It was a beautiful morning for Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy to visit the private (restricted access) Dulles Greenway Wetlands Mitigation Project on Wednesday, March 10th. While the temperature started out in the mid- 30s it was close to 60 when the walk, led by Mary Ann Good, Mike Scott and Carol Sottili, wrapped up a few hours later.

Although we did not see large numbers of ducks, we did see several species with the highlight being a female Lesser Scaup that was swimming with the Ring-necked Ducks.

Tree Swallows, chirping high above as they darted here and there, and an Eastern Phoebe were First-of-Season birds for most of us. Another sign of spring was two Belted Kingfishers copulating on a branch hanging over the Goose Creek. Our sightings also included several species who winter here but will be moving on soon: a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, two Brown Creepers, a Fox Sparrow, a couple of Swamp Sparrows and several Yellow-rumped Warblers.

A fair number of raptors were also seen including a Bald Eagle perched near its now enormous nest. At one point, while watching a soaring raptor, the beautiful yellow chest of an Eastern Meadowlark glinting in the sun caught our attention. In addition to three Bald eagles, we saw some very vocal Red-shouldered Hawks and a Red-tailed Hawk. A Northern Harrier flying over Little Oatlands’ fields was the last bird we saw before leaving the Wetlands.

A chorus of Spring Peepers accompanied us the entire walk, and at point, a number of quacking Wood Frogs joined in.

For a complete list of the birds see the list below or view on eBird at https://ebird.org/checklist/S83130728.

Although Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy doesn’t hold regular walks at  Dulles Greenway Wetlands, we do plan to hold several there in the next couple months – keep an eye on the events calendar for the walks.

Red-shouldered Hawk.
Photo by Jenny Erickson

Species List
Canada Goose 80
Northern Shoveler 3
Gadwall 1
American Wigeon 1
Mallard 4
American Black Duck 4
Ring-necked Duck 54
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Merganser 2
Mourning Dove 2
American Coot 2
Ring-billed Gull 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 7
Turkey Vulture 6
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 8
Fish Crow 50
Carolina Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 4
Tree Swallow 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 2
Eastern Bluebird 7
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 1
Fox Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 24
Song Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 2
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Red-winged Blackbird 125
Brown-headed Cowbird 10
Common Grackle 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Northern Cardinal 3

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