The highlight of an all-day Audubon Naturalist Society/Loudoun Wildlife
Conservancy field trip in central Loudoun County today was a WESTERN KINGBIRD.
The bird, well-seen and photographed by the 13 participants in the walk, was
seen about 2:45 pm as we were leaving the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation
Project. While the wetlands is private property, the bird, if it hangs around,
was close to the gate (2nd from Rte 15) to the wetlands on Oatland Mills Rd.
It was seen in the grove of young trees inside the gate for awhile, flew over
the road to Oatlands side, where it perched on top of a tree and then flew back
to the other side of the road. It was part of a mixed flock comprised mostly
of Eastern Bluebirds.
Finding the bird was a nice highlight to a beautiful day, most notable up to
then, for a lot of raptors. The bright yellow on its belly jumped out at us in
the grayness of the winter landscape and was a nice contrast to that and the
several inches of snow on the ground. Shortly before seeing the Western
Kingbird we enjoyed watching a first-year Northern Harrier hunting over the
wetlands as well as the two adult Bald Eagles working on their nest (one added
a stick to the nest while we watched).
Other highlights included several WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS on Hibler Rd in the
Lucketts area, another juvenile Northern Harrier in the same area, and at least
a dozen different Red-tailed Hawks in a number of dif. locations.
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun County
The complete list, from eBird, follows:
Location: Loudoun County, VA, US
Observation date: 12/6/09
Notes: The Western Kingbird was seen and well-photographed on the Dulles
Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project near the gate (2nd from Rte 15) & if it
hangs around should be easily seen from the road. Also, several White-crowned
Sparrows were along Hibler Rd in the Lucketts area.
Number of species: 48
Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Bufflehead X
Hooded Merganser X
Great Blue Heron X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Bald Eagle 5
Northern Harrier 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk X
Red-tailed Hawk 12
American Kestrel 3
Ring-billed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Great Horned Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Pileated Woodpecker X
Western Kingbird 1
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Eastern Bluebird X
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Field Sparrow X
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow X
White-crowned Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
