Photo by Michael Sciortino
Because it had rained all night long and rain was in the forecast, only five of the 15 people who had signed up for the monthly bird walk on March 25 at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship showed up. However, despite a very low ceiling (the mountains on both sides of the Between the Hills valley were not visible), there was a lot of bird activity at first. Obscured by the fog, it took us several minutes to identify four large birds, which trip-lead Michael Sciortino first spotted flying in the distance. They kept circling, appearing to be unsure in what direction to go, but finally came close enough for Michael to take some photos and determine they were Great Blue Herons. (Co-lead Joe Coleman says they did try hard to make them into something much more exotic.)
Numerous Spring Peepers and two Eastern Phoebes were calling as we neared the small pond near the parking lot. They were joined by three Wood Ducks and several other small passerines. Since the rain made it much more difficult to spot and identify birds, we headed towards Piney Run in hopes of finding a first-of-season Louisiana Waterthrush. Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed.
We crossed the bridge over Piney Run and decided to try the fields along Arnold Road before calling it quits. At this location we were fortunate to find an Eastern Meadowlark and several other species. Being wet and cold, and with the rain making the 41 degrees outside feel a lot colder, we headed back to the center for the shelter of our cars.
Back at the visitor center area as the rain began to let up, we noticed hundreds of birds flocking northward towards the Potomac River and Maryland. These turned out to be American Robins. The ceiling began to rise and Turkey Vultures, along with a Red-tailed Hawk and a Red-shouldered Hawk, took to the skies.
For a complete list of the birds observed, see the list below or view on eBird at https://ebird.org/checklist/S131750933.
Great Blue Herons in flight.
Photo by Michael Sciortino
Species List:
Wood Duck 3
duck sp. 4
Mourning Dove 2
Great Blue Heron 4
Turkey Vulture 11
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 9
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 7
European Starling 1
Eastern Bluebird 12
American Robin 220
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 2
Field Sparrow 6
Dark-eyed Junco 8
White-throated Sparrow 16
Song Sparrow 7
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 8
Northern Cardinal 8