Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Six of us went out stream monitoring today at the Phillips Farm in Waterford where the south fork of Catoctin Creek runs through.  The water was 69 degrees and we had a slight breeze blowing which made it a great day to be out stream monitoring.  This team is led by Helen Van Ryzin, who was certified last spring in the Virginia Save our Streams (VA SOS) protocol, which is the protocol used by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

We set up our table under a nice tree, had our sorting trays all ready, and then went out into the water to collect our critters.  It’s such a fun process to be involved with – after doing the collections in the net, we brought it back over to the table and the excitement begins –  it feels like Christmas as we spread the net out and inspect what we caught. I was hoping for a caddisfly all wrapped up in it’s stone house but we didn’t find any of them today. We did have a significant number of net spinners, a bunch of riffle beetles, lots of mayflies, a clam, and I believe some damselfly larvae too.

I’ve posted photos to our facebook page.  Anyone can come out and learn how to monitor a Loudoun stream. It’s really quite fascinating to look at the aquatic insects and understand how their presence (or lack of presence) tells the story of water quality. They’re really beautiful in their own ways with their feathery gills and interesting legs and tails. It’s a whole new world of Loudoun’s nature and environment to learn about and explore.

Saturday morning’s walk at Banshee Reeks was attended by 13 birders, led by Joe Coleman and Mary Ann Good. 

Before the walk, four of us also surveyed the nearby Dulles Wetlands for 2 hours.  The increasing exposed mud at the wetlands has attracted numbers of Killdeer but no other shorebirds yet. Large numbers of young Wood Duck of all sizes and fewer Mallards largely ignored the nest-year Bald Eagle who surveyed the scene from the large dead sycamore.  Many juvenile Green Herons were testing their wings and hunting skills, and a pair of Willow Flycatchers scolded our passage.  The four Great Egret seen there Monday did not put in an appearance today. 

At Banshee Reeks, we got several close looks at the resident male Blue Grosbeak and observed Purple Martins beginning to flock.  We also spent some time at the MAPS banding station where we watched a Yellow-breasted Chat, a young Indigo Bunting, and a Catbird get weighed, measured, inspected, and banded, then released. A great day for exploring Loudoun’s nature and wildlife.

Following is the combined list of the 62 species observed:

Wood Duck – including many fledglings, Mallard – including fledglings, Great Blue Heron – 4, Green Heron – est 10, mainly fledglings, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle – fledgling, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel – pair (a participant saw the entire family with 3 young earlier in the week), Killdeer – est 15, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo – 3, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher – 2, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker – including a very young fledgling, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher – est 10, Willow Flycatcher – 2, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Purple Martin – est 10, Tree Swallow, No. Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher – concerned parent on one side of the path, alarmed young on the other, Eur. Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, No. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak – pair, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole, American Goldfinch