In spite of the warm damp humidity and heavy cloud cover we had a wonderful
walk at Banshee Reeks this morning - lots of bird activity and lots of families
with even more juvenile birds begging for food. It took us almost 30 minutes to
get out of the parking lot and we traveled only about a 1/4 mile in the first
hour.
While we missed some of the species that are usually seen on our July walks
such as Great Blue Herons, Black Vultures, Blue Grosbeak, and Red-winged
Blackbirds, the many Purple Martins and all the family units made up for most
of the misses. However, the saddest miss for me was American Kestrel which
seems to be pretty scarce in Loudoun County this summer.
The family units, with often successful begging young, included at least 15
Purple Martins, a couple of families of Eastern Kingbirds, and some very young
Acadian Flycatchers. It was great watching the young birds being fed by their
parents and noting how they differ from their parents.
While there weren't a lot of dif. butterflies, most likely because of the heavy
cloud, cover Del did find a second or third stage instar of a Monarch Butterfly.
It was also nice to have several beginning birders along as well as some exp'd
birders who were visiting Banshee Reeks for the first time. We hope they
enjoyed the walk as much as Del Sargent & I did.
See below for complete eBird list of the birds seen.
The regular monthly free bird walk (every 2nd Sat) at the Banshee Reeks Nature
Preserve is sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
(www.loudounwildlife.org) and the Friends of Banshee Reeks
(www.bansheereeks.org); information on both and their upcoming events can be
found on their websites.
Good birding,
Joe Coleman, near Bluemont, Loudoun Co
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve - MFF08, Loudoun, US-VA
Jul 13, 2013 8:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
53 species
Turkey Vulture X
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Chimney Swift 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee X
Acadian Flycatcher X
Eastern Phoebe 4
Great Crested Flycatcher X
Eastern Kingbird 7
White-eyed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Purple Martin 15
Tree Swallow 6
Barn Swallow 3
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Carolina Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Eastern Bluebird X
Wood Thrush X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 8
Cedar Waxwing 4
Common Yellowthroat 5
Prairie Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 4
Eastern Towhee 12
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 12
Song Sparrow 2
Scarlet Tanager 6
Northern Cardinal X
Indigo Bunting 15
Common Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Orchard Oriole 4
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch X
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14637263
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/VA)
