On July 24th, Del Sargent led the regular monthly Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center in northwestern Loudoun Co.  At the same time Marcia Weidner & Joe Coleman led a small group of Cub Scouts and their parents on a much shorter walk in both time & distance.
 
As Del wrote: Five very heat tolerant birders braved the hottest day this year in Loudoun County to trek the woods of the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship.  We planned our walk so that we were generally in the shade, which was basically the Farmstead Loop.  The big find for the day was a family of KENTUCKY WARBLERS with very impatient young begging for food.  Two Black Vultures sat on the roof of the house where they were probably hatched.
 
It was an int’g day w/the butterflies already active at 6 am and most birds quiet by 8 am.
 
Information on the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship which is open every day of the year can be found at http://www.blueridgecenter.org.   Information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy many free walks and programs can be found at www.loudounwildlife.org. 
 
A total of 36 species on both walks were tallied:
Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture , Turkey Vulture, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo , Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Louisiana Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler. Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow