Several groups are working together to embark on a one-of-a-kind urban mussel restoration project for the Snakeden and Glade stream valleys in Reston.
The project is part of a partnership with Virginia Tech, the U.S Geological Survey and other institutions. The team will work to install mussel beds into restored streams and evaluate their ability to remove nutrient and sediment pollution.
“Freshwater mussels have the ability to filter stream water at a prodigious rate, improving water quality, and thereby potentially keeping local streams, rivers, and receiving estuaries cleaner,” the Resource Protection Group, a nonprofit funding the effort, said on the project page. “Within urbanized settings such as Reston, the possibility of utilizing mussels to improve both local water quality and that of larger receiving systems is quite intriguing.”
According to the organization, Virginia Commonwealth University and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed a study last year on whether freshwater mussels could survive in the streams before the current, larger-scale project to reintroduce the animals launched.
Other initiatives are also planned at both stream valleys.
A team of researchers from William and Mary and George Mason University will investigate the best ways to reduce the colonialization of stream restoration by grass and other invasive and non-native vegetation.
“We are excited to do our part to contribute to the science of stream management in our region by hosting these projects,” Reston Association said in an announcement on Friday (June 9).
Scientists are also working on studying water quality and vegetation management at both areas, which are part of the Northern Virginia Stream Restoration Bank Initiative.
RA COO Larry Butler noted that it’s not clear when the work related to invasive species will be completed, but it could take three to three-and-a-half years. The stream monitoring and mussel programs are expected to cost $2 million.
“The stream monitoring and mussel programs are five years with approximately four years remaining, with the work split between Snakeden Branch and the Glade watersheds,” Butler wrote in a statement to FFXnow.
Photo via Resource Protection Group
A dog attacked a cat and a rabid raccoon in Vienna earlier this month, an encounter that left the raccoon dead, police say.
The dog got loose in the 700 block of MacArthur Avenue NE and attacked the two other animals on May 12, according to the Vienna Police Department’s recap for the week of May 12-18.
The incident was reported on May 15 by a neighbor of the dog’s owner. The neighbor also told police that his own dog was bitten while he and the owner were both walking their pets at noon on May 8. The bite left “a puncture wound.”
“The Animal Control Officer in Fairfax County investigated these incidents and placed the dog under a 10-day quarantine,” the VPD said. “ACO Barker had a conversation with the dog’s owner, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the dog does not pose a threat to other people or animals in the future.”
The Fairfax County Health Department reported to police on May 16 that the slain raccoon had been tested for rabies and was confirmed to be positive.
“The owner of the dog was promptly notified, and the quarantine period was extended to the required 45 days,” Vienna police said, noting that both that dog and the dog of the resident who reported the incidents were up-to-date on their vaccinations.
About half of the 40 to 60 rabies cases recorded in Fairfax County each year involve raccoons, the county’s rabies program manager previously told FFXnow. The virus typically spreads through a bite or scratch and nearly always proves fatal.
Other notable incidents in last week’s crime round-up include three domestic assaults and a May 12 crash at the intersection of Locust Street and Branch Road where “the driver lost control, went over the curb, and struck a utility pole.”
The driver, a 69-year-old man from Vienna, was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Alcohol also figured into a trespassing incident at Yeonas Park around 3:30 p.m. on May 13:
Officers responded to the report of a man who was refusing to leave the ballpark. The Vienna Little League President advised he saw the man drinking alcohol and when he requested he leave the park, the man threatened him. The man was trespassed from the park by the Little League President and he left the area.
In addition, officers responded to three times to people playing pickleball at Glyndon Park outside of the town’s approved hours. The complaints came in at 7:36 p.m. and 9:07 p.m. on Wednesday (May 17), and at 9:02 p.m. on Thursday (May 18).
Separately, the VPD announced last week that a man had been arrested on Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl at a Vienna park.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Reston Town Center’s family of falcons are officially live in more ways than one.
Town center owner BXP — formerly known as Boston Properties — announced yesterday (Thursday) that a webcam similar to the Giant Panda cam at the National Zoo in D.C. has been installed to keep an eye on the area’s resident peregrine falcons.
This year, the mother falcon laid three eggs on the rooftop of a building in the town center and had three female babies. The neighborhood has been home to falcons ever since a pair of chicks were found on Market Street in 2015.
“Reston Town Center is committed to supporting the conservation of declining populations by providing a thriving ecosystem and habitat for survival,” BXP said.
Peregrine falcons were on the decline due to the impacts of DDT, a pesticide that was widely used in agriculture until it was banned in the 1970s.
(Correction: This article initially said peregrine falcons are currently declining. The species has started to recover since DDT was banned, getting taken off the endangered species list in 1999.)
Identification bands are placed on the falcons in the town center.
The falcons have attracted local attention — including an attempt by Reston Now readers to name them “Free” and “Parking” in reference to opposition against paid parking at RTC in 2017. They are then named Robert and Anne after Reston’s founder Bob Simon and Lake Anne.
A spokesperson for BXP didn’t return a request for comment from FFXnow by press time.
Maintenance work on the Circle Woods stormwater pond in Oakton will have to wait until this summer — or until the hawks nesting in a nearby tree take their leave.
The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) shared on Monday (April 3) that its contractor had encountered an “active hawks nest” in a tree that has been slated for removal.
The birds and their nest are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treat Act and a nationwide permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the county.
“The construction team and our Fairfax County Park Authority partners made the decision to pause active work to limit disruption that could impact the nesting birds and ensure we maintain compliance with the permit and federal law,” DPWES said in an update on the project page.
DPWES spokesperson Sharon North confirmed that only one nest has been found, but it’s unclear how many birds are using it. At least two hawks have been photographed in the area.
Work will resume after the nesting period, which is expected to last through early June, or once the project team determines that the nest is no longer being used.
Construction on the pond was scheduled to begin on March 3, according to Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik. Some initial setup and tree-clearing activities had gotten underway when workers found the hawk nest.
@ffxpublicworks completed survey, permitting, design, & support services for the Circle Woods Pond Improvement Project to perform necessary maintenance on an existing stormwater detention facility & make improvements within the pond floor and at the outfall. pic.twitter.com/eyjNWzUdv4
— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) February 21, 2023
DPWES says it initiated the project after maintenance workers detected “dam and control structure deficiencies” with the detention pond, which is located near East Blake Lane Park.
In addition to making “necessary repairs” to the dam and replacing the control structure, the project will involve the removal of sediment and an “extensive” tree root structure that has begun to encroach on the dam embankment, according to the county.
With a total budget of $685,000, the project was expected to be finished in November, suggesting that if construction work doesn’t resume until June, it will now continue into 2023.
Once construction restarts, the East Blake Lane Trail will be closed between Vaden Dr. and Route 29 will be closed throughout the project.
Virginia’s Conservation Police are investigating a reported shooting of a red-tailed hawk at Lake Accotink Park last week that required the bird to be euthanized.
A woman saw the hawk flying near the North Springfield park’s carousel on Wednesday (Jan. 18) afternoon. When she tried to get closer for a photograph, though, she found it “struggling” in Flag Run, a creek that passes through the park, according to Diva Crows, a local songbird rehabilitation center.
The woman took the bird to Diva Crows, which gave it fluids before transferring it to a veterinarian the following morning.
“The bird’s wing was broken, it was bleeding from the chest and under the eye,” Diva Crows Director Catherine Sevcenko told FFXnow. “Even worse, its head was twisted over its shoulder and it had little use of its legs.”
The vet took X-rays that indicated the hawk had been shot, with two pellets passing through its chest to its skull. The vet euthanized the bird “to end its suffering,” Sevcenko said.
The incident was reported to the Fairfax County Park Authority and Animal Protection Police, which notified the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR).
DWR confirmed that the case is under investigation, but no further details are currently available. The Fairfax County Police Department said the vet “reported the bird had two injuries due to being shot with BB’s.”
Red-tailed hawks are among dozens of species protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treat Act of 1918, which prohibits killing, capturing, selling, transporting or otherwise harming many wild birds without a permit.
There are an estimated 3.1 million red-tailed hawks worldwide, according to the Avian Conservation Assessment Database.
“We do not have an estimate on the number of red-tailed hawks in the county and are not aware of any other such occurrences,” an FCPD spokesperson said.
Sevcenko says Diva Crows gets about one shot bird per year, though her operation has remained relatively small since starting in 2012. The center got a raven last year that had been shot but survived, ultimately winding up at the Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, New York.
Diva Crows typically handles songbirds, but Sevcenko’s state permit enables her to take in raptors or birds of prey if they’re transferred elsewhere for additional care within 24 hours. The center accepts injured and orphaned animals for rehabilitation from anywhere in Virginia, though most come from Fairfax and Arlington counties.
Sevcenko says she hopes publicizing the incident will help investigators figure out what happened and who was responsible.
“These cases are hard to investigate but having a witness really helps,” she said, noting that the Lake Accotink Park visitor saw the bird flying but didn’t hear the pellet shots.
A neurological disease that’s fatal to deer has been detected in Fairfax County for the first time ever.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in an adult male deer killed by a hunter in the Vienna area this past October, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) reported Friday (Jan. 13).
The department says it confirmed the diagnosis with a sample obtained shortly after the deer was taken to a taxidermist in late October
“At the time of harvest, no outward signs of disease were noted, and the deer appeared to be in good condition,” DWR said in a news release. “Because this is the first CWD-positive detection in Fairfax County, a county bordering Disease Management Area 2 (DMA2), the DWR conducted an extensive forensic investigation to confirm the harvest location of this deer.”
Disease Management Area 2 encompasses Loudoun, Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, Page, Rappahannock counties, where four instances of the disease — including one in Loudoun County — were detected during the 2021-2022 deer-hunting season.
First detected in Virginia in 2009, CWD is caused by an infectious protein called a prion that get transmitted to deer through saliva, feces, and urine from infected deer as well as through contaminated soil, according to DWR.
It can take months or even over a year after being exposed for infected deer to show symptoms, which include “staggering, abnormal posture, lowered head, drooling, confusion, and marked weight loss,” the department says.
While the disease isn’t known to be infectious or dangerous to humans, pets or livestock, DWR advises all hunters with deer from CWD-positive areas to get them tested and avoid eating meat from animals that test positive.
The department also recommends against transporting deer carcasses or parts with brain or spinal cord tissue from Fairfax County to an area where CWD hasn’t been detected before. Deer parts should be put in double bags and disposed of in a landfill or a trash bin, where they can be collected.
The state says it won’t make any regulatory changes in response to the CWD detection in Fairfax County until after the current hunting season, but drop sites where deer heads can be taken for CWD testing will be added before the next season. Right now, the closest options are in Loudoun.
Though deer-hunting season is mostly over in Virginia, Fairfax County is one of several localities included in the state’s urban archery program, which restricts hunters to deer without antlers and lasts through March 26.
In an effort to manage local deer populations, Fairfax County is allowing hunting with bows and arrows at over 100 parks in its 2022-2023 archery season, which runs through Feb. 18. Testing for CWD has been conducted throughout the county in recent years as part of its deer management program.
“Since the 2019-2020 season, over 750 deer have been tested, with this being the only detection to date in the county,” DWR said.
The Fairfax County Police Department’s wildlife management staff, which has been assisting with CWD surveillance efforts since 2019, will work with DWR to “determine any new rules or regulatory changes that will occur.” It will also help identify testing options for hunters participating in the county archery program or on private property.
This has evidently been a year for new diseases in local nature. Last week, the county announced that beech leaf disease has been found in three parks, putting one of the area’s most common tree species at risk.
The black bear spotted wandering past the Adaire Apartments in Tysons on Sunday (Oct. 30) is the same one seen in Vienna, Reston and other parts of Fairfax County earlier this fall, police say.
The animal has been active in the county for about two months now, traveling in the Vienna, Oakton, McLean, Reston and Fairfax areas, according to Katherine Edwards, the Fairfax County Police Department’s wildlife management specialist.
“While searching for food, this young bear has traveled into residential areas around homes, including yards, porches, and decks,” Edwards told FFXnow. “Most of the reports indicate that the bear is taking advantage of human-sourced food items, primarily bird feeders, unsecured trash, and beehives.”
The FCPD estimates that three to four bears have been active in the county since this spring, though no formal count has been conducted. Edwards says that number is in line with what’s reported to her and the county’s Animal Protection Police each year.
While sightings “are infrequent” in the more urbanized parts of Tysons, it’s “not uncommon” for one-year-old bears known as yearlings to move through the Potomac River corridor when setting out on their own for the first time, Edwards said.
Bears who find refuge in the parks and green spaces around nearby McLean and Vienna might drift into Tysons as they search for food.
This particular bear was filmed walking on the Boyd Pointe Way Sunday night in a video shared by FOX5 reporter Angie Goff. A Facebook commenter on FFXnow’s story about the sighting said a couple of his neighbors have caught the animal on camera following the Vesper Trail from Tysons Forest.
In September, the bear was seen rummaging through a trash can near McLean Hamlet Park, walking on Park Street in Vienna, and crossing Soapstone Drive toward Frederick Crabtree Park in Reston, as previously reported.
Soapstone Drive resident Sarah Boczar told FFXnow that her mom saw the bear in their neighborhood “a couple of weeks ago” while walking the family dog. Photos of the animal have been circulating in the community.
Edwards says bears will typically travel quickly through an area without any conflicts if they don’t find food, but this bear has lingered due to the availability of easily accessible food sources.
“We encourage neighbors to take preventative actions to remove food attractants and reduce the chance of conflict with a bear in their community,” she said. “We are asking neighbors to temporarily remove any outdoor food sources to help keep this young bear wild and encourage it to safely move on.”
Police advise residents to take the following steps to avoid attracting bears:
- Secure Garbage: Keep in a locked shed or inside until the morning of collection or use a bear resistant container.
- Take down birdfeeders.
- Feed pets indoors or only what they will eat in a single feeding if you must feed them outside. Remove all uneaten food and pet bowls. Do not leave food out overnight. Store pet food where bears can’t see or smell it.
- Clean up porches, patios, and decks. Remove any potential food sources and remember a screened in porch is not a “secure” storage area from a bear’s point of view.
- Clean grills after each use. Do not dump drippings in your yard. Run the grill an extra 5 minutes to burn off grease, fat, and food particles.
- Never leave food, trash, or pet/livestock feed inside your vehicle.
- Never purposely leave out food or try to feed a bear.
(Updated at 6 p.m.) Tysons got an unexpected visitor this weekend in the form of an apparently solo black bear.
The animal was spotted ambling along the Boyd Pointe Way sidewalk outside the Adaire Apartments in a video shared on Twitter last night by FOX5 reporter Angie Goff. She said it was seen on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 1521 Boyd Pointe Way.
BEAR IN TYSONS: 👀 spottef in Vienna Virginia.. 1521 Boyd Point Way yesterday! @fox5dc #Bears #caughtoncamera pic.twitter.com/KjN6CUJgBq
— angie goff (@OhMyGOFF) October 31, 2022
While startling, bear sightings have increased in Fairfax County in recent years, the police department told FFXnow in June after a bear was photographed crossing the GW Parkway in Belle Haven.
Bears were also reported near McLean Hamlet Park, in Vienna and in Arlington this summer. Reston resident Victor Toth told FFXnow on Sept. 27 that he spotted a bear crossing Soapstone Drive toward Frederick Crabtree Park around 8:45 a.m. that day.
“No picture yet, unfortunately, and while it was only medium sized it was beautiful nonetheless,” Toth said in an email.
It’s unclear if these have all been different bears or the same one or two popping up in different locations.
The Fairfax County Police Department anticipates that bears will continue to appear more frequently into the future, as the animal’s population grows and the county becomes more developed, making it harder for bears and humans to avoid contact.
“Bears have adapted to living near people and we must also learn to adapt to bear activity and take responsible action to prevent conflicts from occurring in our communities by removing food sources that attract bears,” police said in June.
Still, a bear in Tysons at this time of year may be particularly unusual. According to Fairfax County, bear sightings are more often reported during the spring and summer as bears venture out in search of food.
“Black bears hibernate early November through March or April, depending on food availability,” the county says on its website.
Located near the Spring Hill Metro station, Adaire Apartments has a small expanse of grass with a path and benches known as Great Lawn Park, but the area is otherwise decidedly urbanized. The bear could have traveled from McLean Hamlet Park, which is just over a mile away on the other side of the Dulles Toll Road, or across Route 7 from Tysons Forest.
Fairfax County’s Animal Protection Police doesn’t take action to remove black bears, but any issues can be reported to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) helpline at 855-571-9003.
The FCPD advises preventing conflicts by removing food sources that could attract the creatures.
Image via Google Maps
The Fairfax County Park Authority will celebrate the importance of protecting the night sky on Saturday, Nov. 12.
The free event, which takes place in McLean at Lewinsville Park from 6:30-8:30 pm, will feature live demonstrations, hands-on activities, and opportunities for the public to learn how to fight light pollution.
Tammy Schwab, project manager, tells FFXnow that there will be stations for people to learn about artificial light’s effect on plants, animals, and people. If the weather permits, there will be telescopes and binoculars to view constellations.
“We will also have information about the small actions folks can take to help reverse light pollution in their neighborhood.”
Schwab said it’s essential to educate the public on light pollution because it causes harm to animals and plants that are adapted to dark nights.
“This artificial light at night, especially those with high color temperatures like bright white and blue, have been shown to cause harm in humans as well by interrupting our circadian rhythms. Additionally, light pollution is a waste of energy,” Schwab said, adding that unlike other forms of pollution, humans can easily reverse light pollution with a switch.
The park authority is partnering with the McLean Citizens Association, the Analemma Society, and Dark Sky Friends. Registration is encouraged but not required.
Photo via Mindaugas Vitkus/Unsplash
A September hunt intended to control the local deer population in Tysons Forest has been canceled.
Voicing safety concerns, residents and other community members near the 33-acre Tysons Forest — also known as Old Courthouse Spring Branch Stream Valley Park — successfully campaigned to get it removed from a list of areas marked for deer hunting.
South of Route 7, Tysons Forest was one of 112 parks selected for the 2022-2023 archery season under the Fairfax County Deer Management Program. Overseen by the Fairfax County Police Department, the program is a partnership between the Fairfax County Park Authority, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, and local landowners.
According to resident Jack Russell, the community became concerned about the hunt due to the park’s proximity to a daycare center.
The county allows archery as the primary tool to thin out high-density deer herds. According to the program’s website, bows and arrows have proven to be safe, with no bystanders injured by an archer hunting deer in the Commonwealth since Virginia began tracking those injuries in 1959.
However, in an Aug. 27, 2014 letter, then-Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Joseph Ward told a Fairfax resident that there have been five hunting incidents involving archery since 1960, most recently in 1996. According to the letter, none of them involved deer hunting.
Still, the narrowness of Tysons Forest and the nearby daycare center was enough for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to cancel the planned hunt.
“I want to thank Supervisor Alcorn and Dr. Katherine Edwards for their understanding,” Russell told FFXnow. “Fairfax County and the Board of Supervisors really listened to the concerns of the residents and were helpful in preventing a potential problem in Tysons Forest.”
While Tysons Forest will be researched to determine its viability for future deer hunts, the overall archery program will kick off on Saturday, Sept. 10, with eight parks added to the list of approved sites. The 2021-2022 program had 103 parks, totaling 21,236 acres.
According to Dr. Katherine Edwards, FCPD’s wildlife management specialist, new parks are suggested and evaluated for inclusion in the hunt each year where deer densities are above carrying capacity and pose conflicts.
Edwards says smaller parks close to residential areas have been added in recent years, since they have become movement corridors and refuges for deer.
According to Edwards, the hunts were established to address deer-related conflicts by controlling populations throughout the county. Conflicts include vehicle collisions, environmental damage to parkland and forested areas due to over-browsing by deer, residential complaints about property damage, and public health concerns about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
Another emerging disease of concern for wildlife professionals is Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal, neurological disease that affects deer populations in Virginia.
The county’s archery season ends on Feb. 18, 2023.