As part of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s Celebrate Birds, Emily Southgate and Linda Millington led a bird walk on May 10 at the Institute Farm/National Beagle Club and Mt. Pleasant Farm, both in Aldie, Virginia. The group of 10 birders found many birds in the thickets and trees at the Beagle Club by being attracted to calls and songs including the explosive chips of the White-eyed Vireo, the rising buzzes of the Prairie Warbler and the faint high-pitched “tseet” notes of the Cape May Warbler. Later, walking around the pond at Mt. Pleasant Farm in brilliant sun, participants were treated to views of a female Baltimore Oriole building a nest in a tall sycamore, a Green Heron flying low over the pond and a Chestnut-sided Warbler in a grove of River Birches. The complete list of birds found on the two walks are shown below or can be viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S87723607 and https://ebird.org/checklist/S87737700
Species list for Institute Farm/National Beagle Club
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 3
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 1
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 2
Gray Catbird 5
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 4
American Goldfinch 12
Chipping Sparrow 3
Field Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 10
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Ovenbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 6
Cape May Warbler 1
Northern Parula 3
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Prairie Warbler 4
Scarlet Tanager 4
Northern Cardinal 6
Indigo Bunting 6
Species List for Mt. Pleasant Farm
Mourning Dove 3
Green Heron 1
Black Vulture 10
Turkey Vulture 4
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 10
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 1
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tree Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 30
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 8
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 4
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 6
Eastern Bluebird 10
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 4
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 12
Song Sparrow 9
Orchard Oriole 2
Baltimore Oriole 8
Red-winged Blackbird 14
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 6
Magnolia Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Northern Cardinal 4