The highlights of this morning's walk, co-sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife
Conservancy & the Friends of Banshee Reeks, and attended by 18 birders, was a
flyover flock of 7 vocal COMMON RAVENS, a couple of different groups of
migrants, including warblers & vireos busily feeding, a couple of SCARLET
TANAGERS, and numerous BALTIMORE ORIOLES. A few of us also got to see an adult
BALD EAGLE flying low over the Goose Creek.
However, the most int'g part of the morning was the Black Rat Snake that joined
us for the tally at the end of the walk on the Visitor Center's front porch.
The four to five foot snake was slithering along the stone wall right above a
couple of benches and when some of us decided to go ahead and sit on the
benches anyway it lost its grasp on the wall and fell onto the bench. After
carefully watching us for a couple of minutes, it did slither away under some
steps that Sandy Farkas and Linda Millington were sitting on.
Mary Ann Good and I briefly and separately visited the Dulles Greenway Wetlands
Mitigation Project before the walk.
For more information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, including a listing
of their future activities, see (www.loudounwildlife.org); for the Friends of
Banshee Reeks see www.bansheereeks.org.
Thanks, Joe Coleman
Loudoun Co
Birds seen at Banshee:
Number of species: 55
Canada Goose X
Great Blue Heron 1
Green Heron 1
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rock Pigeon 3
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Chimney Swift 10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 12
Downy Woodpecker 8
Northern Flicker 5
Pileated Woodpecker 5
Eastern Wood-Pewee 6
Eastern Phoebe 8
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow 1
Common Raven 7
Tree Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Carolina Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Eastern Bluebird X
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
Brown Thrasher 3
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 6
Northern Parula 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
American Redstart 4
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Scarlet Tanager 2
Eastern Towhee 3
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal X
Baltimore Oriole 8
American Goldfinch X
Observation date: 9/13/08
Notes: Both Mary Ann Good & I briefly birded the Dulles Wetlands prior to
the Banshee Reeks walk. Mary Ann walked on to the Wetlands while I birded the
shrubs and trees along Oatlands Mill Rd. This report is a composite of both of
our sightings.
Number of species: 34
Canada Goose 100
Mallard 3
Turkey Vulture X
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Killdeer X
Mourning Dove X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Barn Swallow 3
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Eastern Bluebird 1
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Yellow Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 4
Field Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal X
Indigo Bunting 1
Baltimore Oriole 1
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch X
