The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Friends of Banshee Reeks sponsored a
bird walk at Banshee Reeks this morning. When the eight of us started at 8 am
this sunny & calm morning it was only 16 degrees but the birds were still
relatively active and even more so as it warmed up. About 1/2 way through the
walk we ran into John Drummond on the trails near the silo.
The highlights of the trip included two Northern Harriers, one a hatch-year
bird and the other an adult male, a beautiful gray ghost (both of the harriers
were coursing over the meadows in the vicinity of the Visitor Center), a
hatch-year Red-headed Woodpecker at the beaver pond (along w/a Winter Wren
where John also saw several ducks), a couple of Savannah Sparrows and a number
of Purple Finches (mostly brown birds but there was one very careful male at
the Visitor center's feeder when we started). We had a flock of about 30 ducks
where the stream flows into the springhouse pond. They flushed into the sun
before they could be completely identified but they included a number of Wood
Ducks, Mallards, and Ring-necked Ducks.
Additionally, John Drummond saw a 2nd Red-headed WP, a Hairy Woodpecker, and an
American Tree Sparrow, and Ron Circe, the Preserve Manager, saw a Turkey near
the driveway before the walk started. On my back to Leesburg & right past the
landfill I observed an American Kestrel and another Northern Harrier, this one
an adult female.
This area is part of the Central Loudoun CBC, scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 28.
Its sector leader is John Drummond. If you're int'd pls contact me at
540-554-2542 or jandkcoleman@xxxxxxxxx.
The complete list for the walk follows:
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 2
Canada Goose 13
Wood Duck 8
Mallard 12
Ring-necked Duck 6
Northern Harrier 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Mourning Dove 4
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 12
Fish Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 3
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 3
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 6
Cedar Waxwing 8
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Eastern Towhee 1
Field Sparrow 6
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 50+
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 6
Dark-eyed Junco 40+
Northern Cardinal 6
Purple Finch 8
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch 50+
Joe Coleman
540-554-2542 or jandkcoleman@xxxxxxxxx