Archived Phase One Blog Articles
A Race Well Run – Post-season Update 2020
Drab little Cape May and Tennessee Warblers flit through the tree lines, while streams of Common Nighthawks track southward through the river valleys. Read more…
Sniffing out the Late-Season Chicks
As the Atlas project wraps this final data collection season, we wanted to remind our volunteers that the time has come for late season breeding codes. Read more…
Fall Migration Approaches, Once Again…
The start of this year’s Fall migration season marks the final phase of our five-year VABBA2 journey bringing an end to the second VABBA. Read more…
The Early Movers
If you can believe it, we are now far enough into the latter portion of the breeding season that a few early migratory species are on the move. Read more…
Late Season Progress Report…
A big final-season push is bringing interesting finds and spectacular statistics from across the state. Learn more about them below. Read more…
A nine-year-old’s interest in birding came suddenly. Introducing her to eBird led to tough talks about population decline—and atlasing for the VABBA2
Zoe a nine year old has taken an interest in bird watching leading to touch talks about species decline and other threats to Virginia's birds. Read more…
Against the Odds: VABBA2 volunteers have rallied to make 2020 the most successful season for block closure yet—and it’s paying off.
This past spring, things were looking grim for the second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas: COVID-19 was rampaging across the U.S. Read more…
A Day in the Life… Part 2!
College students Logan Anderson and Andrew Rapp spent two months camping and birding in remote areas for the VABBA2 and VABBA-PC. Read more…
A Day in the Life…
College-aged field technicians are gaining valuable professional experience working with the VABBA2—and having awesome adventures along the way. Read more…
Bob Epperson spent 30 years as a pro birder and now is helping KO priority blocks for the VABBA2.
Bob Epperson has spent more than 30 years conducting avian surveys as a contract biological consultant for conservation organizations and agencies. Read more…
Celebrating Top Atlas Contributors from Around Virginia
While atlasing activities have been rather curtailed by covid-19, we still want to share some of the stories to come out of our project so far. Read more…
Atlasing is a great way to exercise and maintain sanity – while still practicing good social distancing
“Birding is the perfect activity while practicing social distancing,” writes National Audubon Society in a recent op-ed addressing the global COVID pandemic Read more…
The High-Points of Southwest Virginia
When aspiring naturalist and ecologist Cade Campbell turned 16, a driver’s license paired with his recent discovery of the VABBA2 started a new adventure Read more…
Volunteer Guidance for Final 2020 Field Season
As we enter the final year of the VA BBA project, there are several regions that have many PBs with little to no data which are a priority for this year. Read more…
Summer Blockbusting Rallies – 2020!
The 2019 Atlas Rally Series was a big success—participants gathered tons of data and had a blast doing it. This season will bring new events and locations. Read more…
A Look Back at the 2019 Field Season
As we look ahead to the fifth and final field season of Virginia’s second breeding bird atlas lets first look back at some highlights from the 2019 field season Read more…
Winter Atlasing: Great-Horned Owls On CBC Routes
The time for Christmas Bird Counts is upon us and with it comes the first opportunity to document a breeding bird record for the FINAL Atlas field season. Read more…
Natural Tunnel Rally Highlights
Many VA Atlas volunteers would describe themselves as primarily birders, others find an equal fascination for flowering plants, insects, and vertebrates. Read more…
Making the Most of Mid-summer Atlasing
It's tempting to write off birding efforts at this time of year, but! While birds may sing less frequently, July is a very busy time for most breeding species. Read more…
Staunton River Rally Highlights
Best described as our most ‘rustic’ event of the summer, the Staunton River Blockbusting Rally included camping, campfires, a buffet, and lots of birds! Read more…
MVPs of the VABBA2, Part 2
Donna Mateski de Sanchez has singlehandedly completed nearly every priority block in Amherst County. Yet, she calls Atlasing her go-to form of relaxation. Read more…
Hungry Mother Rally Highlights
Traveling from every region of the Commonwealth, volunteers included long-time veterans, newer recruits, state park employees, and Team Warbler. Read more…
VABBA2 Spotlight on Open Habitat: Shrublands
What do lightly-grazed pastures, powerline right-of-ways, and clear-cuts have in common? They all are examples of shrubland habitats here in Virginia. Read more…
Rally in the Mountains: Natural Tunnel SP
Four months ago, Natural Tunnel State Park chief ranger of visitor experience, Rachel Blevins, knew little about the Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas Read more…
High-Elevation Birding in SWVA
Little-known southwest Virginia peaks offer some of the East Coast’s most fantastic birding opportunities. And they’re dramatically under-Atlased. Read more…
MVPs of the VABBA2, Part 1
Diane Lepkowski was hesitant to join a bird club—yet doing so introduced her to a life changing passion leading to her being an MVP of the VABBA2 Read more…
Calling All Blockbusters to Southern VA!
To date, VABBA2 volunteers have logged more than 341,000 breeding codes and 3.2 million birds. But some areas are under-observed. Read more…
VWL makes the Commonwealth a template for grassland bird conservation
Virginia Working Landscapes, a partner of the VABBA2, is making the Commonwealth a template for the conservation of grassland birds Read more…
New Weekend Blockbusting Rally Series
We know many VABBA2 volunteers would love to help blockbust in under-birded priority blocks—but juggling busy lives often leaves little time for planning. Read more…
To Code or Not to Code?
As birds begin their breeding activities which are recorded with the VBBA Breeding Timeline Charts the questions of codes arises. Read more…
Bringing the Atlas to Hungry Mother State Park
Hungry Mother State Park chief ranger of visitor experience, Tanya Hall, has been leading kids on interpretive wildlife experiences for years. Read more…
Treasures in the Database
2018 VABBA2 director Dr. Ashley Peele review on songbird observations, while running stats for montane songbirds, Peele noticed something exciting. Read more…
Atlas Blockbusting Guide – 2019
Simply put, blockbusting refers to the practice of surveying one or more Priority blocks over the course of several days or a weekend. Read more…
Welcome to Rockbridge’s Community of Birders
An Atlas advice article contributed by Kurt Gaskill shares some Atlas tips gleaned from his experiences in the first VA Breeding Bird Atlas. Read more…
How You Can Contribute to the Breeding Bird Atlas While Out Hunting or Fishing
Attention Virginia’s sportsmen and women: we need your bird observations for Virginia's 2nd annual breeding bird atlas project! Read more…
Common Atlas Coding Boo-Boos
Check out this great Atlas advice article contributed by Kurt Gaskill, a volunteer coordinator for Atlas region 2. Read more…
VABBA2 Season Three Summary: Halfway Home
In 2018, we waved hello and goodbye to the halfway point for this project and are now blazing ahead toward the finish line in 2020. Read more…
The Early Bird: Great Horned Owls
The Christmas Bird Count starts for many counties in Virginia, which also means the start of the breeding season for the Great-Horned Owl Read more…
VABBA2 Season Three Summary: Halfway Home
As we look toward year four, we will be pushing out new resources to help guide volunteers for our last two field seasons of the VABBA2 Read more…
Time for Review
As we continue to wind down our third breeding season, we encourage Atlas volunteers to take the time for a little self-evaluation of this season’s data. Read more…
A Historical Perspective
Imagine working on a breeding bird atlas in a pre-internet world where The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird platform amounts to little more than a dream Read more…
Data Guys
A team of dedicated eBird reviewers is working behind the scenes to ensure the accuracy of the eBird database in Virginia. Read more…
Sister Projects
For two years, VT Conservation Management Institute technician Garrett Rhyne scoured far southwest Virginia collecting data for breeding birds. Read more…
Young Birders of Virginia
Bonding over a mutual love of birds, these two children founded what is now Virginia’s largest and most active youth birding club. Read more…
Blockbusting Duo
Since discovering birding in 2014, husband and wife super-duo Guy and Susan Babineau have become some of the VABBA2’s most active supporters. Read more…
What is the deal with priority blocks?
Atlas volunteers may have wondered why the Breeding Bird Atlas project focuses primarily on Priority Blocks for breeding bird survey effort. Read more…
Top Atlas Locations: South-central and Western Piedmont
For adventurous birders, Region 9 has mountains, rivers and a ton of history. In its northwestern-most regions, follow the Maury river to Glenn Maury Park Read more…
Sportsmen-women Birders of VA
For these sportsmen and women, hunting, fishing, birding, and atlasing go hand in hand making every outing a remarkable adventure. Read more…
Tracking the Ghost Owl
Barn Owls and the VABBA2 One evening several years ago a Barn Owl flew over my head, pale and silent despite the flapping of its wings. Read more…
Transplant Atlaser in Southwest VA
Certified master naturalist Kelly Krechmer took a break from her life in Fauquier County to spend the summer atlasing in far southwest Virginia. Read more…
Top Birding Locations: Far Southwest Virginia
Region 7 is a haven for adventurous Atlas volunteers. Here, regional coordinator Steven Hopp gives you the inside scoop on the area’s top spots to visit Read more…
Diana Doyle hiked Virginia’s Appalachian Trail while birding for the VABBA2
For retired mathematics and social sciences professor Diana Doyle, birding and outdoor adventure have always gone hand in hand. Read more…
Faces of the VABBA2: Fred Atwood
Sixty-two-year-old Flint Hill School science and biology teacher Fred Atwood likes to joke his passion for birding was established before his first memories. Read more…
The Northern Saw-whet Owl: Virginia’s Other Small Owl
The Eastern Screech-Owl is often thought of as our smallest local species. But that distinction really belongs to the Northern Saw-whet Owl. Read more…
Top VA Atlas Locations: The Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula
The Northern Neck and Middle peninsulas offer diverse habitats ranging from fresh and saltwater marshes, to forests, grasslands, beaches, and miles of rivers. Read more…
Year of the Night Birds – Prowling for Screech Owls
As many of our readers may already be aware, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act a vital step to avian conservation. Read more…
Finishing those pesky Atlas blocks: an update
As thoughts turn towards this year’s Atlas activities, some volunteers may be pondering over their Atlas blocks; here's some advice for the new regulations Read more…
Season Three of the 2nd Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas – How You Can Help
Harness your interest in birds and the great outdoors by contributing to a project that aims to make a difference for bird conservation right here in Virginia! Read more…
Techniques for Locating Great-Horned Owl and Hawk Nests
Many birders find their interest piqued by a specific group of species. For Jon finding the nests of raptor species has been a labor of love for many years Read more…
Atlasing After Dark: an overview of nocturnal surveys
As we enter the earliest phase of the 2019 breeding season, more and more reports of Great-Horned Owl breeding activity are coming into the Atlas. Read more…
American Woodcock, The Forest Species Few Have Seen
This forest-dwelling bird species doesn’t seem remarkable until we consider that the woodcock is in the shorebird family. Read more…
VA BBA Season Two Results Are In!
Atlas volunteers added seven new species to our list of confirmed Virginia breeders in 2017; such as Wilson's Plovers, and Painted Buntings. Read more…
The migrants are coming… again!
As we slowly roll into the Fall migration season, we need to start using a little more care when applying breeding codes to our observations. Read more…
Inspired by Birds and Birders: meet Maeve and Joey
Those who study birds, write about them, photograph and watch them, find their intelligence, beauty, and adaptability inspiring. Read more…
Crazy for Cherries: a look into breeding bird use of fruit
This season Steven Hopp watched numerous birds carrying cherries away from a tree including northern mockingbirds feeding their young. Read more…
The Home Stretch: Guidelines for Completing an Atlas Block
Halfway through the second field season of the VABBA2 project, many volunteers are turning their thoughts toward completing their Atlas blocks. Read more…
Meet Haley Olsen-Hodges, a wildlife rehabber, birder, and Atlas volunteer
The increasing range and diversity of people who make up the birding community is encouraging to those of us who work with them. Read more…
Tackling Tricky Codes Pt. 3: The Confirmations
We’re excited to see volunteers adding new species confirmations to their blocks or documenting uncommon breeding species. Read more…
Meet Garrett Rhyne, a Jack-of-all-Atlas-trades
One of the overarching goals and hopes of the second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas is to foster an appreciation for birds in new or young birders. Read more…
Meet the Littles: An Atlas Volunteer Tale
People will determine the future of our natural resources and thus the future of birds and are a critical factor to wildlife conservation. Read more…
Breeding Codes and Migratory Species
Migratory birds, particularly those from the Neotropics that summer in the US, add a new dimension to collecting breeding data for the VA Breeding Bird Atlas. Read more…
Bringing VABBA2 into the outdoor classroom
The 2017 Atlas season is here and it’s high time to begin our volunteer profile series for members who are making significant contributions to the project! Read more…
Student Adventures in Atlasing
The Atlas is a great opportunity to engage the commonwealth with wildlife conservation and to provide chances for learning more about birds. Read more…
Tackling Tricky Codes Part 2: The Probables…
For our second installment of this series, we’ll be focusing on tricky Probable codes. The atlas focuses on trying to effectively monitor local birds Read more…
First VA Breeding Bird Atlas Data!
Species lists and breeding status data are now available for every block surveyed in the first VA Breeding Bird Atlas via the Atlas Block Explorer tool. Read more…
Tackling Tricky Breeding Codes (Part 1): the Possibles…
Breeding behaviors and the use of breeding codes to describe these behaviors is probably the most unique, interesting, and important aspect of an Atlas project Read more…
Holiday birding can include breeding birds!
The season for Christmas Bird Counts has arrived! As birders thoughts turn more and more toward the start of the 2017 breeding season. Read more…
VABBA2 Season One: A Win for Virginia’s Birds and Citizen Science
As Autumn arrives and we wrap-up the first season of the second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas (VABBA2). Two things stand out about this summer’s field season. Read more…
Priority Species Database has arrived!
The Priority Species database has arrived! A quick reminder: the VABBA2 is first and foremost a conservation tool for assessing bird populations in Virginia. Read more…
Atlas Volunteer Story – Meet James Fox
Meet James Fox, a stellar Atlas volunteer whose story needed sharing amongst the larger birding community; young birders are important to the Atlas. Read more…
The migrants are coming! Atlas tips for late summer
As we slowly roll into the Fall migration season, we need to start using a little more care when applying breeding codes to our observations. Read more…
VABBA2 Volunteer of the Week – Dave Larsen!
Meet Dave Larsen! Dave has now confirmed 72 breeding species, contributing a tremendous amount of his time and effort to the VABBA2 project. Read more…
New Feature: Meet Virginia’s Atlas volunteers!
We’re starting a new series to highlight and thank the many awesome Atlas volunteers participating all around Virginia. Read more…
A Mid-Summers Update on the VA Breeding Bird Atlas
Many mark this as the first day of summer, but birders might argue that our summer begins when the Neotropical migratory birds return for the breeding season Read more…
Atlasing vs. eBirding: When to submit checklists to the Atlas portal
As the breeding season is in full swing and the atlas project is off and running here's the difference between the Atlas eBird portal and the traditional one Read more…
Atlas Data Entry Round 3: Location Precision
This is the third of the VABBA2 data entry tutorials. If you missed the first two, check them out here to learn how to record checklists and location precision Read more…
Myth-busting the VABBA2: Tackling Atlas Blocks with Teamwork
If you’re involved in several large-scale birding citizen science projects these days it’s easy to get confused about protocols and methods. Read more…
Second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas Launches This Spring!
Season one of the Second VABBA2 launches this spring as part of a 5-year study to document the breeding status and distribution of native birds. Read more…
Atlas Data Entry Round 2: Submitting Complete Checklists
This is the second in a series of tutorials walking you through the process for submitting your bird observations for the second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas. Read more…
Tips for Identifying Crows and Ravens
For any and every checklist submitted to eBird, care should be taken to accurately identify or distinguish among species. Read more…
Switching between eBird portals
Simply put, if your checklist has ANY breeding codes on it, then it should be submitted to the Atlas eBird portal at https://ebird.org/atlasva/home. Read more…
Atlas Data Entry Round 1 – Recording Incidental Observations
In Atlas Data Entry Round 1: We will be posting a series of tutorials walking you through the process for submitting your bird observations Read more…
What is the 2nd Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas all about?
The second Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas is launching soon! Spring is in the air and birds are returning to their summer breeding grounds around the state. Read more…