Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail: Lake Burton

Lake Burton is a Site on the Southwest Piedmont Loop of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail system.  Noel Boaz recently led a review of this site and provided this report: 

The SW Piedmont Chapter embarked on its third review of an adopted Bird and Wildlife Trail Loop with an expeditionary review visit to Lake Burton, trail number MSW 08, on Sunday, August 9, 2020.  Burton Lake is a 70-acre impoundment of the northerly flowing Tomahawk Creek, a tributary of the Pigg River, which in turn flows into the Roanoke River just after it exits Smith Mountain Lake and enters Leesville Lake.  Lake Burton is a state-owned Wildlife Management Area that is largely surrounded by forest.

Lake Burton - Photo by Ivan Hiett

With the able leadership of super-birder Mary Foster our small group headed by SW Piedmont Chapter President Ivan Hiett recorded 13 species of birds during an hour-and-a-half circuit of 1.27 miles around the eastern side of the lake, all recorded in eBird. The most impressive (and loudest) birds on Lake Burton are Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias). These birds are huge, with wing spans of up to 6 feet. Two large, presumably male, birds had a loud altercation while we were there. Sibley’s Guide to Birds describes this aggressive squawking as “a slow series fraank fraank fraank  taaaaw taaaaw; last notes lower, croaking.”

Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) - Photo by Ivan Hiett

We also observed and photographed a number of floral, fungal, and faunal species that we duly recorded in iNaturalist. The forest around Lake Burton presented a diversity of wildflowers, mushrooms, and dragonflies. Three species in each of these categories were confirmed as “Research Grade” IDs in iNaturalist this week. Their photos are below.

Crane-fly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) - Photo by Noel Boaz

Our group saw several individual plants of the beautiful Crane-fly Orchid, a rare find. The Flora of Virginia notes that there are only three species of this orchid in the world, one in the Himalayas, one in Japan, and one here. They were growing on the forest floor on the northern side of a slope inland from the lakeshore.

 Black-staining Polypore (Meripilus sumstinei) - Photo by Noel Boaz

The Flora of Virginia does not include mushrooms, for one very simple reason - mushrooms are not plants. They are members of the Kingdom Fungi, and are actually more closely related to animals than plants are. They share with animals the ability to digest their food and this ability explains where we found them growing at Lake Burton - along the decaying trees and stumps on the forest floor. 

 Blue-fronted Dancer Damselfly (Argia apicalis) - Photo by Noel Boaz

Among representatives of the Kingdom Animalia at Lake Burton, we noticed zooming about a plethora of flying insects of the Order Odonata. One group of the odonates, dragonflies, were common but notoriously difficult to photograph. The other odonate group is the damselflies, distinguished from dragonflies by their high-held wings at rest. They seemed less common but we did manage to sneak up on one resting on a leaf (see photo). It was a striking cobalt-blue Blue-fronted Dancer, characterized also by its narrow wings.  Damselflies are a widespread and ancient group with fossils going back to the Permian, some 350 million years ago. An abundance of odonates is said to be an indicator of good environmental quality, good news for Lake Burton.

Our forays to the remaining two easternmost sites on the Southwest Piedmont VBWT Loop will be on consecutive second and third (early) Sunday mornings in August. Look for our announcements. All Master Naturalists are welcome.