trajectory to lose another 50% in the next 50 years if nothing changes.
NVBA Initiates a Bird Safe NOVA Campaign
Billions of birds die each year from human-made causes. NVBA, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Nature Forward, DarkSky NOVA, DarkSky Virginia, Friends of Dyke Marsh, and Friends of Little Hunting Creek have formed a partnership, Bird Safe NOVA, in an effort to reduce the devastating toll on birds from excess light and window collisions.
Supporting your garden through heat and drought
Birdability Week: Celebrating Accessible Birding. Join Us for a Special Bird Walk!
The Conservation Voter in Virginia: Know the Voting Records of Those You Elect
Observations from Meadowood: September 2024
Wildlife Sanctuary Almanac
President's Corner
To Spray, or Not to Spray?
Recently, we were confronted by the question of whether a yard where the homeowner has taken many steps to improve habitat can be certified as a Wildlife Sanctuary when the homeowner also employs a regular mosquito spraying service. We reviewed the evidence and decided that the answer is no: broadcast spraying for mosquitoes is not consistent with creating a functioning wildlife sanctuary in one’s yard.
Stretch Our Parks Is Working with Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge
The Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (NVBA, formerly Audubon Society of Northern Virginia) has been associated with Occoquan Bay for over 30 years, conducting regular bird, insect, and plant surveys on the Refuge grounds and providing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff with valuable data for making decisions about Refuge management.
Good News for Stafford County Wildlife
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced on July 10 that it has added more than 200 acres of ecologically significant upland forest and forested wetlands along Accokeek Creek in Stafford County to Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve, ensuring their protection for biodiversity conservation.
