As my ASNV presidency starts, I am optimistic about the work ahead, in spite of the serious threats to birds from climate change and development.

What has nine eyes, light-sensitive organs in its tail, lays up to 120,000 eggs a year, and is an important food source for shorebirds? Answer: the horseshoe crab.

Now is a great time of year to get outside and remember how wonderful and restorative nature can be.

As you read this, more than three billion birds are preparing to migrate into or through the United States.

Thanks to the generosity of our members and friends, our Annual Appeal raised a record-setting $57,000. That’s $8000 higher than our fundraising goal. It’s also a testament to our donors’ support of our mission to engage all Northern Virginia communities in enjoying, conserving, and restoring nature.

It’s cold outside, and the short days are often cloudy! This is a perfect time to go winter birding!

Thanks to a $3 million restoration project completed in 2014, Huntley Meadows Park, which boasts wetlands, flooded forests, and dry forests, is the top birding destination in the region.

One hundred million unowned cats in the United States kill 1.7 billion birds and more than six billion other small animals each year.

Two years ago, a Science Magazine article noted that over the last 50 years, the North American bird population has declined by nearly three billion birds – a reduction of nearly 30%.

If we are going to slow the effects of climate change and stop the loss of biodiversity, it is crucial that all communities develop an appreciation of nature and become involved in protecting the environment.

It is likely that nearly every one of the readers of this newsletter has a love of birds and nature and understands the importance of preserving natural habitats. However, our success in protecting the environment hinges on passing that understanding on to the younger generation.

Infill development – most of us have seen it, and many have experienced it close at hand. This practice of replacing modest houses with mansions that fill the entire lot removes the last remnants of undeveloped land. Bit by bit, our community is losing habitat vital to the existence of wildlife.

A few days ago, my wife and I were on a boardwalk in southwest Florida peering through binoculars at a flock of distant birds.

Recently I spent three hours in Riverbend Park, stationed with a good view of the Bald Eagle nest across the river.

Like many people, I’m becoming increasingly eager to get out and travel as the pandemic eases and vaccinations are becoming more widely available.

How much time do you spend looking at wildlife? Watching wildlife can be an important antidote to the stresses of everyday life.

My favorite bird tends to vary with the seasons, and sometimes is determined by what I’ve seen most recently.

As the holiday season draws to a close, an annual holiday tradition also is coming to a close – the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Since 1900, when 27 birders conducted 25 surveys and tallied 96 species, the CBC has grown in 2019 to 81,601 people who participated in surveys in 2646 count circles and tallied 672 species and nearly 43 million birds.

On December 9, the Richmond Times-Dispatch published an op-ed article by ASNV President Tom Blackburn urging Virginia members of the U.S. House of Representatives to co-sponsor the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, H.R. 3742.

Together we can help birds thrive and work to improve the environment we all share! Please make a generous contribution to help ASNV continue protecting birds and the environment.