Annual Birds of Prey Trip Found Raptors, Vultures and More

Loudoun Wildlife’s winter birds of prey field trip is always popular, and this year’s was no exception.  On February 1, 24 people showed up for the field trip and broke up into three groups of eight to search for birds of prey in Loudoun County.

One of the teams was led by Laura and Liam McGranaghan. They drove north from Leesburg and then headed west from Lucketts to the Lovettsville area and found:
Bald Eagle: 1 sub-adult & 1 adult
Red-tailed: 8
Red-shouldered: 8
American Kestrel: 4 — great views of them
Good numbers of Vultures

Jane Yocom and Mary Ann Good led another group. They went south from Leesburg and covered much of the territory south of Hamilton and Purcellville. The found:
Bald Eagles – none
Red-tailed Hawk: 5
Red-shouldered Hawk: 5
American Kestrel: 2, and possibly 3. Great looks of a male perched on a Purple Martin house.
Vultures: lots
Other sightings: Great looks at Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

Michael Sciortino, Patrick Lewis and Liz Dennison led the third group. While they also went south and covered the county down to Middleburg, they ended the day at Thunder Road in eastern Loudoun.  The group found that Black and Turkey Vultures were very active all along the route. They had good views of an American Kestrel at the junction of Limekiln and Snickersville Turnpike where everyone got good looks through the spotting scope. When they turned left onto Mountville Road, they linked up with one of the other birds of prey teams. The birders spotted numerous Red-tailed Hawks along the way and were thrilled to spot another American Kestrel at the end of a field as it tore into a European Starling. The bird’s legs dangled downward as the small falcon held it and slowly began to devour it. The kestrel bobbed its tail while it was perched and ate lunch. They also spotted numerous Red-shouldered Hawks on farm fences as they patrolled the fields.

One of the trip’s highlights, while not bird of prey, was a flock of seven Wild Turkeys in a field off to the right of the group midpoint on Tail Race. The group watched as the flock crossed the field and disappeared into the woods.

Their final stop of the day was Thunder Road to look for Short-eared Owls, Northern Harriers and other potential sightings. Two other birders were staked out on Thunder Road, and they joined the effort to spot birds. Earlier they had seen Northern Harriers but were not able to see any as the sun went down as quickly as the temperatures did. They did see numerous Eastern Meadowlarks and heard a few “peents” of American Woodcock. It became bitterly cold, and the group decided to call it a day.

Species list for group led by Michael Sciortino, Patrick Lewis and Liz Dennison:
Canada Goose 25
Wild Turkey 7
Mourning Dove 2
American Woodcock 3
Black Vulture 18
Turkey Vulture 16
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
American Kestrel 4
American Crow 4
Carolina Chickadee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
European Starling 8
Northern Mockingbird 3
Eastern Bluebird 10
Eastern Meadowlark 12
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 4