Mary Ann Good & I tried out a new nightjar route in western Loudoun Co early
this morning. We met at the intersection of Appalachian Trail Rd & Rte 719
north of Round Hill at 3 am and, following the Nightjar Survey protocol, worked
our way north.
While it was a beautiful night with an almost full moon there was more wind
than we would have preferred for about half the stops. Nonetheless, at our 5th
stop and at the end of a private farm lane we had permission to visit which
was, we heard a WHIP-POOR-WILL call to the north of us. It was responded to by
one or more directly to our west literally at the foot of the mountains which
kept calling the entire time we remained at that stop. We also briefly heard a
Common Nighthawk calling there.
At our next stop we picked up our first Barred Owl, the first of three we heard
at various dif. stops. We also included a couple of stops in northwestern
Loudoun Co around the Blue Ridge Center because Whip-poor-wills had been
reported there last week. We heard Barred Owls at two of those stops and, at
one of the stops, a BARN OWL to the south of Blue Ridge Center land. From our
last stop, around 5:00 am, also on the border of the Blue Ridge Center, we
heard one distant WHIP-POOR-WILL, and even though sunrise was still some time
away, dawn's noisy chorus was beginning with several Eastern Towhees, a single
Eastern Kingbird, an Indigo Bunting, and more singing and calling.
Joe Coleman,
Loudoun Co, VA
