Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Joe Coleman sent over a great report from when he was out doing his Bird Atlas survey on Friday. Here’s his story of Wood Ducks, and more:

I found a pair of WOOD DUCKS standing and walking on limbs in a stand of large white oaks this morning while driving to one of my atlas block areas. I was heading down Ebenezer Church Rd, about a mile from my house, when I saw two odd shapes on a large & old White Oak limb about 25-30 feet above the ground.  After stopping, pulling over, & putting my binoculars on the birds I realized the shapes were a male and female Wood Duck.  

They were walking, if that’s really the right word, back & forth, on this very large horizontal limb, occasionally hopping to neighboring limbs.  The female then flew to a very large cavity about 30 feet above the ground in a neighboring White Oak and spent some time looking in it.  The male joined her and both looked into the cavity from several different angles. 

Reaching for my camera I realized it was at home on the kitchen counter where I’d left it in hopes of catching a couple good photos of the RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS that have been visiting my feeders this week.  After about 10 minutes the two Wood Ducks flew back further into the woods when a pick-up truck drove by me.

However, right after they left a Fox Squirrel ran up one of the neighboring White Oaks. From that location I drove to Foggy Bottom Rd and walked northwest on it near from where it intersects with Austin Grove Rd.  About 8:30 am I heard an EASTERN SCREECH OWL whinnying that just wouldn’t stop; while it sounded like it was at least 100 yards off the road I’ve found that they’re often much closer than it seems.  This was about a mile from where Laura Weidner and I found both a Screech Owl and a Barred Owl about a week ago. 

While standing there listening to the screech owl I started hearing RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS behind me.  At that point a COOPER’S HAWK flew into the area where the Red-headed Woodpeckers were and everything shut right up while the Cooper’s Hawk rapidly vocalized, kih, kih, kih, before flying away.  One RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was also singing its entire repertoire, something I rarely hear.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is sometimes asked to do a special nature program or environmental education field trip for a community or group of kids and as long as our volunteers are available, we head on out to explore and share the wild nature of Loudoun.

Phil Daley and Joe Coleman met up with the Girl Scout troop at the Dulles Wetlands in Leesburg yesterday afternoon. With the spring weather already being so wonderful, it was a great day to be out but in addition to that, the girls (as well as Joe and Phil) were in for a special treat with not only great views of the Bald Eagles but also a Sandhill Crane! A real rarity for Loudoun! Here’s the report from Joe Coleman:

Phil Daley and I, with permission from the Dulles Greenway management, took a Girl Scout troop on to the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project late this afternoon.  We were able to show them a BALD EAGLE and at least one very young and small nestling almost immediately.  After that, at about 5:30 pm we were explaining to them the many reasons why wetlands are so important to the environment and what wonderfully diverse wildlife nurseries they are.

At one point we were standing in the mud on the edge of a thick stand of cattails and explaining to the girls and their parents how easy it would be for a bird or mammal to find shelter in the them and showed them drawings of rails as well as actual tracks of several different mammals that use the wetlands.  Not expecting any kind of response at that time of day I briefly played about 20 seconds of a Virginia Rail tape.  As soon as I turned the tape off two different VIRGINIA RAILS responded!

A little later while walking to the far side of the wetlands Phil spotted a bird which both of us, at first, took for granted as a Great Blue Heron flying into the wetlands, though it flew and landed differently than Great Blues do.  After it landed on the far side of the wetlands across from us and thinking we might be able to show the girls a Great Blue in breeding plumage we put it in the spotting scope and immediately realized it was a solitary SANDHILL CRANE!  While it was pretty active and kept disappearing in the high vegetation on the edge of the wetlands, we were able to show it to most of the girls and their parents though it did rapidly disappear from sight. We were unable to find it again before we left.

All in all a great couple of hours of birding … Joe Coleman

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
and dances with daffodills.

- William Wordsworth

Did you know….Arbor day was started in 1854 by a pioneer, Sterling Morton, who trekked with his wife from Detroit to the Nebraska Territories to establish their home and farm?  The couple loved nature and they, along with other pioneers migrating west, missed their trees from the east.  In addition, they found that they needed trees to act as wind breaks to keep soil in place, give them building materials and provide fuel.

So, Morton started a movement through the agricultural community and in 1872, the first Tree Planting Holiday was created. The original date was April 10th and there were prizes for the county or individual that planted the most trees on that single day. Reports state that over 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska that day! 

The date was later changed to April 22, Morton’s birthday, and in 1885 school children got involved, meeting in classrooms to plant at least one tree, labeling them and declaring that the tree would be cared for by that grade. A great parade ensued with over 1,000 children marching to the Nebraska City Opera House, each grade carrying banners in celebration of their tree plantings.

Through the 1880s other states adopted resolutions to recognize Arbor Day and it took off from there, and I’m glad it did….fast forward a hundred years or so…..

When I was growing up in the 1970s, I remember each Arbor Day being sent home from school with a plastic bag with a seedling sticking out of it. I remember my 3rd grade seedling in particular because it was when I really started waking up to nature. First, I should say, it’s amazing that this little pine survived my sweaty little hands, the drops on the ground, and the bus ride home but after getting through that gauntlet, my dad and I planted it in our backyard near my swing.

As we dug the hole and situated the little seedling, my dad uttered something to the effect that it would probably need some lime……Ok, so to this 7 year old, limes were green and round and found in the refrigerator, and a few days later, seeing that my dad wasn’t doing anything about the lime, I tracked it down myself by asking my mother for some. I went outside and carefully squeezed it on the ground around the seedling. I proceeded to casually care for the tree and watch it grow over the years as I swung on my swing and slowly grew along side it.

Thirty (or so) years later, my parents have long since moved from that house but my mother still lives in the area, and from time to time when visiting up there, I’ll drive by to check on it. It’s a fully grown tree now, a few broken limbs here and there and some other wear and tear but nothing unexpected for our age.

I tell this story because planting a tree with a son or daughter can make all the difference. For me, it was one of those early connections with nature that has survived the decades of changes in my life. It serves as a touchstone that always reinforces my connection with nature as well as a marker for time and events that have passed.

So, this Arbor Day, I hope you’ll pick up the Arbor Day tradition and plant a tree. This coming Saturday, you can head over to Oatlands Plantation where the Loudoun Arbor Day Celebration is being held.  In the tradition of the originators of Arbor Day, there will be a parade at 11:00 which is always fun to see, and tree seedlings will be given away for free (yes, free!) by the Virginia Dept of Forestry and the Loudoun County Soil and Water District. There will also be all sorts of demonstrations, nature displays, and of course, the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy fair booth will be set up and stocked with cool handouts and fun stuff.

Learn more about Arbor Day from the Arbor Day Foundation at   http://www.arborday.org/arborday/index.cfm and let us know how your tree planting goes

Three intrepid birders went out on our Birding Banshee walk this past Saturday. Here’s the report from Joe Colemen:

The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s policy is to hold its scheduled bird walks, rain or shine, unless it’s dangerous but we don’t expect a lot of people if the weather is lousy. This past Saturday morning three hardcore & dedicated (some people would describe us as something else) birders showed up for a very wet & not overly productive bird walk. 

While it rained, mostly hard, the entire time we were out, we kept telling each other how nice it was to be outside …   One of the problems we had in finding birds was that we had a hard time hearing the birds sing due to the rain pelting down on our umbrellas.  We did find 23 bird species at Banshee, including an impressive number of Eastern Towhees loudly singing from a variety of perches along with a lot of singing Field Sparrows and Chipping Sparrows.

My most interesting sightings occurred on the way to and from Banshee when I drove by the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project about 7 am & caught a glimpse of a Barred Owl and one of the nesting BALD EAGLES sitting on its nest.  When I stopped on the way home I first saw one of the Bald Eagles standing over the nest in the rain with its wings spread out.  Its mate flew to a close-by perch – tore up something & then flew down to the nest.  After its mate left, it dropped whatever it had torn up in the nest, continuing to stand on the edge of the nest.  Since nothing was visible in the nest I can only guess that, for the 4th year in a row, one will soon be able to see an eaglet or two.

Species seen at Banshee Reeks:
Canada Goose, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch

Next month on May 9 the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy has scheduled 12 different bird walksall over Loudoun County in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day. Sign up online to join us for one of these walks.

Celebrate our Planet and Help a Stream Environment!

On Earth Day, April 22 (3 to 6 pm) and on Saturday, April 25 ( 9 am to noon) help the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Waterford Foundation plant trees and shrubs along a stream on Waterford’s Phillips Farm.  While there is already a nice stand of small black walnut trees along one side of a small tributary which flows into the South Fork Catoctin, there are very few trees on its other side. 

We will plant about 300 native trees and shrubs along the stream and remove the invasive alien vegetation which is beginning to take hold there.  Doing this will help stabilize the stream bank by creating a wider stream buffer.  This will not only reduce erosion it will also provide valuable wildlife habitat in the area.

Everyone is welcome, and it’s fine if someone doesn’t want to work the entire three hours. 

If you know anyone or a group that might be interested, please forward this message to them. 

Please let Joe Coleman know if you would like to join us on either or both days and if you have any questions. Joe can be reached at 540-554-2542 or jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org.

We should have a flier by Monday & if you’d like a copy to pass on pls let me or Joe know.

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Well our wonderful Bald Eagle pair at the Dulles Wetlands is at it again.  Actually, they’ve been at it for at least the last month or so, prepping the nest, making repairs and other such courtship activities.  I thought it’d be fun this year….now that we have this nature blog….to send out periodic updates so we can all share in their raising of young and the stories that ensue.

They’ve been using this next for the past few years that we’ve been watching them and they’ll continue to do so, making repairs and upgrades as needed year after year. It’s a huge nest, which you can get a feel for from looking at the photo here but later in the season, as young start hopping about, we’ll see that a nest this size is definitely needed.

So, as we start in on our eagles update, as of this post…..we think the female has not only laid the eggs but they have also hatched! She’s been staying at the nest and while she seemed like she’d rather go fly off for a bit, she is sticking around, looking into the nest once in awhile, and poking about. If she still had eggs, she’d be sitting on them non-stop so more than likely the little ones have hatched!  We’ll keep an out for little heads peeking up in the coming weeks.

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.