Twelve hardy birders met to bird the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental
Stewardship today. It's not surprising that most wore winter clothes. Many
species that were seen were expected, but many were not seen that might have
been in years past.
In spite of the cold and quiet bird-wise, we all enjoyed a fine Spring
flower show. I think we spent more time on ephemerals than we did on birds.
In all, we ended with 46 species of birds. Bird list follows:
DC Cormorant - 15
GB Heron - 4
Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 4
Canada Goose - 7
Wood Duck - 1
Mallard - 2
Killdeer - 1
Chimney Swift - 2
RT Hummingbird - 2 chasing - barely missed my head
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied WP - 3
Downy WP - 5
Pileated WP - 3
Eastern Phoebe - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 1
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 6
Common Raven - 1
Tree Swallow - 6
C. Chickadee - 10
Tufted Titmouse - 5
WB Nuthatch - 2
Carolina Wren - 3
House Wren - 1
RC Kinglet - 5
BG Gnatcatcher - 22 (many paired up)
Eastern Bluebird - 3
A. Robin - 4
N. Mockingbird - 1
Brown Thrasher - 4
E. Starling - 3
N. Parula - 5
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1
Rufous-sided Towhee - 2
Chipping SP - 2
Field SP - 8
Song SP - 1
Swamp SP - 2
White-throated SP - 9
N. Cardinal - 8
Red-winged Blackbird - 4
Common Grackle - 8
BH Cowbird - 11 (mostly females looking for victims)
PURPLE FINCH - 2M, 3F
A. Goldfinch - 32
After we left, Liam and Laura McGranaghan found Broad-winged and
Red-shouldered Hawks, which we did not encounter on the hike.
Jon & BJ Little
Winchester
