Nine people came out for a bird walk at Morven Park on May 6th. This, one of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s International Migratory Bird Day walks last week, was led by Mary Ann Good and Joe Coleman with the assistance of Nicole Hamilton.
A couple of us checked out a pond right outside Morven Park before we started as well as a wetlands that is immediately to the east of the entrance and can be seen right from Morven Park’s driveway.
Instead of starting on the south side of the heavily forested ridge as we usually do, we began the walk in the moist forest on the northeast side of the ridge and were immediately rewarded with the first of at least five Ovenbirds, eight Wood Thrushes, five Scarlet Tanagers (including good looks at both a male and female), a Baltimore Oriole (which was still singing and finally gave all of us great views when we wrapped up the walk three hours later), and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Except for the Ovenbirds, warblers were scarce though we did pick up three migrant warbler species. Not a single vireo was either seen or heard. When we began it was 49 degrees; when we finished it was 54 & drizzling.
The complete list of 52 species can be seen below.
Morven Park, the historic home of VA Governor Westmoreland Davis, is a 1200 acre property on the northwest side of Leesburg. It is privately owned and managed by the Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation and includes several hundred acres of dense forest, the governor’s residence, historic gardens, equestrian facilities, sports fields, and hiking trails. For several years the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy has been surveying both the birds on the property as well as a handful of vernal pools on the ridge. One of our goals today was to visit two vernal pools that were restored this past fall; they were in great shape! Joe Coleman Wood Duck 2, Mallard 10, Great Blue Heron 1, Great Egret 1, Black Vulture 1, Turkey Vulture 10, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Killdeer 1, Mourning Dove 6, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1, Chimney Swift 2, Red-bellied Woodpecker 6, Downy Woodpecker 3, Hairy Woodpecker 2, Northern Flicker 1, Pileated Woodpecker 5, Eastern Phoebe 3, Great Crested Flycatcher 8, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2, Purple Martin 1, Tree Swallow 12, Barn Swallow 2, Carolina Chickadee 6, Tufted Titmouse 4, White-breasted Nuthatch 3, Carolina Wren 3, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2, Eastern Bluebird 8, Wood Thrush 8, American Robin, Gray Catbird 2, Northern Mockingbird 1, Brown Thrasher 1, European Starling, Ovenbird 5, Chestnut-sided Warbler 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler 3, Black-throated Green Warbler 2, Eastern Towhee 1, Chipping Sparrow 6, Field Sparrow 1, Scarlet Tanager 5, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird 3, Eastern Meadowlark 1, Common Grackle 5, Baltimore Oriole 1, House Finch 1, American Goldfinch 4.
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14016392