First-of-season Migrants and Breeding Birds at Banshee Reeks

Eighteen birders attended the April Banshee Reeks bird walk hosted by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. Michael Sciortino, John Denice, Scott Harris and Peter Lyttle led the walk. The rain the day before and overnight made the trails muddy, but they were passable. It turned out to be a very birdy morning with many species active as the overnight rain cleared out. Combined, the two groups recorded 50 species with many first-of-season observations.

Photo by Michael Sciortino

As the caravan of cars entered the parking area, many of us saw three Wild Turkeys in the field to the right, two of which flew to the far side of the field. An Osprey perched near the parking lot along with Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and 21 Common Merganser flying to the northwest. Both teams got a late start as the group waited for several people to arrive, but that worked out well as we saw a lot of birds from the parking lot to jump start our lists.

When the group split into two, John and Peter and six others walked back up the road and turned left on to the Raspberry trail. Carolina Wrens and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were abundant. We also saw Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a Field Sparrow, a Northern Flicker and a Brown Thrasher. The group took the Carter-Luck trail after exiting the Raspberry trail, but at the intersection with the Look-out Rock trail there was so much activity we had to investigate. We saw many White-throated Sparrows, a Swamp Sparrow, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a Pileated Woodpecker, a Downy Woodpecker and an Eastern Towhee. Finally on the Carter-Luck trail, the team got to see the eagle nest along with Bald Eagles flying around. There were three American Crows around the nest with the eagles gone, so the group was little concerned and moved on quickly. The team also saw a Belted Kingfisher and two Common Ravens, a Hairy Woodpecker and a Common Yellowthroat along Carter-Luck. We returned via the Goose Creek trail and then went to the Spring Pond. We were rewarded with a White-eyed Vireo and a beautiful look at an immature Red-tailed Hawk. The group then walked up to the visitor center and met Mike and Scott just finishing their walk. John and Peter’s group recorded 44 species in all.

White-breasted Nuthatch.
Photo by Michael Sciortino

The second group, led by Michael and Scott, went south and stopped at the Spring Pond to see if there was any activity. We did flush out a Great Blue Heron from the edge of the pond. This was nice to see as the pond has been quiet for some months. As we turned onto the Arrowhead Ridge trail, we also heard a first-of-season White-eyed Vireo calling from the bushes. This trail was active with Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Golden-crowned Kinglets and numerous woodpecker species. We heard our first-of-season Brown Thrasher calling from the field to the left, but we were unable to locate it visually. We also heard a first-of-season Northern Parula as it made its rising buzzy trill in the tree canopy. The team stopped for a quick peek at the Goose Creek and spotted two Wood Ducks toward the bend in the creek. Almost everyone got good looks before the birds were spooked and flew upstream; we would hear them calling again as they flew back south a few minutes later. Along the Carter Luck trail, we had good looks at a White-breasted Nuthatch, more kinglets, and both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. This provided a good opportunity to discuss the differences in the two species.

At the eagle’s nest, we also spotted activity as one Bald Eagle flew out of the nest and headed toward Courtland Farm. Scanning the farm property, the group noticed that the farm structures had their normal allocation of Rock Pigeons on top. One highlight of the walk was the sighting of a Red-shouldered Hawk female on her nest. The nest was tucked nicely in a crook of a tree about 15 feet from the trail. Her tail feathers were clearly visible to everyone as she sat and incubated her eggs. At the conclusion of the walk, we spotted fresh Wild Turkey tracks on the trail — perhaps from the three that we saw earlier when we arrived at the preserve. We made our way back to the visitor center and joined up with the others to round out the walk. Mike and Scott’s group recorded a total of 46 species.

The lists of species recorded can be seen below or viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S224974339 and https://ebird.org/checklist/S225057709.