October 2020

Photo: American Goldfinch, Hazel Erikson

Tom Blackburn

Goldfinches always make me smile. The male birds’ bright yellow plumage and black wings with white racing stripes liven up our garden as the flowers are starting to fade away. Goldfinches are the circus acrobats of our garden as they balance on our coneflowers while pulling them apart to reach the seeds. Then they launch into bouncy flight, calling on each upward swoop, like children at the crest of each roller coaster rise. 

At this time of year, Northern Cardinals often look scruffy as they molt. Scarlet Tanagers have turned from bright red to dirty yellow, if you can find them at all. Warblers have turned from spectacular to confusing and European Starlings have shed their iridescent feathers for spotted winter coats. I find their cast-off feathers in the yard. However, goldfinches breed later than other songbirds to take advantage of midsummer and early autumn seeds. As a result, they are still exuberantly yellow well into fall. 

I still remember flocks of thirty or more brilliantly-colored goldfinches swooping onto our lawn when I was growing up. It was almost as exciting as the day I saw my first Indigo Bunting shining in the afternoon sunlight. However, there aren’t as many goldfinches as there were when I was a child. The now-famous study documenting the loss of 3 billion birds found that there are 35% fewer birds in the finch family than there were in 1970. It’s likely that there is an even greater decline in goldfinches as compared to 60 or so years ago, when I remember seeing their flocks in the yard. 

Would you like to encourage goldfinches to visit your yard?  Unlike most songbirds, goldfinches eat seeds almost exclusively. They love zinnias and coneflowers, and we never regret watching them remove flower petals to get at the seeds. Among native plants: sunflowers, thistles and milkweed are favorites. If you have a bird feeder, be sure to stock it with sunflower and Nyjer seeds. The goldfinches will thank you with their bright colors and enthusiastic habits. 

September 2020

Photo: Bald Eagles, Randy Streufert

Tom Blackburn

“It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime.” With those words, referencing Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a federal court judge has invalidated a U.S. Department of the Interior memorandum that eliminated more than 100 years of protection for migratory birds. Prior to the DOI memorandum, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 had been interpreted as making it illegal to take actions that resulted in the killing of birds. The memorandum would have applied the law only to actions that intentionally killed birds. The court’s decision ensures that environmental disasters such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which killed more than 1 million birds, will continue to be subject to penalties.    

The lawsuit that led to the court’s decision was brought by the National Audubon Society, among other plaintiffs. It is a reminder that Audubon chapters, including ASNV, are not simply organizations of bird watchers. Women established the first Audubon Society at the end of the 19th century to stop the killing of egrets for their plumes and to protect birds from market hunting for food. We have come a long way from the days when hundreds of millions of Passenger Pigeons were killed, leading to their extinction; and the days when millions of songbirds, and particularly robins, were killed for food. Advocating to protect birds and the environment is still a core mission of all Audubon Society chapters. 

Most of ASNV’s advocacy efforts focus on environmental issues that affect Northern Virginia and matters of statewide importance, but we also urge Virginia legislators to take action on Federal environmental issues. Most recently, we helped draft a joint letter from the National Audubon Society and other Virginia Audubon chapters urging the Governor and the General Assembly to preserve budgetary language providing for compensatory mitigation in connection with actions that cause harm to birds or other wildlife. We also urged the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to support provisions for natural landscaping at county facilities and we are working on letters urging Virginia senators and representatives to support Federal legislation to reduce the amount of pollution from plastics.  

Protecting the environment requires constant vigilance. The loss of 3 billion North American birds in the last 50 years, nearly 30% of our bird population, is stark evidence of the importance of environmental advocacy. ASNV is committed to its mission – to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

August 2020

Photo: Red Crossbills, Brenda Frank

Tom Blackburn

In July and August, there’s not as much new or interesting in the birding world as there is during the rest of the year. Most birds have nested, their young have fledged, there’s less bird song in the morning and fall migration is several weeks away. Normally, this is when my wife and I head out for a vacation, but two trips never got beyond the planning stage due to the pandemic. Seriously in need of a get-away without compromising our health, we packed a lunch and drinks and headed out for a socially-distanced day trip to the West Virginia border to search for birds we’d not seen before – Red Crossbills.  

Red Crossbills are my new favorite bird – at least for this month. Aptly named, their mandibles cross at the tips. They feed primarily on the seeds in pinecones, and their bills have evolved to maximize the efficiency of their foraging. They insert their partially opened bill between the scales of the cone, then close it, forcing the scales apart, and use their tongue and bill to pull out the seeds. Much like the Galapagos Finches, Red Crossbills have evolved into several “types” with different bill sizes based on which species of conifer is prevalent in the area where they live. 

Red Crossbill, Brenda Frank

Red Crossbills breed primarily in Canada, the Rockies and the Northwest, but range maps show three small regions along the Appalachians where they are found year-round. We headed for the closest spot where they are seen regularly, Briery Branch Gap, wondering whether a 5 ½ hour round trip would be productive. We didn’t have to wonder long. As we pulled off the road, we saw our first crossbill singing in a tree. In the next hour, we watched as many as 28 birds at a time – reddish males, yellowish females and sparrow-striped juveniles – flying from tree to tree, then gathering in a dense mass on the ground to eat grit from the road to aid their digestion. Their chatter and songs were almost continuous. Once we’d had our fill of crossbills, we walked forest roads searching for other birds, then had a relaxed lunch in the forest.  

The pandemic will be with us for a good while, but you can still manage to change your routine without having to worry about infection. You can explore significant portions of 6 states within 120 miles of Northern Virginia and still get home in time for dinner. So, get out and enjoy nature – and stay safe! 

July 2020

Photo: Bay View Trail at Mason Neck State Park, VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation

Tom Blackburn

The covid-19 pandemic had the unexpected result of showing people how important outdoor spaces are for easing the stress of lost jobs, closed schools and worries about infection. But there was another side to the sudden enthusiasm for nature. One Northern Virginia park that remained open had five times its normal number of visitors in April and May. Another local park experienced ten times the number of visitors they had planned on. The number of people venturing into the outdoors for exercise and solace, although soothing and stress-releasing for them, has conversely contributed to more stress on the parks. 

As we transition to Phase Three of reopening in Virginia, please “give back” to parks and other outdoor spaces so they can continue to provide the benefits that are so important to us. Good environmental stewardship involves more than simply following the "Leave No Trace" principles of outdoor activity. It also includes taking action to improve our environment. State and county budgets have been hard-hit by the economic downturn caused by the virus. It is inevitable that park budgets will be substantially affected, making it even more important for all of us who enjoy the outdoors to do our part to sustain and improve it. Here are a few things you could do as a steward of the environment:

• Take a small bag with you when you hike, paddle our waterways or birdwatch, and pick up trash as you go.  The Cache In Trash Out initiative of the geocaching community is a great example of how to leave nature better than you found it.  

• Volunteer to help at a local park. You can plant native plants, remove invasive species, restore trails that were damaged by heavy usage or take on jobs that the parks no longer have the financial resources to perform.  Fairfax County’s Opportunity Search page currently lists more than 300 volunteer opportunities, most of them in county parks. You can also find opportunities to volunteer on the websites for Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William Counties, as well as the websites for other counties and cities. Most of these jobs can be done while maintaining social distancing.     

• Donate to nonprofit organizations that help protect and enhance the environment. Donations are a great way to help if you can’t get out and do “hands on” work.  

Taking care of yourself and others in our community is the most important effort during the pandemic.  But if you can also help to sustain and improve our environment, please do your part to help. Taking care of nature is everyone’s responsibility.  

June 2020

Photo: Yellow Flag Irises, Tom Blackburn

By Tom Blackburn

Last week, I decided to change my exercise routine by taking my kayak to Mason Neck State Park. But when I got into the boat my workout plans faded away, overwhelmed by the quiet beauty of a cloudless, balmy morning.  

Paddling slowly gave me an opportunity to fully experience my surroundings. The Osprey platform by the Visitor Center was empty.  This year, as happened in the two previous years, a pair of Canada Geese fought off the Ospreys and hatched a brood of goslings 60 feet above the ground. The geese are gone, of course; the young left the platform just a few hours after hatching for the hazardous trip to the ground. But by then it was too late for the Osprey to nest there. However, Osprey were nesting on several platforms in nearby Belmont Bay.

As I quietly made my way along the shoreline, a Bald Eagle flew up from a nearby log, carrying a fish; I had disturbed his breakfast.  Later, I watched a Great Blue Heron point its bill skyward, the better to let its morning catch slip down its throat. Hundreds of tiny fish rippled the water ahead of me, some taking briefly to the air to escape my boat. I watched a Green Heron land on the bank of Kane’s Creek and immediately melt into the shadows of the grasses along the shore.  Painted turtles completely covered some of the half-submerged logs, warming up in the morning sun. Early-season dragonflies zipped above the water.  

Painted Turtles, Tom Blackburn

Flowering plants also caught my attention.  Yellow flag irises are not native, but they have been in the area for more than 200 years, and they are spectacular on the edges of the park’s ponds. The golf ball-sized yellow blooms of spatterdock (a type of water lily with leaves standing well above the surface of the water) brightened their green leaves in the creek. And on the shore, I spotted early mountain laurel blooms.  In another week they will turn the hillside a delicate pink.  

Over the years in the park, I have watched fawns timidly venture to the water’s edge for a drink; a group of fox kits pounce into each rain puddle as they walked down a path followed by the vixen, while the male watched warily from the bushes; heard coyotes howling from the woods; surprised a Longnose Gar in the shallows; and been shepherded out of the creek by a beaver that repeatedly slapped its tail to  show its irritation at my presence.  Each time, I was moving slowly and observantly instead of focusing on getting from one place to another.  I am constantly reminded that in nature it’s not necessarily about the destination – it’s about the journey. I hope that you have opportunities to quietly observe the natural world and that it eases your mind and restores your soul, as it does for me.