Virginia Hospitality: Realizing a vision :
http://www.ccbbirds.org/2013/09/28/virginia-hospitality-realizing-a-vision/
By Bryan Watts
Nearly 20 years ago, The Center for Conservation Biology with funding from the
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality produced an educational booklet
titled "Virginia Hospitality: Sharing the natural bounty of Virginia's Eastern
Shore with hosts of fall migrants"
(http://www.ccbbirds.org/2013/09/28/virginia-hospitality-realizing-a-vision/).
The document focused on the lower Delmarva Peninsula with the primary message
that we need to provide more habitat and food for fall migrants within this
critical landscape. The booklet was an attempt to convey results from one of
the largest migration studies ever conducted in North America to the general
public.
Today, conservation is literally growing across this important migration area.
In recent years blocks of private land have been acquired by state and federal
agencies for the purpose of restoring habitat for migratory land birds. This
activity represents a sea change in both the character and purpose of this
landscape. In the heart of the most important staging area 290 hectares (715
acres) are undergoing the long restoration from agricultural fields to forest
habitat. Over time, these lands are expected to support more than 750,000 bird
days during fall migration.
The lower Delmarva and Cape May peninsulas are the most significant migration
bottlenecks in eastern North America, concentrating large numbers of birds
within relatively small land areas. Habitats on these peninsulas receive
extremely high use by migrant landbirds during the fall months and are
considered to have some of the highest conservation values on the continent.
Along the lower Delmarva Peninsula, fall migrants "fall out" in the early
morning hours as they reach the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and form a steep
density gradient extending south to north within the lower 20 kilometers (10.4
miles). For some species, densities are ten-fold higher near the tip compared
to just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to the north.
The ongoing habitat restoration along the Delmarva is a tremendous example of
how conservation can and should work. Well-conceived and focused research was
conducted to identify the highest priority management actions. The
conservation community has come together and worked effectively to produce real
conservation results.
Michael Wilson
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary & Virginia Commonwealth University
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
phone: 757-221-1649
fax: 757-221-1650
email: mdwils@xxxxxx
web: www.ccbbirds.org
