With permission from the Dulles Greenway management the Loudoun Wildlife
Conservancy led a walk on the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project
(DGWMP) in Loudoun Co this morning. The DGWMP is immediately to the west of
the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve and immediately to the southeast of Oatlands
Plantation in the center of Loudoun County.
There is still room for a few more people on this coming Tuesday morning's walk
at 8 a.m. If you're int'd just show up; if you need directions pls contact me.
Except for one very surprising highlight, a flyover dark morph SNOW GOOSE, this
morning's walk, led by Mary Ann Good & Joe Coleman, was a bit slower than
expected but was still a great deal of fun. The effects of last year's drought
and the lack of recent rain in this area can be clearly seen in the rapidly
drying out wetlands. While still not bone dry and somewhat muddy, it is drying
out quickly. It was fun to also see several waders including several GREAT
EGRETS, GREAT BLUE HERONS, GREEN HERONS, 2 adult BALD EAGLES, a WILSON'S SNIPE,
and a few more shorebirds.
Joe Coleman, Loudoun Co
This morning we observed (from eBird):
Location: Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project
Observation date: 8/16/08
Notes: We were astounded when a dark morph SNOW GOOSE broke off from a
flock of Canada Geese and flew directly over our heads. All of us got great
views of it for several seconds. The single WILSON'S SNIPE was also well-seen
and observed for several minutes feeding in the mud in the open. The numerous
GREAT EGRETS and other waders were also fun to watch.
Number of species: 34
Snow Goose 1
Canada Goose 25
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 8
Green Heron 5
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 5
Bald Eagle 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
hawk sp. 1
Killdeer 12
Spotted Sandpiper 5
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Wilson's Snipe 1
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
American Crow 5
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Field Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird 10
American Goldfinch 12
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA)
