Wintergreen Area 12/6/12

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Stoney Creek

Walt Childs and I hiked here in Stoney Creek this morning and logged 27 species. The most interesting was a cluster of Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches that were foraging in some pine trees along Deer Run. They would go to a pine cone, extract a seed, and then fly back to the tree trunk to crack the seed, although in some of the photos it looks like perhaps thet were stashing the seeds in the tree bark. There were at least two of the Red-breasted species, perhaps more.


Red-breasted Nuthatches


Red-breasted Nuthatch


Red-breasted Nuthatch


Red-breasted Nuthatch


Red-breasted Nuthatch


Red-breasted Nuthatch


White-breasted Nuthatch


Red-shouldered Hawk

Rockfish Valley Trail

We then headed over to the Rockfish Valley Trail where we added four more species to today's list: a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Goldfinch, and Great Blue Heron. It always is interesting for me to see so much color variation in the Song Sparrows. We were surprised to see a lot of green vegetation growing along the bank and in the middle of the Rockfish River along a part of the downstream trail. None of this vegetation was there a week ago.


Rockfish River


Song Sparrow


Song Sparrow


Yellow-rumped Warbler


Downy Woodpecker

Stoney Creek

When I got home there was a Purple Finch at my feeder, and it had very dark wing and tail feathers. Later in the afternoon, Alice and I went for a walk, and we saw a Pied-billed Grebe in Lake Monocan, and a probable Sharp-shinned Hawk high in a tree.


Purple Finch


Purple Finch

Today's list (34 species):

Song Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Eastern Phoebe
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Mallard
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
American Goldfinch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk

Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Crow
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Cardinal
Purple Finch
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Canada Goose
Mourning Dove



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