Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

On Saturday, April 4th, 13 of us went out to Blandy Experimental Farm, the Virginia’s State Arboretum in Boyce. Most of us were pretty well bundled up since it was a little chilly as we started up the morning and the wind was still whipping around.

As we walked along the paths and boardwalk, we spotted 42 species of birds with Cedar Waxwings putting on the biggest show as a large flock swirled back and forth from a tree down to a small pond to drink. We also had great looks at a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that watched us (no doubt for awhile) as we were birding. We finally looked up into the big pine tree where it was perched and it patiently sat as we “oooed and ahhhed” at it and mused over its migration.

Here’s a list of the species we encountered on this great spring morning: Canada Goose, Mallard, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin, and American Goldfinch.

We also had a falcon that zipped by so quickly that none of us got a good enough look to identify it but it gave some sparrows quite a scare.

Yep, I’m not making it up. And really, it makes sense since we’re right in the thick of amphibian breeding season.  Wood frogs that came out of the forests in late February and early March laid their eggs and tadpoles are now being seen.

Spring peepers are heard throughout our area and are starting to lay their eggs in both temporary and permanent wetlands. Pictured here is one of our Spring Peepers peeping. Keep in mind, these little guys are small – one could sit on a quarter or silver dollar pretty comfortably, but wow what a sound they can put out, especially when a bunch of them get together!

As all this is going on, Pickerel frogs (with their funny snoring call) are jumping into the mix as are our American Toads, which we’re just starting to hear trill; and Cricket Frogs, which make a call that sounds like two stones being tapped together.

It’s a really neat time to not only watch amphibians but also gain a first hand look at their life cycles from egg to tadpole to adult and to learn about their habitat needs for both the breeding season (vernal pools, ponds, swamps) and the non-breeding season (forests, marshes).

Here’s a site that has some ideas on How to Celebrate National Frog Month. If you’re up for a little challenge, we have a crossword puzzle on Frogs and Toads that you can try out too. For the artistic ones, our coloring book has a couple of frog pages in it along with some fun facts about the animals. Every month is great for learning about Loudoun’s nature and our environment and this month is a wonderful time to focus in on amphibians!

The Virginia Herpetological Society has an excellent online resource for calls of frogs and toads that we have in Virginia.  So, if you’re out and about, taking a nature walk or running errands and hear frogs and toads calling give a go at identifying the species you hear and then, let me know and I’ll add the information to our  Amphibian Monitoring Program database. I’m also working on gathering and making frog and toads call recordings from here in Loudoun so any locations you identify could really help with that.