My favorite birding spot is Veterans Memorial Park in Woodbridge. I keep coming back for the surprises that appear around every bend in the trail.

Not the best of mornings for finding butterflies; sunless, oppressively humid, just the slightest of breezes, downright uncomfortable. But more than two dozen volunteers were ready for the challenge.

During spring migration’s height, in April and May, from 6 a.m. to noon, volunteers catch and band birds in the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge near Marumsco Creek three mornings a week, a project undertaken there every spring since 2001, except 2020, the “covid year.”

There are more than 50 species to see and hear at this time of year. Most migrants pass through, but the Prairie Warbler, Setophaga discolor, breeds in northern Virginia. 

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.