We couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather or more enthusiastic participants for the VSO June 7-9 field trip to Southwest Virginia. We tallied 118 species while exploring Grayson Highlands State Park (GHSP) on Friday, Saltville and Hungry Mother State Park (HMSP) on Saturday, and Grindstone Campground on Sunday.

Royal Raffle 2024

VARCOM Secretary Opening Announcement

Mother Nature provided us with beautiful weather and abundant birds for the VSO field trip to the Outer Banks February 2-4, 2024. We had sunny skies every day, which is rare for this always-popular trip. Our 102 enthusiastic participants tallied an astonishing 154 species!

The weather was hot and humid for the VSO annual Chincoteague weekend field trip September 8-10, but that did not deter the record 114 enthusiastic participants from having a fabulous time! Between the beaches, trails, and boat trips we tallied 131 species. Many have already marked their calendar for next year’s trip, Sept. 6-8, 2024!

We couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather and abundant birds for the 80 participants who attended the first-ever VSO field trip to Gloucester County June 2-4!

While the two local parks, Beaverdam and Woodville, were productive, most people agreed that spending all day Saturday exploring the different areas of Machicomoco State Park was their favorite part of the trip.

Sixty-six species were counted for VSO’s Virginia Beach and Eastern Shore weekend, held December 2-4, 2022.

Charles “Zig” Ziegenfus receives Mitchell A. Byrd Award

Despite weather challenges on Friday (windy) and Saturday (cold), the VSO field trip to the Outer Banks February 3-5, 2023, was a great success. We found a total of 142 species over the weekend.

Close to 100 enthusiastic participants attended the VSO annual Chincoteague weekend field trip on September 9-11, and we tallied 128 species. The weather was beautiful, and a great time was had by all.

We had an unforgettable weekend in the New River Valley for the VSO summer field trip June 17-19. We had both storms and gorgeous weather with lots of birds and special friendships formed or renewed.

A total of 100 species were found over three days of field trips at the Great Dismal Swamp during the 2022 VSO Annual Meeting.

The VSO field trip to the Outer Banks February 4-6, 2022, was a huge success for a number of reasons. We had a record number of registrants (115!), and we were able to have safe, fun field trips in spite of COVID-19. And we had no rain, which is always a plus! We found a total of 145 species over the weekend.

The weather was perfect for the VSO field trip to Chincoteague on September 10-12, and we had breezes or winds that kept the mosquitoes at bay most days. We tallied 141 species, which included birds found on the Causeway, Chincoteague Island and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

Despite a little rain on Saturday and some strong winds, the January 31-February 2, 2020, annual VSO field trip to the Outer Banks was fantastic! With the combined eyes and ears of 90 participants, we tallied 148 species.

VSO congratulates Conor Farrell representing the youth team, C’ville Ceruleans, who won the youth category of the 2020 Kiptopeke Challenge.

The weather was magnificent for the VSO field trip to Chincoteague on September 20-22, and we tallied 122 species. It was exciting to return after missing last year due to the mandatory evacuation related to the hurricane. We had many first-timers among the 85 participants, and several got at least one life bird.

Light rain started shortly after we arrived at Tayloe but did not deter our enthusiasm and we were rewarded with great looks at Yellow-breasted Chat, Common Yellowthroat, Orchard Oriole and Summer Tanager.