Shrike Force was another of the teams participating in this week's Loudoun
Wildlife Conservancy (http://www.loudounwildlife.org/IMBD_Birdathon.htm). Some
photos of our effort will be posted to LWC's blog in the next day or so. Our
report follows; if anyone would like to see a complete list of our team's
sightings for the day pls let me know.
Shrike Force, comprised of Laura McGranaghan, Gerry Hawkins, Mary Ann Good, and
Joe Coleman, competed in the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy's Birdathon this past
Saturday. We met at 3:45 am in far western Loudoun County in hopes of finding
Whip-poor-wills and owls and wrapped up at the Dulles Greenway Wetlands
Mitigation Project near Oatlands almost 18 hours later. While we missed whips
at our first stop, we did hear at least four Barred Owls. However, at our next
stop, near where Appalachian Trail Road intersects with Rte 719 north of Round
Hill, we heard not only a couple of Whip-poor-wills but two Great Horned Owls
calling to each other. We next traveled to another location close to
Bloomfield in the southwestern corner of the county where we heard two Screech
Owls as well as a few other early risers. We were off to a great start and so
excited!
Our next two stops were up on the ridge a little south of Snickers Gap on the
very far western edge of Loudoun County, where we not only watched a beautiful
sunrise over Loudoun Valley but ticked off 12 different warbler species
including Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Hooded, Worm-eating, and the
first of several Yellow-breasted Chats. We also found Wood Thrushes, a Veery,
and the first of several flocks of Cedar Waxwings.
After a brief stop along the Potomac River immediately downstream of Harpers
Ferry where we picked up Common Merganser, we spent a little over three hours
at one of Loudoun's most special natural areas, the Blue Ridge Center for
Environmental Stewardship. There we not only added a number of species to our
count, we made some of our most exciting non-avian finds of the day. Among the
many birds we found were another Barred Owl, a Red-headed Woodpecker,
White-eyed Vireos, a Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-winged Warblers, a couple of
Cerulean Warblers, Kentucky Warblers, and more Yellow-breasted Chats. We also
first heard and then had great looks at two Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Blue
Grosbeaks, and Scarlet Tanagers. It was wonderful to watch a dragonfly dancing
in the riffles along Sweet Run while it laid its eggs in the rapidly moving
water as well as numerous butterflies, including two Monarchs, along Butterfly
Alley.
We were thrilled to find large flocks of Bobolinks in two different locations,
at least 50 in a field along Edgegrove Road west of Hillsboro and more along
Ebenezer Church Road near Bloomfield. Unfortunately three of us missed a Wild
Turkey crossing a farm lane because we were concentrating on the Red-headed
Woodpeckers which are common in the area around Bloomfield. Scouting these
areas earlier in the week certainly paid off as both a Willow Flycatcher and
one of the flocks of Bobolinks were exactly where they'd been the previous day;
unfortunately neither the Osprey nor the Pied-billed Grebe were still around.
We also found one Wilson's Snipe where there had been four a few days earlier.
After spending most of the day in western Loudoun County we headed over to the
Broadlands Wetlands, which is right off of exit 6 of the Dulles Greenway, where
the previous day's scouting also paid off handsomely, adding several species
there including Blue-winged Teal, Least and Pectoral Sandpiper, Prairie
Warbler, a Savannah Sparrow, and another flock of Cedar Waxwings. And as we
were getting back on the Greenway an immature Bald Eagle astounded us by flying
alongside the car and almost joining us in the car!
At our last stop, the Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project, we added a
few more species such as Greater Yellowlegs and Swamp Sparrow, watched the Bald
Eagles feed their two nestlings, and heard a couple of Virginia Rails when we
met up with the Raven Loonatics. We also got great photos of a Luna Moth.
Unfortunately only two of us were able to ID the Lesser Yellowlegs that were
also on the wetlands and therefore were not able to add them to the team's
total.
After wrapping up at the Wetlands we headed into Leesburg for a bite to eat and
to pick ticks off of ourselves while celebrating matching our previous high
count of 113. Our final team total included 21 species of warbler, eight
species of sparrow, and seven species of shorebird.
Joe Coleman for team Shrike Force
