Phil Kenny and I did our second Virginia Working Landscapes grassland
bird survey session on Saturday, 5/30. This is the bird component of a
plant-pollinator-and-bird study of managing pastureland for biological
diversity. More information on this interesting effort is available in
several places, including this Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaWorkingLandscapes. Note that our
access to our survey sites is by arrangement with the stewards of
these properties, in cooperation with VWL.
We started at the Banshee Reeks survey site across from the parking
lot at 6 a.m. The weedy fields and Russian Olives were loaded with
Field Sparrows, Indigo Buntings, Common Yellowthroats, Prairie
Warblers, and Yellow-breasted Chats. The mimids also put in a good
showing with many Gray Catbirds and the first of at least a dozen
Brown Thrashers that we saw of the course of the morning. The complete
list, including birds on the drives in and out of Banshee Reeks is at:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23708747
Next we went to the survey site at the MARE Center in Middleburg,
starting there around 8 a.m. This is a more conventional pastureland
habitat and we found significant numbers of Grasshopper Sparrows
(GRSP) and Eastern Meadowlarks using the field. One enterprising GRSP
put on an interesting singing/strutting display on a fence next to us,
something I have not seen before in the 3 or 4 years I have been doing
this. We also found an Indigo Bunting nest under construction between
some Milkweed stems. The complete list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23708757
Surveys finished, we made a quick run out to Shearman's Loop Trail at
Sky Meadows State Park near Paris VA. Similar habitat and spp list to
Banshee Reeks. A check of the silo yielded no evidence of resident
owls. Interesting nesting behavior here: from the south end of the
bridge over the stream, there were a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers
nesting in the rather holey dead tree and then to the right of that a
pair of Baltimore Orioles were actively bringing food to a nest. The
complete list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23708780
Saturday afternoon engagements looming, we made a dash back east to
No. VA on Carr Lane and Rectortown Road, keeping a running count up to
the bridge on Rectortown Road. This filled in some gaps in the day's
list, adding Warbling Vireo to our Red- and White-eyeds, and Cliff
Swallow to Tree and Barn. Also notable was a family of 7 or 8 Brown
Thrashers together in the roadway on Rectortown Road - a family group
I assume. At the bridge I thought I heard a distant Bobolink song, but
it was brief and did not repeat, so left as an interesting "maybe".
The list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23708822
The net on the morning was that all birds seemed to be residents, no
migrants, feel was very much summer birding. Bugs were out in force
and despite liberal use of deet, we picked up our first ticks of the
season at MARE. I may possibly have learned more about VA tick species
and their lifecycles from this VWL volunteering than I have about
grassland birds. The most notable miss was Blue Grosbeak; present at
both survey locations 2 weeks ago and invisible this time. Total for
the morning was 64 spp.
Good birding,
Russ Taylor
