It was a beautiful warm morning that 10 of us enjoyed thoroughly down in Harpers Ferry, along the river and wetlands, on a PVAS-sponsored bird walk. We got an early start – a good thing – by 10 AM the sun’s heat was becoming intense.

Most fun to watch were the 20+ BALTIMORE ORIOLES darting here & there & singing at the treetops; one of the males was chasing an OSPREY with a fish in its talons clear across the Shenandoah River. We saw clearly 2 oriole nests with both parents at them. Also – about half dozen ORCHARD ORIOLES, at least 2 of them 1st summer males, yellow with black masks, singing away.

We got to see several newbie WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES scaling the sycamores with parents nearby to feed them occasionally.

Perhaps the highlight of the walk was seeing 2 fuzzy, fluffy big-eyed RED-SHOULDERED HAWK juveniles on the nest near the Shenandoah Canal. They looked down at us so sweetly with their large dark eyes.

The WARBLING VIREOS and COMMON GRACKLES filled the air with lots of song and noise. Loads of CEDAR WAXWINGS buzzing all along the way.

Also, Birdmom alerted us all to a pair of red fox kits – we turned to look back on the rr tracks and there they were: one sitting upright like a small dog, the other standing beside him, they looking at us and we at them. Another sweet moment of the morning. Later, about 15 Tiger Swallowtail butterflies convened in one spot on at a beachy area along the river, feeding on some salty shells.

We saw/heard approx. 50 species in all (I always forget a couple):

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey 2 one with a fish in its talons being chased by a male Baltimore Oriole!
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 two fluffy juveniles in the nest perched up in a sycamore near the Shenandoah Canal
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher one on the sand along the river – neat to see him on the ground – must have been feeding on some sort of bug
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch several “bald” juveniles with their parents in one section of sycamores along the river – very cool to watch them scaling the skinny trees and being fed by mom and dad.
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing lots of these guys all along the walk
Louisiana Waterthrush
Prothonotary Warbler one heard near the river
Northern Parula 3 singing softly along the wetlands area
Yellow-throated Warbler
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole at least 2 of them were 1st summer males
Baltimore Oriole 21 or more – this was Tom Masters last count – we saw so many of these brilliant orange birds and a few of their spouses – in the air, in trees, at their nests.
House Finch
American Goldfinch

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