Past FOSA President Remains an Active Volunteer

By Martha Bjelland

Director, Foundation of the State Arboretum 

Our very own distinguished volunteer Charlotte Miller was honored at a National Philanthropy Day (NPD) luncheon on November 15, 2013, held at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester. Charlotte was nominated by FOSA Director Martha Bjelland, who described Charlotte as "Resourceful:  Charlotte Miller's strategic fundraising acumen has been an invaluable asset to FOSA over a 20 year span.  Charlotte never seems to take her volunteer fundraising hat off, and has made a positive contribution in every aspect of FOSA's fundraising cycle, from executing great events to major gifts, and most importantly donor stewardship."

Charlotte Miller, center, is a past president of FOSA and is an active volunteer.

Over 1.5 million people celebrated NPD around the world, honoring so many in our world that give of themselves to make the world a better place. Thanks to them and again to Charlotte!

By Dave Carr

Director, Blandy Experimental Farm

As we head into the holiday season, I freely admit that my mind begins to become preoccupied with birds.  Because of the Christmas Bird Counts and the chance to take a little time off from work, I probably do more birding in December than at any other time of the year.  This December, one particular group of birds has been obsessing me more than others, so I thought I'd use my winter Arbor Vitae article to talk a little about Blandy owls.

I know I'm not alone in my fascination with owls.  A "non-birding" wife of a good birding friend of mine once told me that there are only three kinds of birds: little brown birds, big brown birds, and owls.  Their nocturnal habits create an aura of mystery around them, and when people have the rare opportunity to actually see an owl, even the most casual observer knows that he is seeing something special.

Photo: Tim Farmer Eastern Screech Owl

Since I arrived at Blandy in 1997, seven different species of owls have been recorded on the property.  The most common of these is the Eastern Screech Owl.  These owls are year-round residents in our area, and I would guess that Blandy supports anywhere from a half dozen to a dozen breeding pairs in a given year.  These small owls typically spend the day time sleeping in tree holes, and are more often heard than seen when they emerge in the evening.  They produce a spooky, whistled whinny or a long soft trill that could make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up if you didn't know what it was.  Back in May of this year, a Screech Owl likely chased a moth into the upper breezeway of the Quarters and ended up sleeping away the next day on the transit ledge above one of the dorm rooms in the Quarters.

Two large owls, the Great Horned and the Barred, are fairly common year round residents in our area, but I have encountered the former at Blandy much more often than the latter.  Both of these owls have genuine hoots.  I tend to hear the soft, pulsed notes of the Great Horned Owl most often just after sunset or just before sunrise, and they seem to become more vocal at this time of year.  The raucous "who-cooks-for you?" of a Barred Owl will certainly get your attention on an otherwise peaceful night.  I have found a couple of Great Horned Owl nests at Blandy over the years.  They don't actually build their own nests, but rather take over crow or hawk nests.  When you're as fearsome as a Great Horned Owl, you can do that.  Populations of both of these species may have been impacted by the recent introduction of West Nile Virus (WNV) into North America.  For example, in the late summer of 2002 and 2003, as the disease was just spreading through Virginia, the Wildlife Center of Virginia saw a five-fold spike in the number of Great Horned Owls relative to what they typically had seen in their clinic over the previous 10 years.  Of the 22 Great Horned Owls tested, 73% were positive for WNV infection.

The fourth year-round resident of our area is the Barn Owl.  This species is found on every continent on earth except Antarctica.  As its name implies, it has taken to nesting in barns and silos, but it certainly earns its keep.  A breeding pair of these stealthy predators might take over 1000 rodents a year.  I encounter this species at Blandy almost every year, and they have frequently bred in some of our outbuildings.  A Barn Owl scream in the middle of the night will make the uninitiated's blood run cold.

In recent years, three other species of owls have visited Blandy from the north during the winter months.  Of these, Short-eared Owls are the most regularly seen.  Unlike most of our other owls, Short-eareds often become active during the day, especially at dusk.  I've seen them cruising low over open fields on Blandy's south side as they hunt from the wing, sometimes giving a very un-owl-like bark.  These are owls of tundra, prairie, and marshes far to the north or west of here, but they are regular winter visitors to the Commonwealth.

Photo: Judy Masi Long-eared owl

The Long-eared Owl is a close cousin of the Short-eared.  I've seen only one at Blandy, but he stayed around for about a month.  He roosted in some of our arbor vitae and would usually try to make himself invisible by hugging tightly against the trunk.  He got mad at my wife once, and spread his wings and puffed up into a huge ball to scare her off.  I've heard their mournful hoots only on their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of the northern U.S. and Canada.

The tiny, irresistibly cute Northern Saw-whet Owl has eluded me at Blandy, but Tim Farmer brought me a photo of one that one of hiis friends found here in 2003.  I'm sure this secretive species visits Blandy just about every year, however.  Saw-whets commonly spend the day tucked against the trunk of a dense red cedar.  I found a few roosting in holly trees when I was a graduate student.  They tend to be silent on their wintering grounds, but in their boreal forest breeding grounds they produce a cheerful toot.

A couple of long-time local birders have told me that Blandy hosted a Snowy Owl back in the 1970s.  These large, spectacular birds make occasional flights into Virginia.  Hedwig of the Harry Potter books made the Snowy Owl a celebrity of sorts.  They breed on the arctic tundra, but periodic food shortages can cause Snowies to wander far and wide.  This winter seems to be one of those years.  Snowy Owls have been reported from coastal locations from Hatteras to Maine, where they have been found in broad daylight sitting among the dunes, in marshes, on fence posts, and even on a tractor or two. At least six Snowy Owls have been seen in Virginia thus far this year, with three as close to Blandy as Gore, Dulles Airport, and the Manassas Airport.  Airports may seem like an odd place for an owl, but maybe not one accustomed to the wide open tundra.  I am waiting impatiently for one to show up here.