This past Saturday, we held two different bird walks at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship (BRCES) in northwestern Loudoun Co, near Harper’s Ferry. One, the regular monthly walk took the Farmstead Loop and the other was the field trip for an Identifying Birds class and stayed in the vicinity of the Visitor Center.
With the temperature only 26 degrees when we began things started slowly and there wasn’t anywhere near as much bird song as there had been previously. Nonetheless, both groups enjoyed numerous TREES SWALLOWS, two of whom were already claiming one of the Eastern Bluebird boxes, a very vocal EASTERN TOWHEE, and lots of singing FIELD SPARROWS (there seemed to be on a perch almost every 100′ in the different fields). We also enjoyed two Red-shouldered Hawks doing a courtship display and think we found a COOPER’S HAWK nest along with two Coops hunting close-by. The group on the Farmstead Loop also found a BROWN CREEPER, two CHIPPING SPARROWS, and an orange variant HOUSE FINCH.
Information on the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship can be found at http://www.blueridgecenter.org. Information on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and its many free public activities can be found at www.loudounwildlife.org.
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co
Location: Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship – MFF01
Observation date: 3/27/10
Notes: We broke into two dif. groups this morning.
Number of species: 41
Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron 4, Black Vulture 1, Turkey Vulture 6, Osprey 1, Bald Eagle 2, Sharp-shinned Hawk 1, Cooper’s Hawk 2, Red-shouldered Hawk 2, Mourning Dove 2, Red-bellied Woodpecker 5, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1, Downy Woodpecker 9, Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1, Pileated Woodpecker 2, Eastern Phoebe 2, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow 12, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper 1, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1, Eastern Towhee 1, Chipping Sparrow 2, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored), Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow