Mary Ann Good provided a great write-up from our bird walk yesterday at the Blue Ridge Center. After years of bird watching, we’re noticing a reduction in birds. Is it just an odd season or something more? Here’s her report:
10 birders came out for the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy walk at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship on April 24, led by Gerry Hawkins, and were grateful that the threatened rain didn’t materialize until the end of the morning, in fact the sun came out.
Our high hopes for migrants, or for nearly any birds for that matter, were let down as the trail from Arnold Road to the Powercut was eerily silent, until we finally found some decent activity at the Powercut. Our tally was just 42, which compares, from my notes, to 65 at the same walk in 2008, 2 days later.
We had just 3 woodpecker species (5 in 08), 1 vireo species (4 in 08), and 3 warbler species (8 in 08), and many other conspicuous misses. We tried to console ourselves that the migrant season is late this year, but the eerie lack of birds, period, was an exact duplication of the conditions I found on my exploration of the field, woods, stream, and pasture habitats near my home last weekend. It’s disturbing to me, to say the least. Has anyone else had similar experience with this spring’s birding, or are these just flukes? Time will tell.
We did have a few nice sightings along the trail-good looks at pairs of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers at two different nests, a Hermit Thrush, and then at the Powercut, a Broad-winged Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk soaring and seeming to interact, good looks at a White-eyed Vireo, excellent views of Blue-winged Warbler, and surprisingly, 4 female Purple Finches. The list follows:
Canada Goose – 4, Mallard – 1, Wild Turkey – 1, Great Blue Heron – 4, Turkey Vulture – 6, Broad-winged Hawk – 3, Red-tailed Hawk – 1, Am. Kestrel – 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker – 6, Downy Woodpecker – 1, Pileated Woodpecker – 4, E. Phoebe – 1, White-eyed Vireo – 2, Blue Jay – 85, Am. Crow – 6, Tree Swallow – 10, Car. Chickadee – 5, Tufted Titmouse – 4, White-breasted Nuthatch – 4Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 12, E. Bluebird – 8, Hermit Thrush – 1, Am. Robin – 4, Brown Thrasher – 1, Eur. Starling – 18, Blue-winged Warbler – 4 singing, La. Waterthrush – 3, C. Yellowthroat – 3, E. Towhee – 5, Chipping Sparrow – 8, Field Sparrow – 6, Song Sparrow – 1, Swamp Sparrow – 2, White-throated Sparrow – 6, No. Cardinal – 8, Red-winged Blackbird – 3, C. Grackle – 6, Brown-headed Cowbird – 6, Purple Finch – 4, House Finch – 1, Am. Goldfinch – 36+ (in contrast to the lack of other birds, this bird was plentiful)