The 2010 VSO Foray is coming up in about a month. Please contact me
if you can participate for a day (or more). I've included the
original announcement, below:
The 2010 VSO Foray will be held June 12-20 in Culpeper and Fauquier
Counties. These counties contain a large portion of the newly
established Culpeper IBA (http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/virginia/Documents/Culpeper%20Basin.pdf
), which focuses on habitat for grassland and scrubland birds. Forest
birds have traditionally received most of conservationists' attention,
but there is an increasing awareness that grassland and scrubland
birds have been neglected.
Among these understudied birds, we will pay special attention to the
loggerhead shrike, "one of the few North American passerines whose
populations have declined continentwide in recent decades" (according
to "Birds of America Online"). Virginia lies at the northern edge of
the range for non-migratory loggerheads. These year-round residents
tend to occupy permanent territories, so we are hoping to find
overlooked shrike populations during the foray. Other "species at
risk" in the Culpeper IBA include Upland Sandpiper, Henslow's and
other sparrows, and Northern Bobwhite quail.
The counties will be divided up among foray participants, who will
canvas their areas as thoroughly as possible. We will carry out eBird-
style "traveling counts" of up to five miles per count, counting all
birds seen and collecting additional information on habitat and exact
location if/when a shrike is seen.
