Six of us showed up at the Blue Ridge Center yesterday morning for the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s bird walk hoping to walk off a few of those Thanksgiving pounds & find some int’g birds.
Because of the wind and heavy cloud cover we quickly headed into sheltered areas, but still didn’t find very many birds. We first covered some of the old scrubby fields around the visitor center and then headed into the woods on the Farmstead Loop.
We did find healthy numbers of sparrows in the fields but not much variety with the most int’g sparrow being a handful of Field Sparrows. With the wind making it esp. difficult to hear birds with high-pitched calls, we were able to find only 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets and no creepers.
In spite of spending some time in habitat where we often find Hermit Thrushes and Fox Sparrows we didn’t find a one though there was a WINTER WREN in the brushy flood plain along Piney Run.
It was fun to watch four playful COMMON RAVENS cross the valley from Short Hill Mtn to the Blue Ridge in the wind.
For a complete list of the birds seen see the results below.
While the trails at BRCES are normally open to the public 7 days a week from dawn to dusk there are controlled deer hunts there this time of year so check the BRCES website for dates and times of when parts of BRCES are closed.
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 activities can be found at www.loudounwildlife.org.
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co
Number of species: 33
Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted), Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, European Starling, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.