“This was fun!”
“I explored new natural areas!”
“I learned new animals and plants!”
“My daily walk turned into an adventure as I observed and recorded what I saw!”
These are just a few of the comments we heard from people who participated in our inaugural Walk for Wildlife event that took place throughout the month of October.
Walk for Wildlife was a new and unique event for Loudoun Wildlife. The requirements were simple – just get outside and enjoy nature! You could visit a nature place anywhere in the world – your neighborhood, area parks, mountains, fields, along lakes and streams! We even provided a list of potential local places to go. We left the rest up to you – log miles traversed; visit unique nature locations; record any plants/animals/living things you see; form a team, bring a friend or go solo; and go out as much or as little as you want during the month of October.
We are so excited to share the highlights from the 2021 Walk for Wildlife with you.
Teams: 22 group and solo teams signed up for the event.
Observations: 50 participants recorded a total of 3,203 iNaturalist observations, covering 1,175 species, which included:
609 Plants
203 Insects
128 Birds
119 Fungi
20 Mammals
18 Other Animals
15 Reptiles
11 Amphibians
Coverage: While most of the observations came from Loudoun County and Northern Virginia, participants also entered observations from the following states outside Virginia and locations outside the United States:
Arizona
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Maryland
New York
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Washington, DC
West Virginia
Costa Rica
Nova Scotia
Panama
Prince Edward Island
UK
Distance and Places: 44 participants logged a total of 1,390.73 miles at 220 different nature locations. Participants logged 566 visits throughout the month and the most popular nature locations for logging miles and taking in nature included:
Beaverdam Reservoir Trail
The Reserve at Rokeby Farm
Algonkian Regional Park
Balls Bluff Battlefield Regional Park
Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
Edward’s Landing Park
Support: Participant registrations and additional donations raised a total of $7,312 to help support our programs that benefit wildlife and healthy habitats. Many thanks to the following Sponsors and Donors for your generous contributions:
Sponsors:
Peter Coppolino
Rose Gentile, CLTC, New York Life Agent
Maid Brigade
Northwest Federal Credit Union
Old 690 Brewing Company
Watermark Woods
Donors:
Colette Berrebi
Dairy Queen, Leesburg
Gerco Hoogeweg
Atziri Ibanez
Karen Irby
The Kristen Roberts Real Estate Team
Jill Miller
Arthur Rosen
Top Performers: All Walk for Wildlife participants received a handmade pottery medal to memorialize their contribution to the event. Additional recognition was made for team and individual leaders for each category.
Many thanks to all our participants, sponsors and donors! Walk for Wildlife was the perfect combination of all that Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy stands for because everyone won by getting out in nature, seeing and learning about new things, and helping to provide citizen science data for the study of our wildlife systems.
We’re already excited for the 2nd Annual Walk for Wildlife in 2022!
Photo Credits: Eastern Black Walnut – Heather Dionne; Great Blue Heron – Gerco Hoogeweg; Turkey-Tail – Christine Boeckel; Common Milkweed – Liam McGranaghan; Isabella Tiger Moth Caterpillar (Wooly Bear) – Christine Boeckel; American Sycamore – Kim Strader; Northern Mockingbird – Michael Sciortino; Virginia Creeper – Jennifer Venable