Wildlife Count Results
Please & Thank You
Summer Bird Count: June 2
The on-going support of the community is essential to the nature center. Many people choose to support the center through volunteer work. Others through cash or in-kind donations. Here are some ways that you can help, like your friends and neighbors below.
By Abby Stocking, Katie Shaw and Kevin Munroe Over 20 volunteers participated in the count, breaking into four groups to tally the number of species and individual birds seen and heard in Reston’s natural areas. The information collected gives a snapshot of how well our natural areas support wildlife.
This year’s count was quite impressive. There were 64 species of birds identified and over 1,200 individual birds counted. Since the count started in 1997, the only year with a higher number of species was 2007, with a total of 68. Several birds were seen for the first time on a summer count, including Osprey, Blue-winged Warbler and American Redstart. The birds seen in the highest numbers were the Northern Cardinal, American Robin and Common Grackle.
Butterfly Count: July 7
Temperatures weren’t the only records being broken this summer. We also broke the Reston record for the most butterflies tallied on a count day. 17 people counted 435 butterflies of 27 species, just one species short of the record last set in 1999. Counters gained a newfound appreciation of skippers, since 255 of our butterflies were in this family. The Sachem Skipper was the most prevalent species with 181 counted. The next most numerous species included the Cabbage White, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Eastern-tailed Blue. Special finds were a Meadow Fritillary at the Fox Mill Meadow, a Northern Cloudywing in North Reston, a Viceroy at Lake Audubon, and Tawny-edge Skippers found in the Sunrise Valley Wetlands. Our data was submitted to the North American Butterfly Association for inclusion in it’s annual report.
By Katie Shaw
Please
Tax deductible donations are gratefully received by our charitable 501c3 organization, Friends of Reston, 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Write “Nature Center” in the memo section of your check. You will receive a letter of receipt for tax purposes.
Thank You to the Following Donors:
Benjamin Bond, Freddie Mac Foundation, Catherine Linberg, Polly & Terre Jones
Thank You to the Following Volunteers:
Zack Allen; Ken Andrews; Carolyn Badila; David & Joanne Bauer; Sue Beffel; Dejauna Black; Taylor Blunck; Diane Blust; Eugenia Bodnar; Charles & Julie Bond; Diane Bowen; Erin Brandt; John Bringman; Bill Brown; Bill Burton; Nancy Callaghan; Anne Cannizaro; Patrick Cantwell; Ian Carmack; Nancy Davis; Freya De Cola; Don Coram; Kevin Deckard; Ellen Douglas; Karen Elliott; June Ferrara; Cindy Foster; Diane Fulcher; Kathy Geiger; Carol & Jay Hadlock; Celeste Hopra; Stephanie Huard; Katharine Hunter; Carol Ivory; Faye Jeffers; Mariah Jeffers; Gwen Kjellberg; Kim Koch; Jennie Koffman; Leon Kolankiewicz; Celia Konowe; Susan Konrad; Helaine Krob; Noah Krob; Beth Lannon; Kristy Liercke; John & Kenneth Lin; Catherine Linberg; Jonathan Lindsay; Jim & Ilene McNeal; Muzzamil & Wasay Mehdi; Mona Miller; Taylor Mills; Bob Mowbray; Suticha Mungkornkarn; Kevin Munroe; Ali Muskett; Noelle Neu; Diana Nicholas; Polly Noble; Alix & Joshua Nyden; Cynthia O’Connell; Erika Olimpiew; Teri Pagliuca; George Paine; Barbara Paolucci; Ellen Perrins; Rob Rubin; Anna & Sheri Ruffle; Eveleen Sass; Megan Scott; Alexandra, Samantha & Veronica Sedgwick; Jim Stocking; Harrison Szeto; Jenny Vick; Virgilio Vasquez; Nancy Ward; Stephanie Wardwell; Kathy & Kyle Welty; Carolyn Williams; Polly Witmer
Dragonfly Count: July 14
For a count that almost got rained out, 16 species made it a fine success. 14 counters participated, adding the last species, a Least Clubtail, to the results in the Glade Stream Valley near Twin Branches. It was great to see this uncommon stream species in exactly the same spot as last year. Two Black-shouldered Spinylegs along Buttermilk Creek Nature Trail were also counted. Although not uncommon in Northern Virginia, it was only the second time the species had been recorded in Reston.
Many thanks to all who participated in the counts. The next count will be the Winter Bird Count on Saturday, January 5. Volunteers at Reston’s Butterfly Count
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