This morning a light covering of snow covering the trails and trees at
Banshee Reeks greeted the 10 birders on the regular monthly (every 2nd
Saturday) Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve bird walk. During the first part of
the walk the melting snow on the trees frequently dripped on our binoculars
and cameras on the trails on the western edge of the nature preserve next to
the Goose Creek where we found 33 species. For the most part the highlights
of the walk were the flyovers including a flock of about 40 Tundra Swans, a
FOS of Wood Duck flying along the Goose and squealing loudly, and numerous
Ring-billed Ducks flying to the nearby landfill. After Brain Henson and
Allison Gallo joined us late in the walk we heard a Raven and watched a
calling American Kestrel circling overheard before landing on a wire with a
fat mouse that it took its time devouring. The only numerous passerines were
White-throated Sparrows and Northern Cardinals. One large mixed flock did
include five Golden-crowned Kinglets along with a couple of Carolina
Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, the latter two species more uncommon than
kinglets for most of us this winter.
For a complete list of the birds observed at Banshee Reeks yesterday see the
eBird report below.
The regular monthly free bird walk (every 2nd Sat) at the Banshee Reeks
Nature preserve is sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (
<http://www.loudounwildlife.org> www.loudounwildlife.org) & the Friends of
Banshee Reeks ( <http://www.bansheereeksnp.org> www.bansheereeksnp.org );
information on both and their upcoming events can be found on their
websites.
You can also join us for our regular (every 4th Sat) at the Blue Ridge
Center for Environmental Stewardship in northwestern Loudoun County near
Harper's Ferry.
Joe Coleman
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, Loudoun, Virginia, US Mar 9, 2019 7:55 AM -
10:35 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.6 mile(s)
32 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 1
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 40
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 1
duck sp. (Anatinae sp.) 1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 120
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 9
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 2
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 4
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 3
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 10
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 6
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 10
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 2
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 3
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 5
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 3
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 3
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 40
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 10
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 13
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 15
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S53629790
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)