Vesper Sparrow
Walt Childs and I headed over the Blue Ridge mountains to Augusta County to try some birding in the Shenandoah Valley. Our first stop was at Swoope, then Augusta Springs Wetlands, and finally Stuart's Draft. We saw lots of small birds from the car, mostly sparrows, that flew into trees or tall and dense ground vegetation before we could identify the birds. Many of today's photos were taken through the car windshield, or with the car engine running, reducing photo quality. The best bird we saw was a close encounter with a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk just outside the water treatment facility in Stuart's Draft, where the hawk appeared to be sharpening its beak on a metal wheel.
Vesper Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Green-winged Teal
Northern Cardinal (GO CARDS!)
Cedar Waxwing
American Kestrel
Palm Warbler
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk