On May 4th, 22 birders from across the Commonwealth participated in the 1st annual Virginia Birding Big Day, organized by Virginia young birders as a fundraiser for the Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas II project. Teams birded for a total of 37 hours in Montgomery, Giles, Loudoun, James City, Spotsylvania, Williamsburg, Rockingham, and Harrisonburg Counties and recorded 140 species. Some notable species included Black Terns spotted by the Islanders (Coastal Plain birders led by Brian Taber), a Black-bellied Plover spotted by the Virginia Nightingales (NOVA birders led by Patrick Lewis), a Golden-winged Warbler spotted by the Flamboyant Fledglings (the team of the Blacksburg High School Bird Club), and more! The teams raised a total of over $1200 for the Atlas, entirely through pledges from friends, family members, fellow birders, and local organizations & companies.
Please join us in congratulating the Islanders, a team of birders from the Williamsburg area led by Brian Taber in the Coastal Plain region, whose impressive 97 species total puts them in 1st place for the state! Another Williamsburg-based team of birders, Quick3Beers, led by Bill Williams and consisting of former biology teachers and Williamsburg Bird Club presidents, recorded 94 species and raised several hundred dollars in pledges, the most money raised by any team this year! Regional winners included the Lake Anna Larks in the Piedmont, the Flamboyant Fledglings in the Mountains and Valleys, and, of course, the Islanders in the Mountains and Valleys. Thank you so much to everyone who invested your time and energy into making this year’s big day so successful!! We’ll see you next spring!
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