Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

I just saw a write-up on an email from Journey North on some migration activity just south of us and thought it’d be neat to share. This time of year is so filled with anticipation – when will we see the first bluebells, when will the first tanagers and vireos arrive, will the red-breasted grosbeak visit the feeder as it pushes through our area, what will my first butterfly of the season be? Oh, it’s just so much fun!

Anyway, in line with all that, here’s the report from just south of us on birds that are coming our way!  Let us know what migrants you’re seeing – and report it on the Journey North website too – it’s pretty cool to be part of this citizen science project!

From Journey North:

“There has been a lot of migration this past week! The rain last week didn’t slow the birds down for long, and the strong southerly winds helped bring in a lot of new species…It was a pretty good week in the eastern US, with people along the Alabama coast seeing the most. They reported seeing many White-eyed Vireos, Worm-eating Warblers, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and people in Louisiana reported their first Indigo Buntings. Here in Tennessee, the first Purple Martins showed up at my study site, and I heard the first Blue-headed Vireo of the season. Blue-headed Vireos also showed up in both Carolinas. The southerly winds have also helped push the first Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows up into Pennsylvania.”

If you are not willing to see more than is visible, you won’t see anything.

- Ruth Bernhard

Today is the Spring Equinox, also referred to as the Vernal Equinox. 

Similar to the Autumnal Equinox, today is the day that the hours of daylight and night time are equal.

This a great time to go out for a walk and look for those signs of spring…skunk cabbage in all its splendor, salamander and wood frog tadpoles hatching, spring peepers peepin’, spring beauties popping up from the ground, mourning cloak butterflies flying through the forest. What other signs of the seasons are you noticing?

If you’re doing a photo journal of nature through the seasons, today is the day to go on out to your special nature spot and take that photo again.

Chickadees are so much fun – and they’re not a shy bird. They’re usually the first to check out a new feeder, are often the first on the scene to jeer at an intruder, and we get to enjoy them year round. The species that we have here most abundantly in Loudoun is the Carolina Chickadee although the Black-Capped Chickadee is a rare visitor.

Chickadees are cavity nesters so in the healthy forest habitat they’ll nest in cavities in dead and decaying trees. Around our backyards, we can put up nest boxes for them. Nest boxes should be mounted 5-15 feet high and they should be positioned so they will receive sun for about 60% of the day. I like to mount my boxes on poles with stovepipe guards just as we do with the bluebird nest boxes. That way, they’ll be safe from predators.

The wood for the nest box should be rough on the inside to make it easier for the birds, especially the fledglings, to grasp onto the side as they work to hop out of the box. You can either rough up the wood as you’re building the box or buy wood that is already a bit rough, like cedar. Never use pressure treated wood as it has harmful chemicals infused into it and no need to paint the boxes – the birds like them au natural.

The entrance hole for the box should be 1 1/8″ to 1 1/4″ in diameter. This will allow both chickadees and house wrens to use the box but not house sparrows. Chickadees are small birds and they prefer a smaller box since they need to build the nest to fill the inside base. So, the floor of the nest box should be 4″ by 5 1/2″. The sides should be about 8″ tall by 5 1/2″ wide. If you buy a piece of wood that is 1″ x 6″ x 4′ you’ll have just the right amount of wood to build a box. Here are plans for building a chickadee nest box.

With our bluebird monitoring program, we notice that Chickadees are one of our early spring nesters, often building their soft nests made of mosses and hair in late March, sometimes beating the Bluebirds to the boxes by a week or so.

Chickadees feed mainly on insects so keep your yard free of pesticides. Also provide shrubs and trees with fruits and nuts as a food source through the winter. They’ll also come to visit your feeders through the year – sunflower seeds are a favorite.

Nest boxes also serve as a cozy roost in the cold winter too so at the end of summer, you can clean out the box and put some soft dry grass in the bottom to help the birds stay warm during cold winter nights.

Click this link to check out some Cool Chickadee Facts and hear their songs. A cool fact, not mentioned on that linked but found on other pages is that in winter, Carolina Chickadees can lower their body temperatures and go into a state of hypothermia for up to 15 hours to help them save energy through harsh winters.

New beauty meets us at every step in our wanderings.

- John Muir

I’m posting this a bit late as I was out of town for this bird walk but still wanted to be sure to share the great sightings Joe had in spite of the rain!

Here’s Joe’s write-up from March 13th:

While it is the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s policy to hold its bird walks, rain or shine unless it is dangerous, we don’t expect a lot of people to show up when the weather is bad – this morning I was the only person to show up for the regular monthly (2nd Sat.) bird walk at the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve.  While it was pretty slow at first when the hard rain changed to a mist about 8:40 am the birds became much more active and the birding much more enjoyable. 

The highlights of the 34 species at Banshee (see complete list below) were my FOS EASTERN PHOEBE, great looks at a couple of BROWN CREEPERS, single RUBY-CROWNED and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, and a couple of FOX SPARROWS, all of which came in very close and let me have long, extended looks at them.
 
After Banshee Reeks I went over to the nearby Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project where the highlights included 13 TUNDRA SWANS coming out of the fog & drizzle to land on the water, lots of ducks including several GADWALL, a PIED-BILLED GREBE, an AMERICAN COOT, and a calling BARRED OWL.  While I was disappointed to not see the Bald Eagle on the nest, prob. because it was well hunkered down to keep the eggs warm, there was a NORTHERN HARRIER.
 
In all there were 46 species, not bad for a very damp morning.
 
Good birding!
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co
 
Location:     Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve – MFF08
Observation date:     3/13/10
Notes:     On this very wet morning only one person showed up for the regular monthly bird walk at Banshee.  When the hard rain changed to a mist about 8:40 am the birds became much more active.
Number of species:     34
Canada Goose, Wood Duck 1, Turkey Vulture 1, Red-shouldered Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 1, Mourning Dove 2, Belted Kingfisher 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker 5, Downy Woodpecker 2, Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1, Pileated Woodpecker 3, Eastern Phoebe 1, Blue Jay 8, American Crow 7, Fish Crow 9, Carolina Chickadee 5, Tufted Titmouse 2, White-breasted Nuthatch 2, Brown Creeper 2, Carolina Wren 2, Golden-crowned Kinglet 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1, Eastern Bluebird 4, American Robin 40, Northern Mockingbird 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2, Eastern Towhee 1, Field Sparrow 1, Fox Sparrow (Red) 2, Song Sparrow 8, White-throated Sparrow 12, Dark-eyed Junco 6, Northern Cardinal 5, American Goldfinch X,

Location:     Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project
Observation date:     3/13/10
Number of species:     26
Tundra Swan 13, Gadwall 8, American Wigeon 2, Mallard 16, Green-winged Teal 1, Ring-necked Duck 32, Pied-billed Grebe 1, Northern Harrier 1, Red-shouldered Hawk 1, American Coot 1, Killdeer 1, Barred Owl 1, Belted Kingfisher 2, Red-bellied Woodpecker 2, Downy Woodpecker 1, Blue Jay 3, American Crow 6, Fish Crow 4, Carolina Chickadee 2, Eastern Bluebird 2, American Robin 4, Song Sparrow 2, Northern Cardinal 3, Red-winged Blackbird 20, Brown-headed Cowbird 1, American Goldfinch

Have you been hearing it?  Kon-ka-reeeee!  That’s our Red-winged Blackbird and what a great sign of spring! I started hearing the call in the last few days of February but more recently have had a few come to our platform feeder for sunflower seeds.

You can listen to their calls here.

The Red-winged Blackbird is occasionally seen here in Loudoun in winter but really returns as spring starts winding up.

They’re often found in marshy wetland areas and soggy fields. That kon-ka-reeeee call is the male’s song which it will profess from the highest perch it can find.  Females are, as is often in the bird world, less showy, making small chit calls as they hunker down in cattails and reeds.

In the springtime, the males start their territorial displays and calls as soon as they arrive at the breeding habitats. In the photo shown here, the male is doing what is called a “songspread”. This behavior is done when establishing territory. When the females arrive, there’s a lot of chasing around through the habitat until they settle down.

Territories are established starting in March with courtship occurring through April and May. The pairs then focus on nesting from late April into June, creating secret nests among reeds and grasses, often hung in mid-air from vertical supports.

When you watch the males, be sure to catch a glimpse of that red wing bar they they are so aptly named for. It’s quite stunning against their jet black feathers.

This is an excerpt from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Book series, “Bird Gardens.”  I came across it through the National Wildlife Federation’s Habitat Steward Program and it’s such a nice succinct checklist that I wanted to share it with you. I’ll also add my own commentary in brackets next to each tip, I just can’t resist.

As we head into spring, this is a great time to run through this checklist – both to refresh existing backyard habitat elements that you already have and to consider new ones for the coming year:

• Re-create the multiple layers of plant growth found in natural areas. [Take a look around your neighborhood where development has not yet occurred and see what the original habitat looked like and included. This will give ideas for creating what our native species need to thrive]

• Select plants to provide nutritional foods during different seasons. [Thinking through each season is important – whether it’s flowers from March through October or fruits from summer through winter, take a look at what your plantings offer different species through the year]

• Plant shrubs and small trees in same-species clumps for adequate pollination of fruits. [This is especially important for holly plants and others that require a male and female plant]

• Provide at least one clump of evergreens. [With the winter snows we got this year, you can see how important evergreens can be. They provide a nice shelter for wildlife during harsh weather. Additionally, they provide nice nesting sites for birds that can be well hidden]

• Leave dead trees, standing or fallen, to provide nesting and foraging sites. Consider topping dead trees rather than removing the whole tree if safety is an issue. [Snags play such an important role in our ecosystem. The insects that work to decompose them provide great food for various birds and they provide the right sort of wood for woodpeckers to make cavities that are used both by them and secondary users for nest sites]

• Leave vines, or plant native additions. [Vines like the Virginia Creeper, Trumpet Vine and yes, even Poison Ivy, provide great food sources for birds through the fall migration]

• Limit the size of your lawn for less mowing, less fertilizing, less watering, and less pollution. [Lawns have an interesting history in our culture and I’ll do a whole blog post on that at some point but for now, just a note that lawns are actually a wasteland when it comes to wildlife benefit and in fact because of all the things we do to make them look as they “should,” we pollute our environment and waste water]

• Avoid invasive exotic (non-native) plants. [Plants and animals evolve together and the introduction of non-natives impacts that web of life]

• Supply a source of water – dripping or running water is a better attractant than still water. [Bird baths and backyard ponds are wonderful features – the sound of running water is irresistible to many animals because it sounds so fresh and good]

• Provide and monitor nest boxes of various types. [This is a great way to learn more about our resident birds as you get to watch them use the habitat around them in raising their brood]

• Leave some leaf litter on the ground. [Leaf litter is excellent – both for overwintering butterflies and other insects that need to get through the winter. In addition, as leaves decompose they provide rich nutrients that enrich the soil and make a healthier habitat in general. Birds will forage through leaf litter in search for food]

• Stop using pesticides in your yard. [Pesticides disrupt the balance in nature, harm other animals and get into our groundwater]

• Use only organic, slow release fertilizers, preferably your own compost, if needed. [Similar to pesticides, fertilizers do far more harm than good – leaf litter and other natural compost is the best remedy if you need to fertilize]

Restoring habitat in our backyard is a great way to draw in wildlife and get to learn more about them. I saved a pdf version of this checklist here so you can download it and use it: Checklist for Creating a Bird Friendly Yard.

You can also find more resources for backyard gardening and creating backyard wildlife habitat on our Habitat Restoration page of the website.

When ere wee froggie wakes,
en struggles outa the muck, gaspin
fer breth, clingin ta sticks en reeds,
suckin up warm sun en at lass
calls out ta ‘nother wee froggie,
“Peeeeeeeep!, tiz spring, me thinks,
en time fer fun en frollik!

- Anonymous

I stopped by the viewing spot along Loudoun County Parkway last weekend to check on the Great Blue Herons. 

This is a great time to view the roost because the trees have not leafed out yet and you can see the birds finely silhouetted against the sky.

Along the different tree clusters, I counted around 50 nests – some looking smaller than in the past, possibly due to storm damage from the snows and others perhaps just being built.  The greatest thing to see though is the pairs as they stand together on the nests, nuzzling each other, bringing in sticks to add to the nests, and other courtship activities.

In coming weeks they’ll lay their eggs and then they’ll be busy through the spring raising their chicks. We’ll continue to pop by to watch them, staying far back from the rookery and using the spotting scope so not to disturb their important activities of the season.