Thirty-five birders showed up for the regularly scheduled monthly bird walk at the 900-acre Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship in northwestern Loudoun County this past Saturday morning. This month’s walk was sponsored by both the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Northern Virginia Bird Club and split into two different groups. One group, led by Elton Morel & Marc Ribaudo, concentrated on the area around the Education Center & organic farm and found 59 species; the other group, led by Joe Coleman & Mary Ann Good, walked the trails at the southern end of the property and found 57 species. Neither group spent much time in the forest and, for the most part, found the same species with some notable exceptions such as the four Chats found around the Education Center. After the scheduled walk a couple people briefly visited the open areas under the power line on Arnold Road and added American Robins and two counter-singing Orchard Orioles to the days list.
The highlights of the 70 species were five Blue-winged Warblers, a couple of which were well-seen, a flyover Broad-winged Hawk, one Cerulean Warbler, and 4 Yellow-breasted Chats.
For a complete list of the birds see the combined eBird lists below.
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 and information on the Northern Virginia Bird Club can be found at http://www.nvabc.org/.
Joe Coleman
Canada Goose 6, Great Blue Heron 2 , Black Vulture 3, Turkey Vulture 9, Cooper’s Hawk 1, Bald Eagle 3, Red-shouldered Hawk 3, Broad-winged Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 26, Mourning Dove 6, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4, Chimney Swift 18, Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3, Red-bellied Woodpecker 7,, Downy Woodpecker 3, Hairy Woodpecker 3, Northern Flicker 1, Pileated Woodpecker 4, Eastern, Wood-Pewee 3, Acadian Flycatcher 6, Eastern Phoebe 1, Great Crested Flycatcher 10, Eastern Kingbird 4, White-eyed Vireo 6, Yellow-throated Vireo 2, Red-eyed Vireo 25, Blue Jay 3, American Crow 9, Fish Crow 3, Common Raven 1, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1, Tree Swallow 9, Barn Swallow 14, Carolina Chickadee 8, Tufted Titmouse 15, White-breasted Nuthatch 2, House Wren 3, Carolina Wren 5, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 9, Eastern Bluebird 6, Wood Thrush 2, American Robin 2, Gray Catbird 5, Northern Mockingbird 2, Brown Thrasher 2, European Starling 8, Cedar Waxwing 27, Ovenbird 1, Louisiana Waterthrush 1, Blue-winged Warbler 5, Kentucky Warbler 1, Common Yellowthroat 8, American Redstart 8, Cerulean Warbler 1, Yellow-breasted Chat 4, Eastern Towhee 5, Chipping Sparrow 3, Field Sparrow 15, Grasshopper Sparrow 1, Song Sparrow 1, Scarlet Tanager 4,, Northern Cardinal 12, Indigo Bunting 25, Eastern Meadowlark 1, Common Grackle 3, Brown-headed Cowbird 18, Orchard Oriole 2, American Goldfinch 30, House Sparrow 2