Yesterday morning Del Sargent led the regular monthly Loudoun Wildlife
Conservancy bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center in northwestern Loudoun Co. At
the same time Marcia Weidner & I led a small group of Cub Scouts and their
parents on a much shorter walk in both time & distance.
As Del wrote: Five very heat tolerant birders braved the hottest day this year
in Loudoun County to trek the woods of the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental
Stewardship. We planned our walk so that we were generally in the shade, which
was basically the Farmstead Loop. The big find for the day was a family of
KENTUCKY WARBLERS with very impatient young begging for food. Two Black
Vultures sat on the roof of the house where they were probably hatched.
It was an int'g day w/the butterflies already active at 6 am and most birds
quiet by 8 am.
Information on the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship which is
open every day of the year can be found at http://www.blueridgecenter.org. ;
Information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy many free walks and programs
can be found at www.loudounwildlife.org.
A total of 36 species on both walks were tallied:
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Common Grackle
Orchard Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
