Soaring Cooper’s Hawk Delights Birders at Banshee Reeks

November 9 was a beautiful, clear morning with temperatures in the high 40s at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. We started off with a light breeze, but that settled down later in the morning, which made for better birding.

The group of 12 birders ranged in age from five and three-quarters (he was very adamant about that) to 77. Our youngest birder confidently identified both Carolina Wren and White-throated Sparrow on his own. Other notable birds included a soaring Cooper’s Hawk, vultures of both species, a very distant Bald Eagle and two Purple Finches. We also spotted five of the seven woodpecker species that occur in our area, missing just the  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and the Red-headed Woodpecker.

The walk was led by Scott Harris, Joe Coleman, Michael Sciortino and Peter Lyttle. The complete list of 31 species seen during the walk can be viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S201956955.

The next monthly bird walk at Banshee Reeks will take place in January to avoid the Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) in December. You can sign up to participate in the CBC at Sweet Run State Park on December 15 or the Central Loudoun CBC on December 28.