Twenty-six people showed up for the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s regular, every 4th Sat,. monthly bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center. In spite of the wind, which made it hard to hear & even harder to located birds, there was still a fair amount of activity. Among the 67 species found were 10 dif. warbler species, two Yellow-throated Vireos, all birds which nest at the Blue Ridge Center, and a couple of Yellow-billed Cuckoos which we got great looks at.
A Yellow-breasted Chat entertained us by perching on a wire next to the parking area at the Visitor Center (VC) and then chatting at us until it flew into the scrub between the VC and the Organic Farm where it has nested for several years.
When we moved over to Arnold Rd for the walk, itself, a Baltimore Oriole did the same, often sounding like a chat, but on top of a close-by tree. And when we finally came out of the forest we watched at least four Common Ravens, prob. young adults who haven’t mated yet, playing in the air over the Short Hill ridge on the other side of the valley.
Int’g misses were both Wood Thrush and Blue-winged Warbler though we did not get into the area the latter nests in until after 11 am and spent most of the morning birding in the heavily-forested portions of the Blue Ridge Center.
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
The complete list follows: Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship – MFF01, Loudoun, US-VA May 25, 2013 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM Protocol: Traveling 2.5 mile(s) 67 species
Canada Goose 8, Great Blue Heron 3, Green Heron 1, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk 3, Red-tailed Hawk 2, Rock Pigeon 2, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3, Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1, Pileated Woodpecker 3, American Kestrel 1, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe 2, Great Crested Flycatcher 3, Eastern Kingbird 1, White-eyed Vireo 1, Yellow-throated Vireo 2, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow 1, Common Raven 4, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch 3, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin,Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher 1, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing 3, Ovenbird 1, Worm-eating Warbler 1, Louisiana Waterthrush 1, Kentucky Warbler 1, Common Yellowthroat 2, American Redstart 4, Cerulean Warbler 3, Northern Parula 3, Yellow-throated Warbler 1, Yellow-breasted Chat 1, Eastern Towhee 1, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird 1, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird 1, Orchard Oriole 1, Baltimore Oriole 1, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.