During this morning's bird walk at Banshee Reeks we observed nesting behavior
on several occasions including a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers feeding
young in a cavity, Field Sparrows and Eastern Bluebirds feeding fledged young,
and a very young fledged Northern Mockingbird. The nicest sighting though was
a group (at least five)of interacting adult YELLOW WARBLERS which included at
least three males who were chasing each other and stopping to sing from high &
very visible perches. There were at least three vocal WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, one
calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a pair of Cedar Waxwings, and a couple of Blue
Grosbeaks. There were also a lot of different butterflies including either a
hackberry or tawny emperor being fed to the Great Crested young. The 18
birders were led by Joe Coleman and Del Sargent who were assisted by Mary Ann
Good & Gerry Hawkins.
A complete list of the 56 species observed at Banshee Reeks as well as those
seen during the quick visit to the Dulles Greenway Wetlands follows this email.
I made a quick visit to the Wetlands right before the regular Banshee Reeks
walk where there was adult Bald Eagle sitting on the edge of the nest with at
least one nestling visible, a Great Egret, and two Field Sparrows carrying food
to fledged young. See the list below for the other wetlands sightings.
The regular monthly free bird walk (every 2nd Sat) at the Banshee Reeks Nature
Preserve is sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
(www.loudounwildlife.org) and the Friends of Banshee Reeks
(www.bansheereeks.org); information on both and their upcoming events can be
found on their websites.
Good birding,
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co
Location: Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve - MFF08
Observation date: 6/11/11
Number of species: 56
Turkey Vulture X
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee X
Acadian Flycatcher 6
Willow Flycatcher 3
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 6
Eastern Kingbird 2
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
Eastern Bluebird X
Wood Thrush X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
Brown Thrasher X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 2
Yellow Warbler 6
Prairie Warbler 1
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 12
Yellow-breasted Chat 4
Eastern Towhee 12
Field Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Scarlet Tanager X
Northern Cardinal X
Blue Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Orchard Oriole X
Baltimore Oriole X
American Goldfinch X
Location: Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project
Observation date: 6/11/11
Number of species: 24
Canada Goose X
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 2
Turkey Vulture X
Bald Eagle 3
Killdeer X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Willow Flycatcher 1
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
House Wren X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Field Sparrow X
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal X
Indigo Bunting X
Red-winged Blackbird X
American Goldfinch X
These reports were generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA)
