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.

The good news about all that snow that we had this year is that the swamp area and the vernal pools that run through Algonkian were full! We compared photos from last year at some of the same points along the trail and the comparison was dramatic. A vernal pool last year that was no bigger than a bathtub spanned over 100′ this year. It was great to see the water levels back up and the ground properly saturated.

Along our walk, Mike Hayslett, our field trip leader and director of The Virginia Vernal Pools Program, talked about soils, seasonal wetland habitats, lifecycles of the amphibian life found in these habitats, and other cool nature facts.

We did a bit of netting to try to find evidence of Marbled Salamanders as well.  Marbled salamanders lay their eggs in the fall in the dry leaf litter. The female then waits and protects the eggs until the fall rain comes and fills the pools. The eggs then hatch and develop through the winter. At one of the pools we did find a Marbled salamander tadpole. It was not alive but we could still make out the markings to identify it. Salamander tadpoles are easier to find at night because they are nighttime predators….moving through the water column in search of tasty insects.

Other critters that showed up in our netting were various freshwater insects – isopods, coepods – as well as clams. It was really fun to explore these swampy waters and learn about the lifecycles of the animals that use them. 

As soon as we have our first “Big Night” rainfall of the spring, the swamp will be crazy with activity from Wood Frogs, peepers, and other salamanders. Looking forward to that rain, hopefully this week!

I posted a few photos from our walk on our Facebook page – feel free to check them out.

So to make this special blend, you’ll need:
- A ripe banana
- A swig of dark rum
- A spoonful of Molasses

Simply mix the ingredients together and put it out on a plate or other flat surface in the sun so the butterflies can get to it. You may need to take it in at night so raccoons and other animals don’t get into it.

Mona writes, “Viceroys, Admirals, Question Marks, Commas, Hackberry, Red Spotted Purples, Wood Nymphs are the butterflies that I have seen butterfly bar hopping.”

We still have room in our Amphibians Afoot Class and Field Trip so if anyone is interested please sign up soon. If it rains those nights we’ll definitely be doing a night excursion and perhaps a road crossing assist.

So what’s the big deal about the first spring rains in March? Man, if the typed word could only show my excitement! I’m about to jump out of my seat on this and can barely catch all my typos!

The first warm rain in March is when Wood Frogs, Spring Peepers, toads, Jefferson Salamanders and others make their move! Imagine them in their forest homes, under logs, in burrows, nestled in the cushion of fallen leaves….the winter slumber is over and it’s time to breed!  They can’t leave their havens without some rain because their skin will dry out and they can’t move during a daytime rain because predators are out. So they wait……then it happens! Nighttime falls, the rains come and they migrate in force! 

They’ll migrate from as far away as 1/4 mile to get to the vernal pools and other wetlands where they were born in order to meet up with their fellow species to mate, stay a few days and then return to the forest. Wow – it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Here’s an interview I did with Mike Hayslett when he was here with us last year: Spring Wetlands Interview

This special spring rain sets the season off and is also why we get our amphibian monitoring program going this time of year.  We have these big events and the amphibians are most visible from March through about June/July. Oh it is just so much fun!

So, watch the weather and if you’re out at night when it’s raining, watch the road – what you may think are leaves blowing across the road may actually be frogs, toads and salamanders trying to cross!  Let us know what you encounter!

And please do check out the Amphibians Afoot Class mentioned above – there’s a small fee for this one to help cover some of our costs but it’s well worth it!

Ok, so what inspired me to write this morning is that I just got the first email of the season about the Chimney Swifts and even though it will be few weeks before they get here, I love knowing that they’re on their way! They’re part of this amazing dance of life and hearing that they’re gosh, about half way here already sets my heart a flutter! While we were digging out from the snow, something in them sparked and said, it’s time to FLY! and off they went!

The whole migration “thing” simply amazes me – actually, nature in general just amazes me – it’s such an incredible and beautiful dance of life through time and space, like some complex waltz with partners handing off partners to other partners, a nod and curtsy here and there yet no instructions needed. Just beautiful.

So, back to the point, here’s the news: the first Chimney Swifts of the season have been sighted on the Gulf Coast returning from their wintering grounds in South America. As in past years Driftwood Wildlife Center will be plotting the swifts’ movements northward over the next few months. We won’t see them for a few more weeks but you can watch their movement as fellow naturalists south of us post their sightings at: WWW.CHIMNEYSWIFTS.ORG

Nature is a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same. She casts the same thoughts into troops of forms, as a poet makes twenty fables with one moral. Beautifully shines a spirit through the bruteness and toughness of matter.

- Emerson

Basically what they do is identify areas that are likely to attract eagles and then ask landowners if they’d mind having a dead deer carcass in their yard to attract the birds. So far they’ve had a lot of support from people they’ve approached – hey, it’s just another form of bird feeding, right ?

The property owners keep a journal of the eagles that show up throughout the day and email it in to the project lead. With the data in hand, the project team, trained in handling eagles, returns to the property, traps the birds, collects the data needed and immediately releases the birds.

The goal of this Eagle Project is to develop a better understanding of the Bald Eagle population in the area as well as migratory patterns, health of the birds and information on the age distribution of the birds.

The project is led through the Virginia Inland Eagle Project under the auspices of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and is planned to go on for 10 years to gather the trend data needed to draw strong conclusions about the population.

For more information and an excellent story told from the perspective of one of the property owners, you can read the article online here or download our clipping from the paper here.

Campers will explore the woods, fields, and water of the preserve and learn about the plants and animals that live there.  The camps will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. 

Banshee Reeks is located five miles south of Leesburg off Route 15.   The cost will be only $130 per week, and space is limited.  For a quick look at last year’s camp, here’s the link from Nature Camp 2009.

Staff leading the camp are Phil Daley as Director/Naturalist; Paul Miller as Assistant Director, and Ellie Daley as Special Activities coordinator. Our summer intern will again support the camp as well.

These two fun-filled weeks in the outdoors is sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Piedmont Environmental Council, Loudoun County Parks and Recreation, and Friends of Banshee Reeks.

For more information contact LWC’s Phil Daley at 540-338-6528 or pedaley@verizon.net.  More details will be provided in the next issue of the Habitat Herald and on our website on the Natural History Day Camp page.

Through the years, he has helped us navigate issues such as construction situations in the presence of hawk and owl nesting and advised on issues around human/wildlife conflicts such as those with our winter vulture populations. 

He also put on two programs for Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, helping to further share the knowledge of the great wildlife and habitats we have here in Loudoun. We truly thank him for all his effort and support (and now that he’ll have more free time….. ?)

He is now retiring after 21 years in his role and a celebration will be held in his honor. More information can be found in this flyer.

The Birds of Loudoun County― Sunday, February 28, 2:00 p.m. at the Purcellville Library. With Loudoun County’s wide variety of natural areas, including rich and large wet forests along the Potomac River, extensive farms and meadows, and large upland forests along the Blue Ridge that rise to more than 1,900 feet in elevation, bird life is abundant. 

Over 100 species of birds nest and raise their young here, and at least another 150 species migrate through each year.  Thousands of hawks and eagles migrate through every fall; ducks flock on the Potomac and Shenandoah in early winter and late spring; and warblers and other songbirds show up in May, sometimes for only a brief visit and sometimes to stay for a couple of months while they raise their young. 

Joe Coleman, president of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and avid naturalist and birder, will discuss and show slides of the birds of Loudoun County and identify the best spots to find them. Questions: contact Joe Coleman at 540-554-2542 or jcoleman@loudounwildlife.org.

For more details you can download our program flier.