Because we didn't get to the area at the end of Sawmill Rd during the regular
monthly walk at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship this past
Sat., I paid a short visit to that area this morning checking out the section
of the Sweet Run Loop south of the power line and Butterfly Alley along the
power line, itself. As a result of extensive work on the power line by both
power companies who have transmission lines there I was concerned that there
would be a lot fewer birds. The removal of the highly aggressive and invasive
autumn olive has resulted in fewer nesting areas for the birds that prefer that
type of habitat such as Blue-winged Warblers and White-eyed Vireos, and while
both species were there, they were in smaller numbers than they have been in
previous years, with only one of the former and two, possibly three, of the
latter. However, there were also a couple of Yellow-breasted Chats, Common
Yellowthroats, Grasshopper Sparrows, Field Sparrows, and a lot of Indigo
Buntings. One of the most int'g birds on the power line was an adult male
Scarlet Tanager whose upper half was strikingly scarlet but whose lower half
was orange-yellow with the black wings outlining both colors; when I first
caught a glimpse of him I thought I had found some really strange hybrid. I
also spent some time in the heavy forest which borders the power line and found
Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Wood Thrushes, Ovenbirds, and several Acadian
Flycatchers.
The power line and the meadows are full of wildflowers including a lot of
Common Milkweed and, in some locations, a lot of Butterfly Weed.
Joe Coleman
Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship - MFF01, Loudoun, US-VA
Jun 30, 2014 7:35 AM - 8:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.25 mile(s)
Comments: 35 species
Great Blue Heron 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Acadian Flycatcher 5
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Eastern Bluebird 7 there was a family of Eastern Bluebirds which included
half-heartedly spotted begging juveniles as well as an adult male and female.
Wood Thrush 6
American Robin 1
Brown Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Cedar Waxwing 6
Ovenbird 2
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 5
Grasshopper Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 2
Scarlet Tanager 4
Northern Cardinal 6
Indigo Bunting 8
American Goldfinch 8
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18952426
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
