Crozet, VA 12/20/2021

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

I got an email from our Audubon CBC sector leader that her group had seen a female Baltimore Oriole near the intersection of Brown's Gap Turnpike and Cow Path Lane when they were doing their survey yesterday. That location is less than a mile from where I was doing my CBC survey on the other side of Meechum's River, and only 0.9 mile from where a male Baltimore Oriole had been coming to a feeder all winter long in 2018 and 2019. The sector leader asked if I could try to get a photo of the female Baltimore Oriole, so I went to take a look this morning. I arrived there at 10:30, and a murder of Crows was making a lot of noise. I saw that there was a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks on a rootop.

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Female Oriole site upper left; male oriole site lower right

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Red-shouldered Hawks

One of the hawks took off, and the other one flew closer to where I was, and perched.

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Red-shouldered Hawk

I stayed there for half and hour, and also saw Northern Mockingbirds, Blue Jays, Song Sparrows, Tufted Titmice, and Black Vultures. This site is just north of Beaver Creek Reservoir, so I went there to see if the Oriole might be there. I parked at the first lot. I saw Canada Geese, Eastern Bluebirds, a Carolina Wren, some Northern Cardinals, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and two, possibly three, Pileated Woodpeckers.

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Red-bellied Woodpecker

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Male Pileated Woodpeckers

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Female and male Pileated Woodpeckers

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Female and male Pileated Woodpeckers

I went back to the female oriole site, but the Red-shouldered Hawk was still there. I saw a couple of Turkey Vultures, and may have twice heard a single call note that might have been from a Oriole, but I could not be sure. After 15 minutes, I headed for home.

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Red-shouldered Hawk


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