The Eighteenth Central Loudoun CBC, sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife
Conservancy, was held on Dec. 27, 2014. The 89 people participating in the
count found 96 species and 29,979 individuals with the most unusual
sightings being a first-ever Blue Grosbeak and a count week (seen &
photographed on the 29th) dark phase (blue) Snow Goose. Other highlights
included a Common Goldeneye (found on only four previous counts), 37 Bald
Eagles (high count), 18 Cooper's Hawks (tied for high count), five American
Kestrels (low count), one Peregrine Falcon (only the second time one has
been found), a high count of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls (3,998 & 88
respectively), 37 Belted Kingfishers (high), eight Eastern Phoebes (high),
1,241 Fish Crows (high), 593 Carolina Chickadees, 59 Brown Creepers (high),
309 Carolina Wrens, 24 Winter Wrens (high), 168 Field Sparrows, and 27
Eastern Meadowlarks. The following species, found on the 27th, have only
turned up on between a third and a half of Central Loudoun's counts: Mute
Swan, Tundra Swan, American Woodcock, Great Black-backed Gull, Gray Catbird,
and Brown Thrasher.
The 55 Red-headed Woodpeckers found on the 27th were not only a new high for
the count, they were an incredible jump from last year's three when there
were virtually no acorns to be found in the area. But Red-headed Woodpeckers
weren't the only woodpecker species found in high numbers this year as the
97 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and the 234 Down Woodpeckers found were both
high counts while the 33 Hairy Woodpeckers were the second highest.
And while no unusual owls were found on this count, all four of the common
owls, one Barn Owl, 4 Eastern Screech Owls, 4 Great Horned Owls, and 16
Barred Owls, were found during almost perfect conditions for owling.
And, at the end of an almost perfect winter day, 58 of us gathered at the
Oatlands Plantation Carriage House for a Tally Rally where we shared a
hearty meal and lots of birding tales.
My thanks go out to all the birders who made the day successful as well as
the many landowners, private and public, who let us visit their properties.
Without those many permissions, this count would not be nearly as
successful.
Joe Coleman, Compiler
Central Loudoun CBC
