Central Virginia 4/12-13/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Ridgeview Park and Route 610; April 12

The forecast was for strong thunderstorms and high winds moving inot the area, so I wanted to get some birding in before the bad weather. It was heavily overcast, and the winds were starting to increase when I arrived at Ridgeview Park in Waynesboro. The park was fairly "birdy," but with the usual species, and I left with 20 avian species on my day list.

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Northern Cardinal

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Ruby-crowned Kinglet

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

I decided to try Route 610 and the first 14 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but the National Park Service has closed off the parkway from Rockfish Gap to Reids Gap - my favorite migrating and nesting warbler sites. BUMMERS! And Route 610 was crowded with parked cars at the intersections with that road and the parkway, where folks were moving onto the parkway to hike or bike. More BUMMERS! I saw a few species on Route 610 before heading home.

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Pine Warbler

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Downy Woodpecker

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Female and male Eastern Towhees

Old Trail; 4/13/2020

We had strong winds and more than 3 inches of rain overnight, and it was still gloomy this morning. I headed out mid-morning to see if any birds had taken shelter here in Old Trail, and went first to the pond along the golf course. I saw a pair of Great Egrets, 8 Blue-winged Teals (4 males and 4 females), 4 Pied-billed Grebes, a female Ring-necked Duck, and a female Hooded Merganser. There were two more Pied-billed Grebes in the pond along Old Trail Drive.

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Great Egrets

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Blue-winged Teals

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Pied-billed Grebes

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Female Ring-necked Duck and female Hooded Merganser; Blue-winged Teals

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Pied-billed Grebes

A Black Vulture was drying out its wings, and then the sun came out for a bit. I ended up with 25+ avian species here this morning, including a White-crowned Sparrow that most likely wintered here and hasn't migrated yet.

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Black Vulture

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Eastern Bluebirds

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Carolina Wren

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Red-winged Blackbird

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White-crowned Sparrow

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White-crowned Sparrow

There were three young deer in Western Park, and I ended my hike when it started to rain again.

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Deer


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