The story at Banshee Reeks yesterday, an absolutely beautiful and almost
perfect fall day, was sparrows. Out of the 47 species seen, nine were
sparrows, mostly in the weedy and brushy fields throughout the preserve. While
the majority were White-throated Sparrows, there were lots of Song and Field
sparrows as well as a single likely VESPER SPARROW, three Savannah Sparrows,
and two Fox Sparrows. While the Vesper Sparrow, brown & streaked and about the
size of a Song Sparrow, was not well seen because it quickly ducked deep into
some brush, the white fringing on the outer edges of the tail feathers was well
seen by a few of us more than once.
Another high note of the walk for the exp'd birders on the walk were the many
beginners among the 25 bird-watchers which meant a lot of people saw a lot of
life birds. All of us got to share in the excitement of someone seeing their
first Belted Kingfisher or their first Golden-crowned Kinglet or a Common Raven
soaring right over our heads as well as several other species.
And as several of us were getting in our cars in the parking lot we spotted a
Northern Harrier and a Bald Eagle overhead.
See below for the complete list of birds seen.
The regular monthly free bird walk (every 2nd Sat) at the Banshee Reeks Nature
Preserve is sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
(www.loudounwildlife.org) and the Friends of Banshee Reeks
(www.bansheereeks.org); information on both and their upcoming events can be
found on their websites.
Good birding,
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve - MFF08, Loudoun, US-VA
Nov 10, 2012 7:45 AM - 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
47 species
Canada Goose X
Turkey Vulture X
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 6
Ring-billed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 8
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 6
Northern Flicker X
Pileated Woodpecker 1
American Kestrel 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Common Raven 1
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch 10
Carolina Wren 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird X
American Robin 2
Northern Mockingbird 8
European Starling 25
Cedar Waxwing 8
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4
Eastern Towhee 4
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 12
Vesper Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Northern Cardinal X
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 6
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12014982
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/VA)
