Native plants bring birds—and beauty—to a landscape. Join local naturalists Sheila Ferguson and Gerco Hoogeweg for a program on how to use native plants to attract birds (and pollinators!) to your yard. Presented by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and Loudoun County Public Library. Questions: Contact info@loudounwildlife.org. Image by Katherine Daniels.

Volume 22 Issue 3, Fall 2017 by Donna Quinn In early autumn, large groups of Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) gather and begin their migration to South America. In a magnificent spectacle, as many as 10,000 swifts will create a tornado-like vortex funneling into a roosting chimney to spend the night during their migration. Chimney Swifts are found in open sky over cities, towns, lakes, rivers and […]

On the morning of May 27, 10 people gathered for Loudoun Wildlife’s regular (every 4th Saturday) monthly bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center of Environmental Stewardship in northwestern Loudoun County. We found 73 species of which the highlights included 11 warbler species, including dynamite looks at both Blue-winged and Kentucky Warblers, glimpses of a Cerulean, […]

On an extremely hot morning eight birders came for the monthly birdwalk at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in Loudoun County. The walk, sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Friends of Banshee Reeks, is held on the second Saturday of each month and is open to all. Highlights of this walk included a young RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, so young that its call […]

You may have heard or seen a bird hitting your window as it flies from feeders to escape a predator or colliding with your patio door when it sees the reflection of trees and thinks it can fly to them. With luck, the bird has only lightly glanced off the glass or is only briefly […]

Twenty-two people gathered for the regular (every 4th Sat.) bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center on a rather chilly (30 degrees) but still & sunny beautiful spring morning. While we met at the Education Center, where we saw a Chipping Sparrow along the driveway near the entrance and a couple of Eastern Phoebes, we […]

We’ve been asked to take over monitoring a bluebird trail at Loudoun County High School and the adjacent park. There are a total of 12 boxes which takes about 1 hour to check. Our Bluebird nestbox monitoring Coordinator, Janet Locklear, is looking for someone to take on the role of trail leader. This will be […]

On October 12th, a damp & very overcast & occasionally rainy morning, four people showed up for the regular monthly bird walk at the preserve. We decided to take the “Greenway’ through the meadows all the way to the far eastern side of the nature preserve with a side trip along the edge of the […]

Eighteen people enjoyed the regular 2nd Sat. of the month bird walk sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy & the Friends of Banshee Reeks last Saturday. Prior to the Banshee walk four people spent an hour at the private Dulles Greenway Wetlands. Except for a couple of mixed flocks the activity at Banshee Reeks was quieter […]

The highlight’s of the regular monthly bird walk at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship on Sat., Aug 25, attended by 14 people, were numerous flycatchers, many unidentified, and at least eight dif. hummingbirds. A tall dead tree on the edge of one of the meadows was populated while we watched by a number […]