On January 28th, 14 of us found 30 species on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s regular bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship in northwestern Loudoun County near Harper’s Ferry.
It was around freezing when we started and warmed up to the low 40’s by the time we finished. We spent most of our time on the power cut with brief forays into the forest edge.
We got nice looks at two Hermit Thrushes, a Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker & Hairy Woodpecker fighting over a cavity.
Other highlights included two Fox Sparrows, at least 6 Field Sparrows, no Juncos, a handful of hawks, and two flyover Ravens as we were tallying. Surprising misses were the lack of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Pileated Woodpeckers. Nonetheless all in all a nice walk on a pleasant winter day
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
See below for complete list of bird species seen as reported to eBird:
Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship – MFF01, Loudoun, US-VA
Jan 28, 2012 8:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
30 species
Canada Goose 30,Mallard 18,Hooded Merganser 3,Turkey Vulture 6,Red-shouldered Hawk 2,Red-tailed Hawk 3,American Kestrel 1,Red-bellied Woodpecker,Downy Woodpecker,Hairy Woodpecker 1,Northern Flicker 2,Blue Jay,American Crow,Common Raven 2,Carolina Chickadee,Tufted Titmouse,White-breasted Nuthatch,Brown Creeper 1,Carolina Wren,Golden-crowned Kinglet 3,Eastern Bluebird,Hermit Thrush 1,Northern Mockingbird 3,European Starling,Field Sparrow 6,Fox Sparrow 2,Song Sparrow,White-throated Sparrow,Northern Cardinal 12,American Goldfinch.