Ring-necked Duck
During the past few days, there have been reports of a Snowy Owl in the Dutch Gap Conservationa Area south of Richmond, and in Rockingham County in the Shenandoah Valley. In additon to the Rockingham report, there had been a report of a Northern Goshawk in neighboring Highland County. Both species would be life birds for me, and it wasn't until 8:30 this morning that Walt Childs and I decided where to go. Both trips were two hour drives in each direction. We finally decided on Dutch Gap, as finding either of the target birds would be sheer luck, and we would probably see more species of birds at Dutch Gap.
Although the Snowy Owl wasn't located, we did end up with 51 species for the trip, including 49 at Dutch Gap, a flock of Wild Turkeys on the trip there, and a Red-tailed Hawk on the return trip. As soon as we got to the road into Dutch Gap, we stopped and birded the long marsh area for more than an hour. A Tundra Swan flew overhead as we were getting out of the car. There were lots of ducks, gulls, and other waterfowl there.
Ring-necked Duck
Gadwall
Gadwall
American Coot
American Wigeon
Northern Pintails and Gadwalls
Mallards
Double-crested Cormorant
Ruddy Duck
Northern Shoveler
Northern Shoveler
We saw several woodland bird species along the road. A small flock of brightly colored Bluebirds were feeding in the trees, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler didn't mind my being only a few feet away from it.
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
After we started hiking on the Dutch Gap trail, we saw more woodland bird species, a Pied-billed Grebe, Hooded Mergansers, and Great Blue Herons.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Kestrel
Hooded Mergansers
Walt and I make a great birding pair. Walt has great eye-sight but can't hear high-frequency bird songs. My eye-sight isn't that great, but I have great high-frequency hearing. I usually tell Walt that I can hear various birds singing, and he finds them in the trees!
As we were hiking on the trail leading to the red metal bridge, we stopped near the fishing dock at mm 3.7 on the trail. Walt spotted a Great Blue Heron on the far side of the lake.
Great Blue Heron
And then Walt said, "What's that above the GBH?"
Great Blue Heron lower right; whitish object upper left
I raised my camera and lens to locate the object, and and immediately recognized it as a Great Horned Owl. We watched the owl for a few minutes and saw it turning its head in various directions, including 180 degrees, while it kept its body perfectly still. We decided to try to get closer for some better shots, but when I got within 50 feet of where they were perched, the Great Blue Heron let out a loud squawk and took off, and the Great Horned Owl quickly followed it.
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
Although we didn't see a Snowy Owl, the Great Horned Owl was neat to see, and all in all, it was a fun birding trip.
Today's list:
Canada Goose Tundra Swan Wood Duck Gadwall Ruddy Duck Ring-necked Duck Mallard Northern Pintail Hooded Merganser Northern Shoveler Wild Turkey American Coot Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Ring-billed Gull Laughing Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Great Horned Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker American Crow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird European Starling Yellow-rumped Warbler Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird House Finch |