Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

On January 28th, 14 of us found 30 species on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s regular bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship in northwestern Loudoun County near Harper’s Ferry. 

It was around freezing when we started and warmed up to the low 40′s by the time we finished.  We spent most of our time on the power cut with brief forays into the forest edge.

We got nice looks at two Hermit Thrushes, a Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker & Hairy Woodpecker fighting over a cavity. 

Other highlights included two Fox Sparrows, at least 6 Field Sparrows, no Juncos, a handful of hawks, and two flyover Ravens as we were tallying.  Surprising misses were the lack of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Pileated Woodpeckers.  Nonetheless all in all a nice walk on a pleasant winter day

Information on the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship can be found at http://www.blueridgecenter.org.   Information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and its many free activities can be found at www.loudounwildlife.org.

Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co

See below for complete list of bird species seen as reported to eBird:
Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship – MFF01, Loudoun, US-VA
Jan 28, 2012 8:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
30 species
Canada Goose  30,Mallard  18,Hooded Merganser  3,Turkey Vulture  6,Red-shouldered Hawk  2,Red-tailed Hawk  3,American Kestrel  1,Red-bellied Woodpecker,Downy Woodpecker,Hairy Woodpecker  1,Northern Flicker  2,Blue Jay,American Crow,Common Raven  2,Carolina Chickadee,Tufted Titmouse,White-breasted Nuthatch,Brown Creeper  1,Carolina Wren,Golden-crowned Kinglet  3,Eastern Bluebird,Hermit Thrush  1,Northern Mockingbird  3,European Starling,Field Sparrow  6,Fox Sparrow  2,Song Sparrow,White-throated Sparrow,Northern Cardinal  12,American Goldfinch.

For all you bird feeders out there…. this came through from the Maryland Ornithological Society and we wanted to make sure you were all aware. Be sure to buy your bird seed from companies that specialize in bird seed (not pesticides and herbicides):

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has agreed to plead guilty to charges in federal court and pay $4.5 million in fines in two incidents that date to 2008.

That year, the company recalled packages of wild birdseed coated with pesticides that were toxic to birds. Court documents state that, from November 2005 to March 2008, Scotts distributed 73 million units of birdseed coated with insecticides called Storcide II and Actellic 5E. This was done to keep insects from eating the seeds during storage.

Storcide’s label says the pesticide is “extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife.” Documents state that Scotts continued to sell the products despite warnings in the summer and fall of 2007 from a pesticide chemist and an ornithologist, both of whom worked for the company.

For full story, go to: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/01/27/scotts-to-pay-4-5m-in-fines.html