Thirty-five birders showed up for the regularly scheduled monthly bird walk
at the 900-acre Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship in
northwestern Loudoun County this past Saturday morning. This month's walk
was sponsored by both the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Northern
Virginia Bird Club and split into two different groups. One group, led by
Elton Morel & Marc Ribaudo, concentrated on the area around the Education
Center & organic farm and found 59 species; the other group, led by Joe
Coleman & Mary Ann Good, walked the trails at the southern end of the
property and found 57 species. Neither group spent much time in the forest
and, for the most part, found the same species with some notable exceptions
such as the four Chats found around the Education Center. After the
scheduled walk a couple people briefly visited the open areas under the
power line on Arnold Road and added American Robins and two counter-singing
Orchard Orioles to the days list.
The highlights of the 70 species were five Blue-winged Warblers, a couple of
which were well-seen, a flyover Broad-winged Hawk, one Cerulean Warbler, and
4 Yellow-breasted Chats.
For a complete list of the birds see the combined eBird lists below.
Information on the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship can be
found at <http://www.blueridgecenter.org> http://www.blueridgecenter.org.
Information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and its many free activities
can be found at <http://www.loudounwildlife.org> www.loudounwildlife.org
and information on the Northern Virginia Bird Club can be found at
http://www.nvabc.org/.
Joe Coleman
Canada Goose 6
Great Blue Heron 2
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 9
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 26
Mourning Dove 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4
Chimney Swift 18
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 7
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Acadian Flycatcher 6
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 10
Eastern Kingbird 4
White-eyed Vireo 6
Yellow-throated Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 25
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 9
Fish Crow 3
Common Raven 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 9
Barn Swallow 14
Carolina Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 15
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Wren 3
Carolina Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 9
Eastern Bluebird 6
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 8
Cedar Waxwing 27
Ovenbird 1
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Blue-winged Warbler 5
Kentucky Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 8
American Redstart 8
Cerulean Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 4
Eastern Towhee 5
Chipping Sparrow 3
Field Sparrow 15
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 4
Northern Cardinal 12
Indigo Bunting 25
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Common Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 18
Orchard Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 30
House Sparrow 2
