May is a crazy time for birding – you have birds that wintered here departing, birds that wintered elsewhere arriving, birds calling out for mates and establishing territories, nests being built — whew – trying to enjoy all this, I’m not sure when we have time to go to work 🙂
It’s because of all this great activity though that we also celebrate International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) and hold our most important fundraiser of the year, the Loudoun Wildlife Birdathon – and we’d love for you to be a part of these.
These activities, our IMBD bird walks and the Birdathon are great for all ages and experience levels.
On May 8, the official day for IMBD, we have 10 different bird walks lined up – in Leesburg, Ashburn, Sterling, Neersville, Waterford and more. Each is led by an experienced birder and the whole goal is just to get outside and enjoy nature, spotting and observing the variety of birds that are around us on our different walks.
The birdathon is the fundraiser that we do during the same time during IMBD. For this, you form a team of 2-6 people and ask people to sponsor you for your count to raise money. You can raise as little as a dollar and it will still help Loudoun wildlife so no pressure – ever bit helps, just have fun and participate, that’s the key. It’s also a great way to tell people about Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and that’s really important too.
For the birdathon, you can come on one of the IMBD walks and get a little help identifying birds or go out on your own for a few hours during any 24 hour period between May 1-15. You can even do your birdathon in your backyard or neighborhood.
This is a great activity for families as well as groups to not only try their hand at birding while raising a little money for Loudoun wildlife and learning about local birds and habitats. As part of the birdathon, we also have prizes, both thank you prizes for participating as well as a junior birder prize and other awards. It doesn’t matter how much money you raise – every bit helps, and we give recognition to everyone who participates. We truly appreciate your support.
To sign up for any of the IMBD birdwalks or to jump into the Birdathon and help with this fundraiser, please visit our IMBD webpages. It’s all for the birds and other wildlife here in Loudoun!