Fall is coming and gardeners’ thoughts may turn to collecting seeds for planting next spring.

Fall migration is starting! I saw that someone had reported a Tennessee Warbler in northern Virginia just the other day, which got me musing about this migration season -- the challenges the birds face, how to make it safer for migrating birds and how to enjoy the spectacle of migration.

From September 15 to October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities in the United States.

If you have ever participated in a trash cleanup along a shoreline, creek or road, you’ll undoubtedly have come across pieces of expanded polystyrene foam (EPS), popularly known by one of its brand names, Styrofoam.

This year has brought some troubling signs for these impressive birds.

Is it possible to reconnect isolated fragments in our urban, suburban, and rural settings to benefit pollinators and the creatures that depend upon them?

Some of our neighbors turn to commercial-grade mosquito fogging, persuaded by marketing claims that the product is both effective and “safe.” But a closer examination of these claims reveals an ineffective process that is devastating for native bees, butterflies, fireflies, moths, and a plethora of other beneficial insects we work so hard to attract with native plants.

Judy Gallagher is an NVBA board member and a regular surveyor of local wildlife who also captures photos of what she sees, in particular the less common species.

I have been admiring the fireflies in my backyard recently. I didn’t see them there for many years, but I’ve attracted them by making several simple changes.

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. 

Gardening to attract as many bees as possible is more than a rewarding pastime. It’s a blend of purpose, beauty and connection to something grand and greater than we are.

The Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryaivorus, also called the rice bird or rice bunting, is yet another migrating songbird that has declined in population over the last fifty years.

Judy Gallagher is an NVBA board member and a regular surveyor of local wildlife who also captures photos of what she sees, in particular the less common species.

Do you want more butterflies around your home? Consider creating a butterfly habitat that will attract not just adult butterflies passing through but will support butterflies throughout their life cycles.

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.

As the sun slowly sank into Belmont Bay, a full moon rose behind us, lighting our way down Kane’s Creek. We paddled our kayaks back to the launch site with only the splash of our paddles to disturb the quiet of the evening.

It’s always a joy when Osprey return to northern Virginia in the spring to breed after their winters in the Southern Hemisphere, but reports of increased nest failure are cause for concern.

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.”

With forethought and some planning, you can have a clear and frequent view of these 3.5-ounce, dive-bombing, backward-flying, shimmering, drama-obsessed, and Ferrari-engine-powered birds. If that sounds like fun, here are some tips to attract them now and get them to linger for the season.

It’s difficult to be optimistic about the future of North American birds in the face of a relentless avalanche of news about national policy changes that can challenge conservation efforts.