Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Photo by Gerco Hoogeweg
A dozen birders led by Allison Gallo and Bryan Henson enjoyed a nice morning in late September at the Leesburg Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America. This property close to Leesburg contains mature forest, a pond, and some meadow habitat. The morning started slowly with mostly year-round birds like Eastern Bluebirds and American Robins, but as the morning warmed up, so did the birding. Eleven species of warblers graced us with their presence: a Northern Waterthrush along the edge of the pond and several mixed flocks containing many Black-throated Green Warblers, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler and Northern Parulas.
As is typical during the fall, many of the warblers stayed close to the tops of the trees flitting about while looking for food to power their migration south. A Scarlet Tanager and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak provided good views and lingered. All told, the group found 51 species of birds while exploring the property. The complete list can be found on eBird at https://ebird.org/