Hello birders,
As Charlie Hagan pointed out to me during Saturday's CBC, powerline
right-of-ways can be very nice habitat for us suburban folks.
Today I prowled the powerline cut crossing Bull Run near Logquarter Lane in
Loudoun County, and found a boat load of sparrows. Fields, White-throats, and
Songs dominated, but I came away with 7 species, which is a lot for me.
This was a very productive habitat for breeding birds last summer, contributing
a lot of the confirmations we got for the Priority atlas block known as Arcola
SE. It did not disappoint me on this winter day, either.
The most interesting behavior was a Swamp Sparrow, which perched up quite close
to me, and then came closer. When I tired of looking at it naked-eye (too
close for my binos to focus), and moved on, it moved with me. I have never
been "followed" by a wild bird before. That's one instance now of a bird
following me, against the trillion times I've stalked them.
The full eBird report is here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41204670
Park at the W end of either Thorley Place or Lincolnshire Drive. There are
some asphalt and/or wood chip paths from both of those. But a lot of the best
habitat requires either hip waders or very tough, old pants. It helps if you
love briars, a sentiment which I have yet to discover. (No matter how many
times I hum "Barbara Allen".)
Cheers,
Steve Johnson
