Heron Rookery

Had a tour of the Kincora property today. That's the sw corner of Rtes 7 and 28.
Here's a shot of the Heron rookery along Broad Run:

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Wish I knew how to make the picture bigger so you can see the birds in the nests.

 

maybe it's just me, but there's no picture to view? and for a minute I thought you were talking about a great new drinking hole!

 

Email me the picture and I'll see if I can post it...It is a good name for a new nightspot isn't it?

 

Email sent. There's actually 15-20 birds in the picture in their nests.

 

Herons in nests

 

Wow! Thanks for sharing that.

Speaking of the SW corner of 7 & 28, what is that house/building there? You can just barely see it from 7. It's yellow & stone. Looks like there's a tennis court there. Can never get a good look because we're driving by so fast.

 

Ha! Just spend two hours talking about it at the Planning Commission meeting last night. It is the Broad Run Toll House. The original Leesburg Pike ran by it. I guess the concept of paying tolls to drive on roads isn't a new one!
It is on the National Historic Register. It could potentially be moved if the alignment of Pacific Blvd to Russell Branch goes through its location.

 

I counted about 50 nests in 4 trees. Most of the nests had one heron standing guard to keep the hawks from swooping in and stealing their eggs.
It was very impressive to watch all the activity.....herons swooping around, hawks circling and darting down every so often, and the noises the herons make sound like something out of prehistoric times.

 

coool- that DOES sound like Clyde's on a Saturday night! Buy the domain name and build a watering hole!!!

 

Thank you! I've wondered for years what it was. Thought it was someone's home.

Is there any (easy) way to get back there? Or is it off limits to the public? I'm referring to the old toll house and the rookery.

 

The Toll House is on private property (which is bank owned and for sale, if you're interested.)
I saw the Rookery from the Kincora owned property. I don't know how close you can get from the west side of the creek. It's near the Visa building, but that property is kept pretty secure.
If Kincora is approved, the entire floodplain area by the rookery will be given to the county as a park and it will have walking trails by it.

 

You can see it from Loudoun County Parkway. I went today...there's a pull off where you can sit and watch. The pull off is at Marblehead Dr. Of course, you need binos. It was an awesome sight!