A bird on the rebound gets a lift with Virginia decision

L. Randolph Luton made it clear from the outset: "I'm not a bird hater."

He even showed receipts at a hearing Tuesday proving he had purchased $123 worth of sesame seeds this year for various birds visiting his wooded, sprawling property in southern Chesapeake.

But Luton also made it clear he wanted no part of a scientific project next door at the Northwest River State Natural Area, where volunteers want to help revive populations of a small, yellow songbird - the prothonotary warbler - struggling against a tide of predators and vanishing habitat.

Speaking before the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, a state agency debating whether to allow construction of 60 bird boxes on the Chesapeake preserve, Luton said he feared the little bird might some day be declared an endangered species.

Citing its decline across most of the United States - except in Virginia, where numbers are increasing - Luton reasoned that the warblers could jump across Smith Creek and take up residence on his land, where federal endangered-species protections "could be a catastrophe."

"I'm fighting for my property," he told the commission.

Luton was the sole protester of the project, which is part of a larger restoration effort started 23 years ago by conservationists and Virginia Commonwealth University. It now includes 500 artificial nests at four sites in eastern Virginia, including 38 wooden boxes on poles erected last year in the neighboring Northwest River Park in Chesapeake.

Rene Hudgins, a volunteer birder with the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory, said the nesting project is one of the reasons why the warbler has increased in numbers in Virginia but continues to decline nationally.

"They love the area," Hudgins said, noting how the warblers are drawn to marshy woodlands, typical of southern Chesapeake, and like to make their nests in old trees along waterways.

She said she banded 108 babies this year at boxes in Northwest River Park. "We really are just hoping to keep a good thing going," Hudgins said.

The prothonotary warbler, named for the colored robes of a former adviser to the pope, is a favorite among local bird-watchers. Only about 5 inches long and covered with bright yellow plumage, the warbler can be seen darting among scrub in the nearby Great Dismal Swamp and other refuges.

It currently is listed as a species of concern by Virginia officials, and governments along its migratory path between Canada and South America are worried about its future.

And that worries Luton.

He wants to some day sell his 513-acre property, called Northwest River Farms LLC, for development. But Luton recalled how other endangered birds, such as the bald eagle (which is no longer endangered) and the red-cockaded woodpecker, made it difficult for landowners or developers "to do anything with their property."

In the end, the commission approved a compromise, though Luton still was not pleased.

The commission voted unanimously to permit construction of the 60 bird boxes - but not in areas directly across the creek from Luton's property.

"I hear what you're saying, Mr. Luton," said commission Director Steve Bowman. "But it seems the more you have of them, the less likely they will be on the endangered list."

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com