Shrike Force (Joe Coleman, Mary Ann Good, and Laura and Liam McGranaghan) began its 20th Birdathon on May 1. We wrapped up 48 hours later, exhausted but exhilarated by everything we had seen throughout Loudoun County. We covered the county from Route 601, Blue Ridge Mountain Road, the western edge of Loudoun County, to Algonkian Regional Park in far (especially for us) eastern Loudoun. During our travels, we found 108 species of birds as well as a few snakes and a number of amphibians.

Five-lined Skink.
Photo by Laura McGranaghan

Our highlights included:

• A Raven nest with three close-to-fledgling young in Sweet Run State Park
• A standoff between Liam and a very large Eastern Rat Snake on the park road in Algonkian which ended up crawling into Joe’s engine cavity in his car.
• A large Five-lined Skink in Algonkian, so elderly it had lost its lines
• A Bald Eagle on the edge of a pond eating a large fish while its mate watched
• A single, first-of-season, Bobolink posing for us on a fence rail next to the car
• 16 Eastern Meadowlarks, mostly in western Loudoun County
• 23 orioles, Baltimore and Orchard, scattered throughout the county
• 17 warbler species, including 17 Prairie Warblers and 11 Northern Parulas.

We wrapped up on Saturday afternoon along Tail Race Road, which is the northwestern border of Oak Hill (once President Monroe’s home) which extends from Aldie to Route 15. The last bird species we found was a single Blue Grosbeak seen right after we viewed four Wild Turkeys on Oak Hill.

The complete list of what the team found can be viewed on eBird: https://ebird.org/tripreport/360903.