by Northern Virginia Bird Alliance

BIRDATHON 2025

Elizabeth Martin

Fundraising on behalf of Northern Virginia Bird Alliance

It's Time for Birdathon!

Last year, Birding Friends of Little Hunting Creek saw 50 species in my yard on May 3! Can you beat it?

We are birding on Little Hunting Creek, a tidal tributary of the Potomac River with large areas of freshwater wetlands and many wetland birds.

Report-out:

"We were birding at Betsy and Paul’s suburban residence on Stockton Pkwy., which includes both a small suburban house lot and a parcel opposite on the east bank of Little Hunting Creek. Little Hunting Creek is a freshwater tidal tributary of the Potomac River just north of the Mount Vernon Estate. Eagles, ospreys, and great blue herons have nests on the creek, and its extensive wetlands attract wildlife, especially birds.

The property is a certified Wildlife Sanctuary. (Learn more about NVBA’s Wildlife Sanctuary program in the comments.) Invasive plants and lawn have been removed, native plants and trees have been planted, and the riparian area along Little Hunting Creek has been extensively planted to create wildlife habitat, especially for birds.

A total of 42 species were seen, of which 40 were seen by two or more members of the team. We observed Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, House Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Prothonotary Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, and Northern Cardinal. Two species were observed by only one member of the team (Claire): Eastern Phoebe and Yellow-rumped Warbler. The weather was sunny, but quite cool and windy early in the day, with gusts up to 25 mph. The wind made birding conditions poor. We had hoped to see more warbler species, but the wind kept many birds away. However, we were very happy to see (and finally hear) a Spotted Sandpiper foraging along the shoreline at low tide. Seeing a Wood Duck mama and her three babies, and a Sycamore tree filled with dozens of Cedar Waxwings, were other highlights."

Wow! Let's celebrate what native plants can do to help birds! Make a gift today to cheer on Betsy's team.

Birdathon helps NVBA to support the Wildlife Sanctuary Program, outdoor education, citizen science, habitat conservation and programs to encourage people to plant native plants and protect native wildlife. Birdathon also helps ornithologists better understand spring migration by reporting sightings through eBird, an online database of bird observations run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

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