Great Horned Owl with prey.
Photo by Francesca Wertheim

On November 8, eight people led by Michael Sciortino, Carol Sottili and Mary Ann Good, found 37 bird species on a beautiful fall morning at Banshee Reeks after a night of light rain. The highlights of the walk included:

• A Great Horned Owl flew in front of several of the birders at the entrance of the park after it successfully caught a rabbit;
• An American Woodcock scurried down the trail into the scrub making its “cackle” call;
• Two Winter Wrens were seen and heard (calls only, not the wonderful song) along the flood plain portion of the Lookout Rock Loop; and,
• A vocalizing Red-breasted Nuthatch flew over the group on the floodplain in the same area.

The group took the Raspberry Loop, the Lookout Rock Loop along the Goose Creek, and returned to the Visitor Center by way of the Springhouse Pond Loop.

For a complete list of the birds observed see the list below or view on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S283495968.

Cedar Waxwing.
Photo by Michael Sciortino

Species list:
Mourning Dove 5
American Woodcock 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Great Horned Owl 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 10
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 7
Blue Jay 25
American Crow 10
Fish Crow 20
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 7
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 2
Carolina Wren 6
Northern Mockingbird 6
Eastern Bluebird 12
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 6
Cedar Waxwing 4
American Goldfinch 5
Dark-eyed Junco 2
White-throated Sparrow 50
Song Sparrow 6
Eastern Towhee 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Northern Cardinal 8

The post A Beautiful Day for Birding at Banshee Reeks appeared first on Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.