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VSO Winter Field Trip, North Carolina, Outer Banks
February 7-9, 2014
Make plans to join trip leaders Bill Akers, Jerry Via and Lee Adams at the Outer Banks of North Carolina February 7-9 for the VSO’s Winter field trip. We always have great waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors, along with a wide assortment of land birds. Back by popular demand, we're offering the optional Friday trip to Lake Mattamuskeet, led by VSO field trip co-chair Lee Adams. More details here »
2014 VSO Annual Meeting
April 24–27, Chesapeake, Virginia
The VSO is pleased to announce that its 2014 Annual Meeting will be held April 24–27 in Chesapeake, Virginia in collaboration with the Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival. The Great Dismal Swamp area is one of Virginia’s true ecological treasures and birding hotspots. Refuge birding trips, bus tours to Lake Drummond, banding station visits, family activities, and other outdoor events will be coordinated by the Birding Festival. Field trips and other festival activities will begin at 7:00 AM on Thursday, April 24 and will conclude on Sunday morning with visits to the Nature Conservancy's Piney Grove Preserve, home to Virginia's last breeding population of the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Trips to other exciting birding destinations off the refuge will also be offered on Sunday. More details here »
VSO’s Principles of Birding Ethics
In the Fall 2008 issue of the Virginia Society of Ornithology newsletter, VSO President David Spears said, “In the Federalist Papers, Hamilton and Madison wrote, 'If men were angels, no government would be necessary.' But men aren't angels, they went on to argue, and therefore we need rules to govern our behavior. What about birders? Are we all angels? Do we need rules?”
President Spears' article continued on this idea of rules for birding and defining ethical birding behavior. The Virginia Society of Ornithology recently adopted a set of principles for birding ethically. The VSO has been considering the issues related to birding ethics for the past year. These issues have been discussed at length on the VA-Bird listserv, in emails, at VSO board meetings and field trips, in the VSO newsletter and who knows where else. Birding organizations across the country and the world are considering or have enacted similar policies. Many organizations have adopted the American Birding Association's code of birding ethics. The VSO's Principles of Birding Ethics are based on this ABA code. The VSO hopes these are guidelines that birders in Virginia will support and abide by. Please share copies of the principles with your birding friends. Download VSO's Principles of Birding Ethics ...>>