Here in the Piedmont area of central Virginia, I have only found four ways to have a good, mid-summer, birding day:
1. Go out and look for juvenile and recently fledged birds;
2. Go up to higher and cooler elevations in the nearby Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains to look for warblers, crossbills, etc.;
3. Get lucky when a rare bird is blown into this area;
4. Go to another state or country where the weather is better and there might be some lifebirds. :-)
With a very hot and muggy, tropical air mass stalled over the area, and with afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast, I decided to look for juvenile and recently fledged birds here in Old Trail. It was already a muggy 80 degrees when I started out at 9:00 a.m. I went first to the Western Park area, and a Green Heron flew as soon as I arrived. There must be a Green Heron rookery nearby, as another Old Trail birder posted photos of six juvenile and two adult Green Herons in a dead tree in her yard last week. Click here to see the photos.
Green Heron
As I hiked on the gravel path along the park, I heard a Common Yellowthroat singing in the wetlands, and saw several juvenile sparrows.
Juvenile Chipping Sparrow
Juvenile Chipping Sparrow
Juvenile Chipping Sparrow
House Sparrows: juvenile male at upper right, other two might be juvenile females
As I approached the plateau that overlooks the wetlands, I saw two Northern Mockingbirds that were flapping their wings to scare up insects. A Yellow Warbler was in the trees beteen the plateau and the soccer field, along with a few juvenile Mockingbirds, and an immature female Cardinal (note the partially dark bill).
Northern Mockingbird
Juvenile Northern Mockingbird
Juvenile Northern Mockingbird
Yellow Warbler
Immature female Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
I checked the pond on the other side of Old Trail Drive for the Great Blue Heron that I saw there two days ago, but didn't see it, so I went over to the golf course pond where it was three days ago. But I didn't see it there, either. I hiked up towards golf course fairway #1 where I had been seeing a male Blue Grosbeak. It was hidden and close to me in some tall grasses, and flew as I hiked past it. But I heard another Blue Grosbeak calling. It was a juvenile male calling for papa from a distant branch. It didn't move, and I decided not to hike through the tall grasses to get closer.
Juvenile male Blue Grosbeak
Well, it was really hot and muggy, and I had logged 21 avian species in Old Trail this morning. I remembered reading a posting about Great Egrets moving through the area recently, and a neighbor told me she had seen one here two days ago. I went over to the nearby King Family Vineyards to check out the two ponds viewable from the public entrance road. There was a female Wood Duck with three small ducklings in the west pond, and a female Wood Duck with four somewhat older ducklings in the east pond.
Wood Ducks
Wood Ducks
In the east pond, a Great Egret was in the pond near the far shore, and a Great Blue Heron was on the far bank.
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
At one point, the Great Egret flew up and perched on the Wood Duck box, but the Great Blue Heron quickly moved it off and took posession of the perch.
Great Egret
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron and Great Egret
As I was leaving, I saw a Robin with multiple meals in its bill. There must be a nest nearby and the meals were for little ones.
American Robin