Hi. I just spent 4 lovely days at our second home in the upper valley
of Cedar Creek in Shenandoah County. In addition to yard and house
work, I birded--or rather "eBirded"--a good bit. The cumulative total
was 44 species, most of which were seen on or near our property, but
some at higher elevation in the surrounding GW National Forest. Of
particular note were: our first breeding-season Broad-winged Hawk in
at least a decade (they nested on our property in the 80s); a pair of
Carolina Wrens after a long absence after a couple of bad winters;
Louisiana Waterthrushes with recently fledged young--a locally
declining species; and a singing Field Sparrow in breeding habitat--
another locally declining/mostly absent species. In the National
Forest (Blue Trail and old Sulphur Springs Gap road on Great North/
Paddy Mountain), I was pleased to find 9 Ovenbirds, 6 Worm-eating
Warblers (with at least one just fledged chick), 2 male Hooded
Warblers (in good mountain laurel habitat), 1 Am. Redstart, 1 Black-
and-White Warbler, and 1 Acadian Flycatcher. Only the Ovenbirds are
predictable, so finding the others was reassuring. For me, the most
surprising find was a pair of Brown Thrashers up near the top in
laurel-scrub oak. The only "iconic" species of the area that I did
not find was Blue-headed Vireo. We never had many, but I could
usually scare up at least one higher up. (I also dipped on that
species on another formerly productive trail 2 weeks ago.) Most of
our more common summer residents seemed to be doing well, especially Y-
b Cuckoos, catbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, and Indigo Buntings.
On my way back to "civilization" I cruised Harrison Road in Fauquier
Co., hoping to see the Bobolinks that were there earlier in the
spring. Unfortunately, the hay fields that they were in had been cut,
so no luck.
Finally, anyone birding the area near Strasburg in Shenandoah County
may want to check out the stone quarry on Oranda Road near its
junction with Route 11 (right by the I-81 exit for Strasburg). I
think I may have seen a Bank Swallow zip over the road, and I have
seen them there in previous breeding seasons. I suspect that they may
breed somewhere in the quarry, but it's private commercial property so
I haven't been able to check them out; it's also hard to stop along
the road as it bends around the quarry without being run over by a
huge truck carrying gravel. To the best of my knowledge, there
aren't any known colonies of this species in the area.
Good birding!
Dave Davis
