Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Come forth into the light of things.
Let nature be your teacher.

- Williams Wordsworth

When you see Monarch Butterflies this time of year there’s a sense of seriousness to their behavior and flight. No longer do they dawdle at this flower or that, tasting this petal or that leaf. No longer do they flitter about following scents. No, now their flight is strong and their purpose clear – refuel, add fat reserves and head to Mexico…ensure the future of their species.

I love watching Monarchs at all times of year but fall is an incredible time to watch them.  We put a small iron compass rose in the middle of our lawn because I was so intrigued in watching their accuracy.  I’ll watch a Monarch after a drink of nectar float over our garden and head precisely due South. It’s amazing to see. You can see this while driving as well. Headed home after work on the toll road, I head west as the Monarchs fly perpendicular to the roadway. Whenever I see them on this amazing flight I whisper a wish to them for safe journeys…all the way to Mexico…and then send your babies back!

As you see Monarchs fly through Loudoun this fall, help scientists and conservationists track their progress and see what the wave of migration flight is looking like as it moves across our country and into Mexico! 

Click here to report your sightings: http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-sightings

(If you’re new to reporting sightings, you’ll need to register with Journey North first – it helps them control spammers etc.)  Register here:
http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-register

Click here to view the migration maps (and then explore the site further to see where people have reported the incredible overnight roosts where thousands of Monarchs congregate along their journey: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/monarch_f08_all.html

If you see a Monarch butterfly, just log on to the website above and enter your sighting – it will then show up as a mark on the migration map as we watch the butterflies travel on this amazing journey! It also provides important data for those monitoring Monarchs both here in the US and in Mexico as populations are tracked.

For teachers – there are great activities on the Journey South Website above – great opportunities and materials to share with students.

This just in tonight from Joe Coleman, near Bluemont!

I’m excited to tell all of you that a young black bear ambled through our yard about an hour ago! – Karen & I were wrapping up our work & I glanced out the front window while answering one last question when I saw it in the front yard.

I bellowed (& I mean bellowed) to Karen who came running & both of us saw it walk through our front woods & part way up the driveway – I grabbed my camera & we both ran out the front door in our bare feet.  It was too dark & too far to get a good photo then. It sniffed in the air & cut into the woods behind our neighbors (one of whom was grilling chicken on their deck …).

We then went for a walk trying to re-find it but weren’t successful.

It was a pretty young bear, I think born this past winter though it might be a bit older as there was sign of its mother.

The last black bear I saw in Lo Co was in the fall of 1996 crossing the driveway into Banshee Reeks – that one was a bit larger – the size of my dog who was with me at the time.

It was really cool and looked great!
Joe

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In this episode we talk all about Eastern Box Turtles and answer that question …. why did the turtle cross the road? Box Turtles are great wild neighbors with every encounter being a special one.  Their populations are in serious decline however, so it’s up to us to help them.

The photo above is of a male Eastern Box turtle that has been sighted a few times in our yard – the first time being seven years ago. 

To listen to this episode, click the play button at the top of this post and it will play now or Right Click Here to Download (select “Save as Target”).

The highlights of this past Saturday’s morning walk, co-sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy & the Friends of Banshee Reeks, and attended by 18 birders, was a flyover flock of 7 vocal COMMON RAVENS, a couple of different groups of migrants, including warblers & vireos busily feeding, a couple of SCARLET TANAGERS, and numerous BALTIMORE ORIOLES.  A few of us also got to see an adult BALD EAGLE flying low over the Goose Creek. 
 
However, the most int’g part of the morning was the Black Rat Snake that joined us for the tally at the end of the walk on the Visitor Center’s front porch.  The four to five foot snake was slithering along the stone wall right above a couple of benches and when some of us decided to go ahead and sit on the benches anyway it lost its grasp on the wall and fell onto the bench.  After carefully watching us for a couple of minutes, it did slither away under some steps that Sandy Farkas and Linda Millington were sitting on.

Mary Ann Good and I briefly and separately visited the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project before the walk.
 
For more information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, including a listing of their future activities, see (www.loudounwildlife.org); for the Friends of Banshee Reeks see www.bansheereeks.org.
 
Thanks, Joe Coleman
Loudoun Co

Birds seen at Banshee:
Number of species:     55

Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron(1), Green Heron(1), Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle (1), Sharp-shinned Hawk(1), Red-shouldered Hawk(1), Red-tailed Hawk(2), Rock Pigeon(3), Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo(3), Chimney Swift(10), Ruby-throated Hummingbird(2), Belted Kingfisher(1), Red-bellied Woodpecker(12), Downy Woodpecker(8), Northern Flicker(5), Pileated Woodpecker(5), Eastern Wood-Pewee (6), Eastern Phoebe(8), Great Crested Flycatcher(1), White-eyed Vireo(2), Red-eyed Vireo(4), Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow(1), Common Raven(7), Tree Swallow(1), Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch(5), Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher(2), Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush(4), American Robin(2), Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher(3), European Starling, Cedar Waxwing(6), Northern Parula(1), Magnolia Warbler(1), American Redstart(4), Ovenbird(1), Common Yellowthroat(3), Scarlet Tanager(2), Eastern Towhee(3), Chipping Sparrow(2), Field Sparrow(10), Song Sparrow(2), Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole(8), American Goldfinch
 
Observation date:     9/13/08
Notes:     Both Mary Ann Good & Joe briefly birded the Dulles Wetlands prior to the Banshee Reeks walk.  Mary Ann walked on to the Wetlands while Joe birded the shrubs and trees along Oatlands Mill Rd. This report is a composite of both of our sightings.
Number of species:     34
Canada Goose(100), Mallard(3), Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle(1), Red-shouldered Hawk(2), Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird(2), Downy Woodpecker(2), Pileated Woodpecker(1), Eastern Wood-Pewee(2), Eastern Phoebe(2), Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow(3), Carolina Chickadee(5), Tufted Titmouse(2), Carolina Wren(2), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher(1), Eastern Bluebird(1), Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird(1), European Starling, Yellow Warbler(1), Palm Warbler(2), Black-and-white Warbler(2), Common Yellowthroat(4), Field Sparrow(2), Song Sparrow(4), Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting(1), Baltimore Oriole(1), House Finch(3), American Goldfinch

The earth has music for those who will listen.

- Shakespeare

Nature Photography Workshop – Special Discount for LWC Members: Jim Clark, nature photographer and contributing editor for Outdoor Photographer Magazine, will be teaching an “Introduction to Nature Photography” workshop this fall at the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. The workshop is offered through Mountain Trail Photography Workshops (http://www.mtphotoworkshops.com/Intro_Nature_Photography.html) and the company is offering a 15% discount to LWC members. Dates of the workshop are October 17-19. Classes begin on Friday evening and run through Sunday noon. There will be both classroom and field sessions and the class will cover the spectrum of topics for enhancing one’s images of nature. If you have questions, you can contact Jim at jimclarkphoto@comcast.net. His website is www.jimclarkphotography.com

At our last get together, the idea of having a free choice meeting was discussed. We decided to give it a shot and so, at our next meeting, each person can come and talk about the book of their choice. That way, all of us can learn about a number of different nature titles!

You need not prepare a lenghty treatise- just a few words about the book will be fine- did you like it? strengths? weaknesses? That sort of thing.

To sign up for this get together, please visit our book club web page.

If you’re reading a book on nature, we’d love to know what it is and what you think of it! Feel free to post it here, come to the meeting, or both.

Next Meeting:
October 9, 2008, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Rust Sanctuary in Leesburg (please sign up via our web page above so we can contact you if the date, time or location changes)

We need the tonic of wilderness, to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground.

- Henry David Thoreau