We had a great walk at Algonkian Regional Park in Ashburn yesterday. Eleven of us met up in the parking area near the pool. It was a chilly morning but refreshing and it warmed up nicely.
As we waited for folks to arrive, we watched hunters across the river monitoring their flocks of decoy ducks – one of which (in every flock) was a duck with frantically flapping wings that didn’t stop (kind of like of one those pinwheels we may have had as kids but bigger and more life-like). Needless to say, while we heard a lone goose flying, we didn’t have any actual ducks today.
Anyway, the morning was great. We walked mostly along the river, as the bird activity was pretty high through that forest buffer.
Highlights of the walk were certainly the amazing views we had of the Golden-crowned Kinglets as they gleaned insects from the trees, and of the Brown Creepers, which we had at least 4 of throughout the morning.
Woodpeckers were also quite active, as we saw 6 out of the 7 species here in Loudoun and enjoyed watching Sapsuckers, which were here in good numbers. A flock of about 6 bluebirds were also active along the trail.
The views of the river with the rusty fall colors holding out as a final hurrah before winter were lovely to soak in, as we wrapped up just before lunchtime.
Here’s the complete list of the 33 species that we saw:
Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, and House Sparrow.
Check our Facebook photo album for some photos from the morning.