The I-95 Landfill’s Becoming ‘Birdy’

Photo: No-mow Area, Glenda Booth

By Glenda C. Booth
Reprinted with Permission of the Connection Newspapers

50-acre no-mow grassland provides sanctuary for some bird species of concern.

Few people find visiting a landfill enticing, but some of our avian friends do.

Grassland and other birds are using a closed portion of the I-95 landfill, according to a recently released Fairfax County report.  

In 2024, at the urging of the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance and with the Board of Supervisors’ support, landfill managers designated 50 closed acres of the 500-acre landfill as a “no-mow” zone. The managers agreed to avoid mowing during grassland birds’ nesting season and to raise mower blades to an eight-inch height when they did mow.

The no-mow zone continues to provide critical habitat during the peak breeding and nesting season, attracting birds like the Eastern Meadowlark, above, and Grasshopper Sparrow. Photo Courtesy of Fairfax County Department of Public Works. 

County officials concluded, based on 2024 and 2025 surveys, that “overall observations confirm that the no-mow zone continues to provide critical habitat during the peak breeding and nesting season.” County staffer Kimberly Lewis wrote, “The eastern meadowlark and grasshopper sparrow, among other species, are thriving on a 50-acre meadowland atop the landfill.”

By modifying and reducing mowing, the area is in effect a grassland, albeit not a natural one. The project sought to determine which grassland birds are using the area and how.

In 2025, Blair Evancho, a county intern, staffers and volunteers conducted weekly bird surveys from May 1 to July 12 and recorded all bird species observed. They confirmed 40 bird species in this area in 2025, including four species of regional or continental concern: chimney swift, grasshopper sparrow, eastern meadowlark and bobolink. “Notably, the grasshopper sparrow, a grassland nester experiencing regional population declines, was the most detected species,” notes the county’s report. In 2024, surveyors confirmed 29 bird species.

“The County’s monitoring efforts show that the I-95 Landfill Complex continues to provide meaningful habitat for grassland birds, including several species of conservation interest,” commented Duane Wright, Director, Solid Waste Management Program. “These findings reflect our commitment to thoughtful land management that supports both environmental stewardship and long-term site care.” 

“On survey days, at least one Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (NVBA) volunteer helped,” NVBA President Libby Lyons said. “We commend the County for this approach and hope this project can serve as a role model for other landfills in taking such important conservation steps,” she said.

According to the 2025 report, one glitch was “unanticipated mowing on three days in June during work on a new solar field next to the no-mow zone, which created “a noticeable decline in bird activity on those dates.” The report indicates that this mowing “conflicted with the established protocol, which prohibits mowing in the no-mow zone during the April-September breeding season, except when required for access to monitoring wells.”

No-mow area. Photo: Glenda Booth

Grassland Birds

Grassland birds rely on grassland habitats for nesting and many species have seen marked drops in numbers. Since 1970, grassland birds have declined by 43 percent, concluded the 2025 State of the Birds report by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. The main driver is habitat loss.

Most of the eastern United States’ natural grasslands are gone. These birds typically do not use other habitats. In Virginia, since the European colonists’ arrival in the 1600s, only a fraction of the state’s grasslands remains. “It may be less than .0001 percent,” according to biologist Justin Folks, quoted on the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s website.

“The landfill has the largest patch of grassland in eastern Fairfax County,” ornithologist Greg Butcher said in our 2024 Connection article. Landfill managers usually put a cover on closed landfills and plant grasses to stabilize the surface.

Wright concluded, “By maintaining a clearly defined seasonal no-mow period, the County is able to support important nesting and foraging activity while also ensuring the landfill remains well maintained and protective of the environment. This balanced approach allows us to responsibly manage closed landfill areas while recognizing their value as part of the region’s broader ecosystem.”

Pollinator Pathways: Connecting your yard to the bigger picture

Photo: Native plant garden, Margaret Fisher

By Eileen Ellsworth

Imagine the world as it once was. Verdant forests, buzzing meadows, and numerous other natural areas were immense, whole, and pulsing with life. Over time, human activity emerged and carved the natural world into disconnected, even isolated parts. Ecologists refer to this process as habitat fragmentation. You can see it in urban settings where green parks are biological islands surrounded by buildings and concrete roads. You can see it in rural settings where agriculture simplifies ecosystems and amplifies the populations of only certain insects to the detriment of others. You can see it in suburban settings where developments destroy natural habitats and where landscapes are “replaced” with all non-native species. 

Large and mostly undisturbed ecosystems can still be found, of course, especially in our beloved national parks and forests. But even they are distant from each other, understaffed, and too small in total acreage to sustain the biodiversity of the continent. Any solution to the problem of habitat fragmentation and the resulting loss of biodiversity, therefore, must be found right here among the throng of human life – where we live, work and play.

Is it possible to reconnect isolated fragments in our urban, suburban, and rural settings to benefit pollinators and the creatures that depend upon them? That was the question that sparked the “pollinator pathway” concept in 2007 by Sarah Bergmann, an artist living in Seattle. As part of a social and ecological project, she envisioned and described a network of native gardens that could create a “pathway” to support pollinators. This core idea led to the creation of a nonprofit – Pollinator Pathway – by Donna Merrill, a conservationist from Wilton, Connecticut, in 2017. Since then, the group has helped inspire and launch a national movement.

The idea is a powerful one. Anybody can take part, even at a novice level. There are very few barriers to participation. If all you have is one native tree or a small pollinator garden – preferably one with some native plants – it’s a start, and you can build from there. 

The main goal of a pollinator pathway is to reinstate connectivity between several small but healthy habitats. A single native tree can support bees and other pollinators as much if not more than a flower garden. Building a pollinator pathway on your street, for example, may include adding a new native tree or two, or creating new healthy gardens on communal grounds or private property as “stepping stones” along the way. It may include the expansion of existing native plant areas. Removal of invasives that disrupt the pathway will certainly be part of the plan, along with pledges to avoid all broadcast pesticides including mosquito and tick sprays. Only unpoisoned ecosystems can be included in the work.

Many communities across America are already building pollinator pathways and proving the concept. You can recruit participants on your own, or have fun working with like-minded people to muster engagement. Hold a kick-off meeting to build some early momentum. Don’t over-plan. Take some early action, starting with 1 or 2 easy planting projects, then see where it takes you. 

On a new webpage just launched by Plant NOVA Natives you will find some handy tools to help you build a pollinator pathway in your neighborhood or community. They include:

• A tip sheet for pollinator pathway organizers

• Instructions for ordering medallion signs that will be delivered to your house from Plant NOVA Natives for you and your participants — If you are in northern Virginia, we will have the sign company mail you the first five for free.

• Ideas for how to pitch the idea to the folks you want to engage

• Pollinator Pathway handouts to leave with your neighbor

Join the movement! Let’s work with our neighbors and friends to connect the fragments, rebuild some beneficial habitats, and heal the everyday ecosystems that surround us. Their resilience is astonishing. New life, activity, and hope will certainly emerge, along with a new joy in being part of something much bigger than our own backyards.

If you want help identifying plants to remove from your yard, and native replacements, consider signing up with NVBA for a Wildlife Sanctuary Consultation.

Dyke Marsh: A Fragile Treasure

Photo: A view of Dyke Marsh, Dixie Sommers

Glenda C. Booth, President, Friends of Dyke Marsh

Juvenile Bald Eagle bathing at Dyke Marsh, Dixie Sommers

Experienced and novice birders alike have had “front-row seats” this year in the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, observing both an Osprey and a Bald Eagle pair raising their young. The Ospreys had two young at an easily-viewed nest on a platform just off the Belle Haven Marina boat ramp. Sadly, one of the chicks did not survive. The Bald Eagle pair raised three young at a very visible nest along the Haul Road Trail. The birds’ fans started seeing the eagles bringing sticks to the nest as early as December. These are just two examples of birds in the preserve. Cornell’s eBird lists Dyke Marsh as a birding hotspot with 271 species reported.

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. 

Congress’s intent in adding it to the national park system in 1959 is clear: “so that fish and wildlife development and their preservation as wetland wildlife habitat shall be paramount.” Dyke Marsh is a unit of the George Washington Memorial Parkway managed by the National Park Service (NPS). 

Black Swallowtail butterfly on Cardinal Flower, Dixie Sommers

It is one of largest remaining tidal, freshwater marshes in the Washington area and one of largest tidal, freshwater, temperate, climax, riverine, narrow-leafed cattail marshes in the NPS system. Part of the marsh is at least 2,200 years old.

According to NPS data, its tidal wetland, swamp forest, floodplain forest and open water provide habitat for over 230 known species of birds, 300 plants, 6,000 arthropods, 38 fish, 16 reptiles, 14 amphibians and 26 mammals, the latter including exotics like feral cats. Wetlands are “biological supermarkets,” notes Kirk Havens with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Marshes Unappreciated

Many wetlands, tidal and nontidal, have been sacrificed – filled and paved over – for roads, buildings and other development. For much of U.S. history, people viewed wetlands as mosquito-ridden dumping grounds to avoid. Some names were telling. In the 1800s, Dyke Marsh was called “Hell Hole,” and William Byrd named the wetland in eastern Virginia the Great Dismal Swamp. On an intriguing side note, during prohibition, Dyke Marsh was a hideout for bootleggers. Clandestine, enterprising purveyors could conduct their business in the dense vegetation and along the river, where state and federal jurisdictional lines were blurred.

Dyke Marsh has endured years of excavation, dumping, pollution, invasive plants and animals, poaching, illegal bow fishing, hunting, polluted runoff, off-leash dogs and endless trash.

Eastern Kingbird nesting, Dixie Sommers

Six species of birds that breed in Dyke Marsh are on Virginia’s list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need: Black and White Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Green Heron and Least Bittern. 

And while it is a favorite place to watch birds and other wildlife, Dyke Marsh is much more than birds. It provides ecological services, including flood control, storm buffering, water quality enhancement, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and shoreline stabilization.

Saving Dyke Marsh

Over half of Dyke Marsh was hauled away by dredgers from 1940 to 1972, which destabilized the whole hydrologic system, two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies concluded. USGS reported that in 1940, the wetland part of the preserve was around 180 acres. By 2010, it was around 53 acres. The dredging that removed around 101 acres or 54 percent of the 1937 marsh was a strong destabilizing force, transforming it from a net depositional state to a net erosional state.

In 2010 and 2013, the USGS concluded that Dyke Marsh was eroding six to eight feet or 1.5 to two acres per year a year on average and at an accelerating rate. They predicted that at this rate Dyke Marsh would be gone by 2035. 

Said USGS: “Analysis of field evidence, aerial photography, and published maps has revealed an accelerating rate of erosion and marsh loss at Dyke Marsh, which now appears to put at risk the short-term survivability of this marsh.” 

NSP prepared a restoration plan and, with the help of the Friends of Dyke Marsh (FODM or the Friends) and other organizations, received over $25 million to stabilize the marsh. In 2013, then Interior Secretary Sally Jewell came to the marsh to announce the funding and a restoration-stabilization plan. In 2020, NPS completed phase one, construction of a breakwater that replicates a former promontory that protected the marsh. USGS identified the breakwater as a priority that would “redirect erosive flows in the marsh, particularly during strong storms and re-establish hydrologic conditions that would encourage sediment accretion.” In 2022, NPS’s contractor completed four sills north of the breakwater to also help stem erosion and encourage accretion.

FODM Projects

Another restoration effort is underway as well. Many of the upland areas of the marsh, especially along the trails, are overrun with invasive plants, like much of northern Virginia’s habitat. FODM teams work twice a month to control invasive plants near the Haul Road Trail, where most people visit the marsh. In June, FODM recently received a Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation grant to control three plots infested with mile-a-minute, porcelain berry, English ivy and other non-native plants. In one area in 2018, after clearing invasive plants, volunteers and NPS staff planted over 4,000 native trees and plants. NVBA helped fund the purchase of the plants.

The Friends have several other projects:

• breeding bird, butterfly, dragonfly and plant surveys;

• treatment of 20 pumpkin ash trees to combat the invasive emerald ash borer;

• a wildlife monitoring camera;

• planting black willow stakes to stabilize the marsh;

• guided walks focused on birds every Sunday; 

• other periodic walks focused on butterflies, trees, ecology and plants’ fall colors; 

• trash cleanups;

• water testing;

• annual raptor event;

• advocating for national parks, clean water and other issues; and

• public meetings with speakers on conservation topics.

Dyke Marsh like many natural areas offer what Henry David Thoreau called “the tonic of wildness.” The best way to really see Dyke Marsh is in a kayak or canoe. We hope you will visit and try nature’s restorative elixir. We invite you to join the Friends of Dyke Marsh by visiting our website, where you also can find more information about the marsh and a printable bird checklist.

Fall color at Dyke Marsh, Dixie Sommers

Good News at the I-95 Landfill to Help Offset Some Bad News

Photo: Bobolink, Gerald Sneegas/Audubon Photography Awards

Eastern Meadowlarks, Haoyu Li/Audubon Photography Awards

First, the bad news: The U.S North American Bird Conservation Initiative just released its State of the Birds 2025 report, and the birds with the most dire losses continue to be grassland birds, a 43% decline since 1970. The report calls out the need for proactive conservation initiatives, particularly across the Midwest and Great Plains, where conversion of grasslands for row-crop agriculture, woody plant invasion, and drought are causing collapse of a crucial resource. The report cites some positive actions, including a National Audubon Society initiative, the Conservation Ranching program, which is creating partnerships to convert marginal cropland to grassland.

Grasshopper Sparrow, Susan Ward/Audubon Photography Awards

Now, the good news: Although urbanization in northern Virginia has eliminated most grassland habitat in our area, Fairfax County’s I-95 Landfill has taken steps to protect grassland birds by adjusting mowing procedures at the landfill. NVBA had suggested that the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) find a way to protect grassland birds at the closed landfill while still complying with regulatory mowing requirements that ensure adequate landfill monitoring. In response, in February 2024, the Board of Supervisors directed DPWES to identify a no-mow area for the bird nesting season and develop a pilot plan for landfill procedures that could protect grassland birds. 

Blair Evancho, a DPWES intern, then organized a survey conducted between August 22 and October 17, 2024, and produced the I-95 Landfill Complex Grassland Habitat Program Pilot Study Report, which identified 39 bird species in the study area, including three of regional or continental concern: Eastern Meadowlark, Bobolink, and Grasshopper Sparrow. The most recorded birds were Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, American Kestrel, and Eastern Meadowlark, all of which are experiencing population declines. The study confirmed that grassland birds were using the habitat provided by the no-mow area.

The study outlines a bird-friendly standard operating procedure for the landfill:

1. Annual mowing in the no-mow area only between September 15 and April 1, except where required to maintain methane well access

2. If feasible, annual mowing scheduled to take place only between February 15 and April 1

3. Setting blades for mowers and bushhogs to eight inches or higher

4. A staff survey around the methane well mowing path before turning the blade on

5. No more than two mowers and/or bushhogs active at the same time in the no-mow area

The study includes some further recommendations for conservation: long-term monitoring at the landfill, identifying and monitoring the locations of nests in the no-mow area, installation of additional American Kestrel nest boxes inside and outside of the no-mow area, planting native grasses and forbs to replace the predominant non-native grasses, and additional public education. To learn more about the study and the landfill listen to Fairfax County’s EnviroPod Episode 52.

NVBA is truly grateful that Fairfax County developed and implemented a plan to protect grassland birds within its jurisdiction. We hope this initiative can serve as a model for other closed landfills, creating islands of valuable habitat for grassland birds.

Let Dead Plant Material Lie

Photo: Ilex verticallata and Monarda in the snow, Margaret Fisher

Plant NOVA Natives

Our splendid native plants are going dormant for the winter and leaving behind their seed heads and dead stalks as a reminder of growing season glory. Many of us are inclined to perceive these remnants as unsightly “garden debris” that should be cut and cleared sooner rather than later. Better now than in the spring, right?

Wrong! Dead native plant material is integral to a healthy ecosystem. An essential support for the populations of pollinators and other animals upon which we all depend, nothing comes close to replacing its role in the health of a diverse ecosystem. Before trotting out the clippers and rakes, consider this:

Dead stalks: Many dead stalks of native plants contain hollow spaces that are like 5-star winter resorts for the insect world. We may frown at their appearance, but native bees, among others, are industriously and ingeniously taking advantage of them in surprising ways. Adorable little bees that are so tiny you may never have noticed them are laying eggs, hibernating, and otherwise snuggling down for the harsh winter in the stem shelter of the native plants we installed. Insects aren’t the only critters who profit. Dead plant material provides shelter and nesting resources for birds and many others.

Dead leaves: Butterflies can spend the winter in leaf litter as caterpillars and chrysalises. The Mourning Cloak, Question Mark, and Comma butterflies, for example, overwinter in dead leaves as adults after entering a dormant phase called "diapause." Moth species such as Luna Moth and Isabella Tiger Moth also pupate in leaf litter. Salamanders, some turtles and other creatures find shelter there as well.

Seeds and berries: Seeds on flowerheads and winter berries are an important source of nourishment for both resident and migrating birds and are consumed throughout the fall and winter. Living or dead, native plant material has immense value for wildlife.

Living soil: Dead and decomposing plant materials are valuable components of soil. Gardeners and landscapers spend considerable time and money on store-bought organic material to condition the clay soil often encountered in northern Virginia. But the decomposing plant material already present helps build humus, a dark organic material comprised of approximately 60% carbon, 6% nitrogen, and small amounts of phosphorus and sulfur. Humus-rich soil encourages a proliferation of beneficial soil organisms and microorganisms. It also holds moisture and retains soil structure for better air and water circulation. The decomposition process creates very fertile ground indeed for native plant gardening.

Armed with this expanded understanding, it seems that the best fall cleanup strategy is to not have one: leave the stalks, stems and leaves alone and let them lie right where they are over the winter. A light cleanup or pruning in early spring to encourage new growth can be done with little or no harm to local wildlife. More information on garden and landscape maintenance can be found on the Plant NOVA Natives website.

We would be remiss not to include a word here about gardening aesthetics. We humans care about how things look. In daily life, surrounded by people, garden beauty and aesthetics will always be a consideration. Our definition of “garden beauty,” however, can certainly evolve. Are not waving seedheads more interesting than bare ground? And is it not beautiful that all kinds of animals need our pollinator gardens for more than just pollen? That our efforts not only attract pollinators but enable their very survival? That it takes just a bit of forbearance to advance and strengthen the biodiversity of the region?

Let’s pause the garden cleanup until spring, and then be gentle on the emerging life.

Protect The Wildlife You Attract

Photo: Northern Cardinals, Donald Wuori/Audubon Photography Awards

By Plant NOVA Natives

Market demand for native plants in our region has clearly risen in the past ten years. This is a very positive trend, fueled by an increased awareness of the benefits that native plants offer. It is also a sheer delight to see wildlife respond to our efforts, enjoying the food and shelter that a healthier environment offers.

However, a word of caution is in order. Elements of the landscape may pose serious hazards to the very wildlife that we’ve attracted. Are we drawing them closer, only to have them harmed by an avoidable threat to their health and wellbeing? In some cases, the answer is clearly yes. Here are some suggestions for identifying and addressing some of the more common threats.

Cats: The biggest threat to birds is habitat loss, but the second biggest is domestic cats. When allowed outdoors, they devastate populations of birds - an estimated 2.4 billion are killed by cats every year in the United States alone. But they also kill other small critters such as frogs, voles, and lizards. Domestic cats are an introduced species that have no place in our landscape.

Window strikes: The American Bird Conservancy estimates that window collisions kill up to 1 billion birds each year. The victims are not limited to migratory species striking large glass buildings in cities. They include our local backyard birds as they fly back and forth. The American Bird Conservancy has tested some inexpensive deterrents and discusses them on their website. One featured example is “Feather Friendly”® decals, adhesive dots that make the glass more visible to birds. Note that whatever product you choose, it is better to apply it to the exterior of the window. Internally-installed products are less effective when reflections on the glass are strong.

Outdoor lighting: Bright outdoor lighting is a life-threatening hazard to birds that migrate at night, disorienting them and disrupting their sense of direction to the point of exhaustion and death. Outdoor lighting also devastates fireflies, moths, and other nocturnal animals. As much as possible, turn off outdoor lighting, especially during peak migration periods (March 1 to June 15 and August 15 to November 30). Before 11 pm, turn off any lighting that may be directed upward, or at least consider adding a down-shield. Swap out light bulbs for warm spectrum LED (3000 K or less) to make them less attractive to insects.

Mosquito spraying: It is impossible to spray for mosquitoes without killing other insects as well, including bees, butterflies, caterpillars, ladybugs, and dragonflies. The residual effects of the pesticide will last for weeks, yet the intended effect is rather short lived, as mosquitoes can fly up to 2 miles and quickly repopulate the treated areas. Several less harmful tactics can keep them at bay. Mosquitoes are weak fliers, so turn on an electric fan on your deck to blow them away. Use mosquito repellents such as DEET. Most importantly, search your property for places that accumulate water where mosquitoes can breed, such as buckets, toys, downspouts, or the saucers under plant pots.

Rat poison: Rat poison is designed to smell and taste good to mice and rats, but it can be just as appealing to other mammals as well. Even if placed inside, the poison can be carried outside by the mice and rats to where other wild animals can find it. But most cases of wildlife poisoning do not occur from direct consumption. Rather, poisoning occurs secondarily when a raptor eats a poisoned animal. The poison then accumulates in the raptor’s body, leading to the same kind of slow and agonizing death for the bird as it does for the mammal. More environmentally-friendly ways to keep rats and mice out of your home include sealing all entry points, securing food resources such as birdseed, pet food, and trash, making sure rodent nesting materials such as shredded paper or fabric are not available, or adding nest boxes for raptors to attract them to your yard. One barn owl can consume a thousand mice in a year, and that is a conservative estimate.

Nandina berries: Nandina is native to eastern Asia but has been a landscaping favorite across our region for a long time, mostly due to the profuse red berries it produces in late fall that persist through winter. Nandina berries, however, contain cyanide and other alkaloids that are deadly to birds when consumed in large volumes. There are many beautiful native substitutes for the invasive nandina, such as Winterberry and Red Chokeberry.

The NVBA website has more details on avoiding these and other human-made hazards.

As always, awareness is everything. When viewed more holistically, native plants are one piece in the larger puzzle of ecosystem restoration. Other factors complete the picture, including soil health, animals, favorable climate conditions, and fewer environmental risks, with each piece interdependent upon the other.

Life at the Landfill: Much More than Trash

Photo: The landfill’s “no mow” area, Glenda C. Booth

Glenda C. Booth
Originally printed in Connection Newspapers, September 11, 2024

As multi-ton garbage trucks roll in and out 24 hours a day to unload the never-ending detritus of modern life and mammoth forklifts rumble over the I-95 landfill at Lorton, just over the hill, a very different kind of life abounds.

Amid the crickets’ constant chirping, keen listeners may hear the tinkling call of a bobolink. Their fall call is “a repeated ink,” says the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Bobolinks are seven-inch-long birds that live and forage in tall grasses and winter in South America.

Bobolinks migrate through Northern Virginia in the spring and fall and are “very rare in the eastern United States,” says Greg Butcher, retired U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist. Why are these birds at the landfill? Bobolinks prefer grasslands, a rare and diminishing habitat. Grassland acreage in Virginia may be less than .0001 percent what it was pre-colonization, according to Justin Folks, Natural Resources Conservation Service. “The eastern United States has lost 99 percent of its grassland since European settlement,” notes Butcher. 

The landfill’s “no mow” area, Glenda C. Booth

No Mow

This year, managers designated 50 acres of the 500-acre landfill as a “no-mow” zone, as directed in February by the Board of Supervisors and recommended by the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance. The goal is to avoid mowing during grassland birds’ spring and early summer nesting season. This area has not been mowed since September 2023. By letting the grasses grow, managers have in effect created a grassland. Butcher comments, “I’ve spent a lot of time and energy working with the people at the landfill because it has the largest patch of grassland in eastern Fairfax County.”

Grassland birds are “among the fastest-declining bird species in the U.S., with a 34 percent loss since 1970,” a National Audubon Society 2022 report concluded. “The landfill supports populations of five key eastern grassland bird species,” Butcher reports.

Preparing a Plan

Blair Evancho, a May college graduate and county intern, and Carlos Leiva, a county employee, are conducting bird surveys, especially identifying birds that are “regionally rare and specialize in grasslands,” explains Evancho. “This habitat supports species that are not supported elsewhere.”

In other words, the point is not just the total number of birds or species, but documenting birds not typically found in other area habitats. Other grassland birds they have seen include Eastern meadowlarks, grasshopper sparrows and dickcissels. Butcher calls the dickcissel “a Midwestern bird.”

The landfill is in fact an Ebird hotspot, with at least 126 species identified over the last 15 years, most not grassland birds. On September 5, vultures soared and crows called. Observers spotted Eastern phoebes and American kestrels. On July 31, Butcher confirmed 13 species, including wild turkeys, common ravens and chimney swifts.

On September 5, the no-mow area was alive with insects, including butterflies (monarchs, cloudless sulfur, cabbage and tiger and black swallowtail), beetles, bees and dragonflies. “There are grasshoppers everywhere,” Evancho observed.

Grassland flowers, Glenda C. Booth

The area has a mix of wildflowers, native grasses and lespedeza. Bright yellow bearded beggar tick and Queen Anne’s lace plants punctuated the landscape as fox tail grasses swayed in the breeze. Bull thistles were shedding their seeds. Goldfinches use these seeds for building nests in August, said Butcher. “This is when seeds are available.”

Fairfax County official Eric Forbes touts the county’s “sustainability-minded management.” 

“We planted our first native meadows at the site in 2016 for pollinators and wildlife, now we are managing traditionally mowed turf areas to allow for grassland bird nesting,” Forbes says. “Hopefully we can show that altering our mowing schedule will allow native birds to breed, setting an example that helps our department’s sustainable community goal and meets our environmental compliance requirements for landfill management. This project can change how landfill operators and regulators manage mowed turf areas to allow for harmony with native bird species and other critical wildlife.” Forbes is Deputy Director, Solid Waste Management Program of the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.

Evancho will analyze his data and prepare management protocols for the 50 acres. The Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes recommends February 15 to April 1 as the “optimal time for field management” to protect breeding and nesting grassland birds.

Meanwhile, this part of the landfill is becoming a rare and rich grassland.

Help Trees Thrive: Tear Up Some Turf

Photo: Tree surrounded by native shade plants, courtesy of Plant NOVA Natives

Elaine Kolish

It’s fairly common in residential neighborhoods to see trees surrounded by grass or by small mulch beds, often heaped high like a volcano. But did you know that your trees would be healthier and grow faster if you replaced that turf and those mulch volcanos with a 2-4” deep ring of mulch that extends out to the tree’s drip line or even beyond? Let’s look at why this is.

Tree roots are not as deep underground as you might think. Instead, they generally are fairly shallow, in the upper six inches of the soil, which is where turf grass roots grow. This means trees and turf are competing for the same water and nutrients in the soil. The grass generally wins. And of course, as trees become more established, the shade they cast doesn’t do the turf any favors. Turf grass does best with lots of sunlight, and dense shade significantly affects grass growth and quality. Another factor to consider is that exposed tree roots in your lawn can be a tripping hazard that you can avoid if the root area is part of a mulched bed. In addition, when you mow over the grass that is around tree roots, you could be damaging the tree roots, both with the mower blades and by compacting the soil.

If you wonder how much difference turf under trees can make, one study reported that trees in turf grow at half the rate of trees that are not dealing with that competition. So, if you want vigorous tree growth, no turf or less turf under them is best.

Tree surrounded by native shade plants, courtesy of Plant NOVA Natives

Another wonderful benefit from eliminating or reducing turf is the improvement in the survival rate of the caterpillars that turn into butterflies and moths that in turn bring beauty into our lives and environmental benefits. According to Doug Tallamy, a famous professor of entomology and wildlife ecology, a hard-packed lawn underneath a tree does not provide adequate pupation sites for caterpillars that may have been feeding on your native tree, such as an oak. The caterpillar may find no leaf litter (because the lawn has been cleaned up) in which to spin a cocoon, or if it is a species that burrows into the soil, it won’t find any loose soil if there is only turf under the tree. And we need these insects, not just for their beauty, but for their roles as pollinators and as food for other wildlife. As E.O. Wilson, the eminent ecologist, famously said, insects are “the little things that run the world.”

So, consider eliminating the turf under your trees or combining various smaller mulched areas into a bigger area. Your trees will be happier (and you will have less lawn to mow and maintain)! But, remember, don’t let the mulch touch the trees—stay one to two inches away from the trunk to avoid bark rot. Too deep a mulch layer will keep water from reaching the soil – two to four inches is ideal. Best of all is to use arborist wood chips (which you can get for free from Chip Drop or from any tree company that needs to dispose of the chips after felling a tree), as they don’t mat down the way standard bagged mulch may. 

Once you have wider rings around the trees, you will have the opportunity to create more biodiversity and habitat by under-planting with native plants including shrubs, flowers and ground covers that thrive in shade or part shade. Think ferns and wild ginger. Native plants have different root depths compared to turf grass, so you won’t have the same unhealthy competition for water and nutrients that you did with turf. You can find details about these plants on the Plant NOVA Natives website.

Pushing back the turf is a project you can do before the ground freezes, or you can start planning your beds now, while other garden tasks are on hold, for spring.

A Combined Effort to Stretch Monticello Park

Photo: Scouts rehabilitating the trail at Monticello Park, Deidra Bryant

Deidra Bryant

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving more than 30 volunteers came together for a service project at Monticello Park in Alexandria. The volunteers -- neighbors, members of the North Ridge Citizens’ Association, local Boy Scouts, Arlington and Fairfax Regional Master Naturalists, birdwatchers, and members and friends of ASNV -- rolled up their sleeves and went to work restoring trails damaged by erosion and removing invasive plant species from a property that abuts the park, all as part of ASNV’s Stretch Our Parks program. This was the second work project at Monticello Park this Fall, and for both events an essential partner has been the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities, which provided guidance on appropriate trail work, as well as supplies of mulch, tools, and, for the first event, native trees and shrubs to plant.

Before I describe the project itself, I want to provide some background information on the importance of the park to the local ecology. In addition to being a much-used neighborhood park for children, dog walkers, and nearby residents, Monticello Park is an important resource for resident and migrating birds. The park is roughly 7 acres of old growth forest and is a stopover site for migrating songbirds. The park provides a place where birds can rest, bathe, drink, and feed in the vegetation and along the small stream that goes through the park. It’s a green oasis located in a highly developed area, so it is a popular spot for birders to find warblers and grosbeaks easily, especially in the springtime. Bill Young, a writer and frequent lecturer for ASNV, and his friend Ashley Bradford, a naturalist and photographer, created the MPNature website in 2018 to help people know what to look for when preparing to visit, understand what they are seeing when in the park, and learn more about what they have seen once they return home. The site includes interesting and accessible natural history essays about the animals and plants that can be found at Monticello Park.

Scouts rehabilitating the trail, Deidra Bryant

So, the work on that Sunday: The trail restoration work, which required some heavy lifting, relied on the strong backs of Boy Scouts from Troop 129. They helped haul 50+ bags of shredded pine bark mulch to a trail with a lot of exposed roots. The erosion is caused by people walking on the path, which wears down the substrate and packs it down far enough to expose tree roots. The exposed roots are a tripping hazard but also endanger the trees’ health: they are easily damaged, exposing the tree to infection and limiting water uptake. The remedy is mulch, about 2-3 inches, spread evenly over the trail and exposed roots. It retains moisture and protects the roots while giving the path a clean look. Protecting tree health improves habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals like squirrels who make their homes in the canopy. Last year the Boy Scouts planted young trees by the park’s stream. Their troop leader, Andy Berlett, said the experience gives scouts an understanding of how to be good stewards of a park and the environment. 

Volunteer attacking invasive vines, Deidra Bryant

On private property that is adjacent to Monticello Park and under a Northern Virginia Conservation Trust easement, ASNV board member Gary Shinners, with the landowner’s permission, led a group of volunteers in clearing a number of choking invasive plant species – thereby stretching the ecological benefits Monticello Park provides. The target plants included Wineberry, Amur Honeysuckle, English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, and Porcelain Berry. The volunteers helped clear thickets, uproot woody invasives, and properly dispose of them. It can be heavy work, employing shovels, hand saws, loppers, hedge shears, and heavy-duty landscaping gloves for pulling out thorny plants. To dispose of the plants, volunteers collected the debris in garbage bags for disposal. If the plants are composted, their seeds and roots can be transported to another property. 

Clearing invasives gives native species a chance to thrive. When an invasive plant propagates in an area, it monopolizes a space and outcompetes natives for resources like sunlight, soil nutrients, and water absorption. The invasion decreases plant biodiversity, and ultimately degrades wildlife habitat. Some of the invasives, like Porcelain Berry, produce large amounts of seeds, which can be distributed by local wildlife, or Wineberry and Himalayan Blackberry, whose seeds can be carried great distances by the wind. Some invasives have aggressive root systems that will spread long distances and smother the root systems of surrounding vegetation. 

Two of the most abundant invasives the volunteers worked on were Porcelain Berry and Amur Honeysuckle. Porcelain Berry is a deciduous woody vine that invades damp, shady areas and forms dense mats that crowd out native vegetation. It also climbs trees. Amur Honeysuckle is one of the most common and invasive bush honeysuckles found in the Mid-Atlantic region. It impedes reforestation of cut or disturbed areas, preventing reestablishment of native plants by leafing out earlier than most natives and forming dense thickets that shade out most native species. Information on the two invaders, along with control strategies, is available on the Blue Ridge PRISM website.

The Stretch Our Parks service project at Monticello Park was a great success. The project helped protect tree canopy and removed invasive species to allow the valuable habitat in the park to stretch beyond its boundaries. The activity tapped into neighborhood appreciation for the park and provided hands-on ways to care for the park and its surrounding areas. The cleanup also helped new volunteers learn to identify invasive plants and remove them. Watch our newsletter and website for more projects like this one.

And, we are hopeful it can serve as a model for other areas – by demonstrating how parks, neighbors and their neighborhood associations, and other community groups like scouts, can work together to conserve and expand our urban forests and support native wildlife. 

Attracting Pollinators to Upton Hill Park

Photo: Pollinator Garden, Musa Murawih

Musa Murawih

Starting in 2020, I worked with volunteers to move some of the native plant bounty from my yard into Upton Hill Regional Park, in Arlington. What started as an isolated project has evolved into one element of a larger ASNV program, Stretch Our Parks. The program brings ASNV together with parks, partners, volunteers, and the communities surrounding the parks to increase valuable native habitat. But let’s back up and review how I got here.

My first memory of connecting with birds was when I was 6 years old. My brother and I were walking among sunt trees (Prickly Acacia, Vachellia nilotica) on the edge of the Diwaimi wadi in the desert of North Kordofan, Sudan. A male of what was likely a Nile Valley Sunbird was feeding on nectar of the abundant yellow flowers, jumping from branch to branch as it sang. It flashed its wings and long tail feathers showing the stunning yellow, green, blue, and other iridescent colors. I was immediately enchanted. When my dad came back from work, I told him I wanted a shirt as pretty as the sunbird! 

Birds enchant us for many reasons. It is not just their central role in supporting life on this planet. They are the very embodiment of some of the ideals we cherish most: beauty and freedom. 

The sunt trees in the valley were sort of our backyard. I say that only figuratively because our home was a wool tent, and we only stayed there for the summer season, before moving to higher grounds in anticipation of the rain. The birds, the animals, and my community all shared the trees. Our tent was pitched under a group of them for extra shade. Their gum was our candy. We used their fruits to heal ailments or tan animal skins. For us to survive, they needed to survive. 

Many years and places have passed since that childhood memory. My home is no longer North Kordofan, but northern Virginia. My camel is a Subaru Forester. The wool tent is a home in suburbia. Yet the basics remain: regardless of where we reside and what passport we carry, we need to share this planet with other creatures, and trees and other plants are front and center in this resource-sharing equation.

The author planting his pollinator garden, Houda Karrar

That is why ASNV, on whose Board I sit, is currently embarking on an exciting endeavor that is close to my heart. The Stretch Our Parks collaborative project is intended to link some of the existing area parks with the neighborhoods and backyards around them. Audubon is working with management, stewards, and neighbors of those parks to improve habitat so that birds and wildlife can also find refuge in our neighborhoods. As an immigrant who came to America seeking refuge, I can certainly relate.

We can all help in this effort, and no help is too small. We can hang a bird feeder in our property or put a birdbath in the yard. We can stop using harmful pesticides on our lawns. We can remove invasives at our homes. We can choose to plant a native tree next time we want to plant one. 

My pollinator garden, Musa Murawih

On my end, I removed a three-foot wide strip of lawn along the wall of my townhouse and replaced it with a native pollinator garden. The project was so successful that I did not know what to do with my excess flowers. Then, as I was teaming up with other volunteers to remove invasives at Upton Hill Regional Park, I had a small eureka moment: why don’t I transplant some of my flowers to Upton Hill? So I did. With the help of Upton Hill’s manager Evan McGurrin, Park Steward Jill Barker, my fellow ASNV Board member Joan Haffey, and a team of park volunteers, we cleared three small areas where I began to transplant flowers starting in the fall of 2020. 

Cleared area for plantings at Upton Hill Regional Park, Musa Murawih

The beds are now in their third season. My goal is to make these pollinator gardens self-sustaining, and I am hopeful they will be in the next couple of seasons. 

The Stretch Our Parks work shows how important it is to see habitat and wildlife as one thing. When I think back about that sunbird childhood memory today, I don’t only see the sunbirds; I also see the row of sunt trees, the habitat that fed and supported them.

The author with Showy Goldenrod in its second season, Jill Barker

Shopping for the birds

Photo: Native plant tag, Margaret Fisher

Margaret Fisher

With a little planning, our plant choices can make the difference between a community that supports the birds and butterflies and a community that completely displaces them. The key is to pick native plants, the ones that evolved right here with those critters and provide them the food they need to survive. Native trees and shrubs are especially important, but even the tiniest plants play an important role in the ecosystem.

Native plant tag, Margaret Fisher

How do you tell if a plant is native to our area? A simple way is to look for the red “Northern Virginia Native” stickers at participating nurseries. Over fifty volunteers from the Plant NOVA Natives campaign have been labeling the natives in those garden centers. The trees get hang tags, and the other plants get red stickers. You won’t find the stickers in the annuals sections, though, since those plants are purely ornamental and not locally native. Since turnover is rapid this time of year, making it hard for volunteers to keep up with the labeling, you might want to take along a copy of the Native Plants for Northern Virginia guide, or use the online pdf or search app.

Any even simpler way to guarantee that a plant is native is to buy it from someone who only sells native plants. There are four garden centers in Northern Virginia that do just that. In addition, periodic native plant sale events are held around the region in the spring and the fall.

Spring planting for many people consists primarily of filling pots with colorful flowers. The absence of annuals might seem like a problem until you learn that native plants make excellent container specimens as well, with the added advantage that they only need to be planted once, since they will overwinter in the pot and provide the fun of watching their tender leaves emerge in the spring. Visits to the blooms from butterflies and hummingbirds add even more enjoyment. The Plant NOVA Natives website has plant suggestions for container gardening, but almost any native can be used for this purpose if the container is big enough.

Partnerships Mean Success—Upton Hill Regional Park

Photo: Lindsay Clark, THINK Global School via Flickr

Joan Haffey

In November 2020, ASNV became part of an Upton Hill Regional Park support team that has worked together to improve both habitat restoration and activities welcoming to underserved groups.

Stag antler rubbing, Joan Haffey

Work by the partnership includes the Black and Latin/Hispanic Bird and Nature Walk series that continues in various forms. In its latest iteration, children from Falls Church’s Culmore Branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington come repeatedly to the park to learn about nature, meet live animals, and explore the park’s wooded areas. The photo at right shows one of the participants identifying correctly a stag antler rubbing at the park. Partners for this series include NOVA Parks, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)/Arlington, Arlington Regional Master Naturalists (ARMN), and ASNV.

Last spring, Paul Gilbert, NOVA Parks Director, and various Arlington County leaders presided over a public ceremony where volunteer walk leaders and supporters from all partner agencies won NOVA Parks awards for their efforts. In a separate ceremony on December 8, 2022, Paul Gilbert presented a new award to Evan McGurrin, Park Manager, acknowledging the NOVA Parks employee making the most notable contribution to achievement of the agency’s five-year strategic plan. You can read about the partnership and the event here and in a separate article in the Sun Gazette.

Under the able leadership of McGurrin and Jill Barker, ARMN Park Steward, ASNV also participates actively in habitat restoration in the park, with ASNV board members taking part in regular invasive plant removals and donating native plants for the restoration. ASNV also provided the park one of its conservation grants. Other partners in the restoration have included ARMN members and youth from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, among others.

ASNV has begun discussions with Upton Hill Regional Park to develop even more connections with the surrounding community for projects both within the park and, potentially, on adjoining properties to expand and improve native habitat for the benefit of native birds and other wildlife. We will report regularly on progress in these efforts in the future. Stay tuned!