Loudoun Wildlife hosted the October 2023 Banshee Reeks bird walk on a rainy fall morning. Five birders joined Michael Sciortino and John Denice on October 14 to record 31 species during the 1.8-mile hike that lasted just over two hours. Fortunately, the rain was never intense enough to affect our walk, but it did suppress the bird activity. It was a good day for umbrellas as the rain came and went.

Palm Warbler.
Photo by Michael Sciortino

Eastern Bluebirds were plentiful around the community garden, and the group was happy to see numerous Palm Warblers foraging near the tool shed. Their constant tail wagging helped with the identification. A few Eastern Phoebes sat atop the fencing and began their own tail wagging.

We traveled along the Goose Creek Trail where numerous White-tailed Deer watched us from the adjacent field. Northern Mockingbirds were also watching us. We made our way to the canopy of the Cathedral Trail to shelter from the rain. The Cathedral Trail is wonderful, but it was quiet and eerily devoid of any woodpecker activity. In the coming weeks this path will be bursting with fall color, but for this day, it was rain soaked and quiet.

We cautiously approached Goose Creek at the overlook and found that the creek was quiet as well. We returned to the visitor center using the Arrowhead Ridge Trail and accompanied by the sights and sounds of Ruby- and Golden-crowned Kinglets. The Spring Pond area was quiet except for more kinglets and other species in the fields adjacent to the pond. The full checklist of the species recorded is shown below and can be viewed on eBird at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S152165612.

Photo by Michael Sciortino

Species List:
Wood Duck 1
Mourning Dove 2
Killdeer 1 Heard
Black Vulture 6
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Phoebe 5
Blue Jay 30
American Crow 4
Carolina Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 8
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 7
Gray Catbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 4
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 8
American Goldfinch 2
Field Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 8
Song Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 3
Palm Warbler 4
Northern Cardinal 6

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