Birds were generally quiet and furtive during the monthly walk at the Blue
Ridge Center sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. However, the other
natural wonders we encountered during the morning more than made up for the
lack of avian highlights. Along with co-leader Del Sargent, we walked
Butterfly Alley, which is on the Sawmill Lane side of BRCES. Some birds we
found included White-eyed Vireos, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Scarlet Tanager, an
Acadian Flycatcher, a Yellow-breasted Chat, and several Chipping Sparrows. The
butterflies were spectacular, though. While there was not great diversity,
numbers seemed fairly high. At one point, I estimated 80+ Tiger Swallowtails
in view at the same time. Other species included many Silvery Checkerspots, a
Red-spotted Purple, Eastern Commas, and an American Copper. Both Hummingbird
and Snowberry Clearwing moths were in abundance. In the back field we found
three Monarch caterpillars on a Butterfly Weed plant. We did not see any adult
Monarchs, though. We also found a Red-spotted Newt on the trail.
Larry Meade
Vienna, VA
Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship - MFF01, Loudoun, US-VA
Jul 27, 2013 8:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
32 species
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 1
American Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 8
Common Yellowthroat 3
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 10
Field Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 8
Indigo Bunting 7
American Goldfinch 10
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14794144
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/VA)
