Saving Nearby Nature

The protected rookery behind Fredericksburg's blue herons

By Ranjit Singh

Each spring an aeronautical pathway appears right over our heads. Flights are never late, and baggage (almost) never lost. That's because the pilots are great blue herons. And their urgent purpose is to catch fish for baby herons waiting in the nest.

You've probably seen this beautiful spectacle unfold along the Rappahannock River But have you ever wondered where the multitude of herons come from? The birds' flight pathssouthwest to northeast - reveal that most local herons nest (see picture above) in Stafford County's Crow's Nest Natural Area Preserve

I was raised in Stafford on a small family farm that's directly under the Heron Highway After graduating from Mary Washington College, I left the country for a number of years to pursue an interest in politics, then returned in 2004 to teach international affairs at the rebranded University of Mary Washington. Boy, had things changed. Decades of unfettered development left places unrecognizable Stafford's population had quadrupled from when I finished high school. Little Fredericksburg now had its own traffic reports! And aside from the congested highways and schools, any bonehead could see that our area ' s natural beauty was in real jeopardy

I love natural spaces. My '70s childhood was spent fishing and looking for arrowheads. Bored on the farm, I explored creeks and forests. I recall buzzy summer nights when bugs splattered our car's windshield so prolifically that wipers and fluid couldn't handle the load. When was the last time that happened to you? It doesn't anymore. Clear-cut housing developments, pesticides, herbicides… they've taken a heavy toll. Even people who hate bugs know insects are key to a healthy ecosystem.

Long story short: I joined the effort to save Crow's Nest peninsula from development. The Preserve was formally established in 2008 and has now grown to 3,000 acres That gratifying experience also introduced me to the non-profit Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) I learned that the NVCT had purchased the 70-aacre heron rookery inside Crow's Nest - one of the largest rookeries in the mid-Atlantic - back in the '90s. That forward-thinking act of conservation laid the cornerstone for efforts to protect the entire peninsula.

I often tell students they never know what they will be doing in five years. Accordingly, I'm now in my final year as chair of the NVCT's board of directors. Never saw that coming.

So what does the NVCT do?

With "Saving Nearby Nature" as our motto, we partner with landowners to permanently protect natural areas Landowners who place their property in a voluntary “conservation "easement” have an eye on the future. They often receive valuable tax incentives, but also know they are setting aside space for wildlife, open vistas, recreation, the preservation of cultural heritage, and much more. To date, we've saved nearly 9,000 acres from the bulldozer's blade. Thanks to incredible donors, we've added hundreds of acres to Crow's Nest Preserve in just the last three years.

As the story of Crow's Nest shows, Fredericksburg and surrounding counties have long been part of the NVCT's service area (the "north" in the Trust's name is a geographic descriptor, not a cultural one). Just last year, the NVCT and Stafford County signed an agreement - like those the Trust has with other jurisdictions - that makes the Trust the County's principal conservation partner.

And each year, in the height of winter, we team up with partners and friends to visit the NVCT's heron rookery.

Why venture into frigid, boot-sucking wetlands in late January? Because we know the herons will be returning to their nests in only a few short weeks. We want to count last year's nests - which are as sturdy as you'd expect from a bird with a six-foot wingspan - without disturbing them at that most sensitive time. This nest count tells us how well the birds are doing. One thing we've learned is that herons are very particular about trees, with a distinct preference for sycamore and ash. Some especially desirable trees host as many as fifteen or twenty nests - veritable bird condos 70 feet above the marsh! Data going back to 2007 shows the heron population has remained pretty stable despite the pressures of nearby development.

In the midst of change, the rookery has become a sanctuary. This is conservation at its finest. Join us!

Ranjit Singh teaches at UMW, chairs the board of the NVCT (nvct.org), and is writing a book about changing nature and life on Potomac Creek. In idle moments, he still wonders how decades ago Sonny Covington earned a lifetime ban from the now-defunct Recreation Center on William St. Contact him at rsingh@umw.edu.

Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT), a non-pprofit land conservation outfit that has conserved natural and open spaces in our area for about 30 years