Donna Quinn, Germaine Connolly, and I took a "green" walk for St. Paddie's Day
at Balls Bluff National Cemetery along the Potomac north of Leesburg this
morning. It's a great place for wildflowers, which we enjoyed between birds.
As Kurt mentioned, birds not commonly heard singing were singing this morning
as it warmed up and the fog cleared. What is more cheering than the Winter
Wren's tinkling song? We also heard a song I'd never heard before and traced
it to a Brown Creeper, which I've often heard delivering its call of 3 high
thin notes, but never its full song before, repeated again and again. Other
highlights were a Barred Owl that we ran into twice and unexpectedly seeing
four Red-shouldered Hawks circling together over the trees, with two additional
ones calling from opposite sides. We couldn't figure out what would have
brought 4 together at this time of year. There was also a very lovable Garter
Snake that put up with a little snake-handling for photos, and of course
wildflowers! Many varieties blooming and many more to come! The Bluebells are
just on the verge of an amazing show. This is a gem of a spot in the spring.
Canada Goose
Wood Duck - 4-6
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk - 6
Killdeer
Barred Owl - 2 (1 heard)
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
No. Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
E. Phoebe - 3
Am. Crow
Fish Crow
Car. Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper - singing
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren - singing
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
Am. Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
No. Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Am. Goldfinch
Mary Ann Good
