Swoope, VA 7/5/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Walt Childs and I had planned on going to Highland County today, but the threat of thunderstorms there prompted us to stay closer to our homes. We decided to go to Swoope in the Shenandoah Valley. We saw two male Bobolinks when we there on June 14, and there were reports of Dickcissels near where we had seen the Bobolinks. Both of these species are rare in the mountains and valleys of Virginia, and were our primary target species for this outing.

We entered Swoope on Hewitt Road, and saw quite a few avian species as we drove down to Cattleman Road. There were lots of Swallows: Northern Rough-winged, Tree, Barn, and Cliff Swallows (rare this far south). Many of the swallows were juveniles. Adult Barn Swallows were bringing food to patiently waiting juveniles. The weak breast band on juvenile Tree Swallows was easy to see.

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Juvenile and Adult Barn Swallows

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Juvenile Tree Swallow

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Cliff Swallow

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Cliff Swallow

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Eastern Meadowlark

Our first stop was at Smith Lake (on private property where we have permission to enter). We saw quite a few interesting species there. A Bald Eagle, that was perched on a tree branch over the lake, flew as we got there.

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Bald Eagle

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Yellow Warbler

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Adult and juvenile Wood Ducks

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Juvenile Great Blue Heron

We saw two young Belted Kingfishers, and an adult was bringing them food.

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Belted Kingfisher

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Belted Kingfishers

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Belted Kingfishers

We saw two Blue Grosbeaks. One was clearly a juvenile. The other one was either a juvenile or a young adult female.

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Blue Grosbeak

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Blue Grosbeak

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Blue Grosbeak

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Blue Grosbeak

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Blue Grosbeak

We saw a Willow Flycatcher there, and another one along Cattleman Road. We also saw at least two Red-tailed Hawks.

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Willow Flycatchers

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Red-tailed Hawks

As we drove around Swoope, we saw quite a few Eastern Kingbirds and several sparrow species.

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Eastern Kingbird

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Eastern Kingbird

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Savannah Sparrow

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Grasshopper Sparrow

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American Kestrel

There were lots and lots of Red-winged Blackbirds. Females have rufous-edged covert feathers, but sometimes this feature can be very bright rufous.

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Female and male Red-winged Blackbirds

We saw a male Bobolink in the same area on North Mountain Road where we saw two of them last month.

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Male Bobolink

And then we thought we saw a juvenile Dickcissel. But it was a female Bobolink.

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Female Bobolink

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Female Bobolink

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Female Bobolink

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Female Bobolink

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Female Bobolink

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Female Bobolink

We ended the outing with another flycatcher that looks to me to be a Least Flycatcher, our 48th avian species of the day.

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Least(?) Flycatcher


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