With special permission the Loudoun Wildlife took two different groups onto the privately-owned Dulles Wetlands on January 25 and 26.

The temperature was 6 degrees when Saturday’s group of eight, led by Joe Coleman and Mary Ann Good, began. Fortunately there was no wind but everything, including the Goose Creek, was completely frozen, resulting in virtually no waterfowl except for one flyover flock of Canada Geese towards the end of the walk. There was lots of crunchy snow which meant the group loudly forewarned everything around that they were coming.  There were Wild Turkey Tracks everywhere as well as numerous other tracks, including fresh beaver tracks next to the Goose creek near one of the otter runs, but no fresh signs of otters.

The group only observed 23 species of birds and many of them were observed towards the end of the walk when it had warmed up to 26 degrees. Their highlights included a highly-visible Hermit Thrush, Swamp Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  The complete list of birds can be viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S210604230.

Hermit Thrush.
Photo by Scott Harris

Sunday’s walk, led by John Denice, Carol Sottili and Scott Harris, started out much better than expected for a cloudy, cold winter day.  Right at the entrance to the wetlands there were two Hermit Thrushes, a Golden-crowned Kinglet and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  The group of 11 then found in the first field, a group of Northern Flickers, a Mourning Dove, a Blue Jay and a Red-shouldered Hawk.  They were surprised there were no sparrows there or through the woods to the wetlands, itself.  They did see a lot of interesting tracks, some of which they thought were from otters, and Coyote scat.  Along the Goose Creek, they found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, two Downy Woodpeckers, a Hairy Woodpecker, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Belted Kingfisher. A few Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches also put in an appearance, and finally a small group of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.

On the way back, the group saw a juvenile Bald Eagle near the nest.  It had warmed up a bit by the time they neared near the parking lot,  and there was much better birding including a family of Eastern Bluebirds, a flock of American Goldfinches, and White-throated, Song and Swamp Sparrows.  The  complete list of 32 species can be viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S210796120.

Photo by Scott Harris

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