Stuart's Draft & Crozet, VA 11/9/12

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Stuart's Draft, VA

It has been a while since I did any birding in the Stuart's Draft area, so I headed first to the small pond behind Kohl's in the shopping center at I-64 and route 340. It looked like it was going to be a great birding day, as I immedialtely had five species: a few American Wigeons, a Belted Kingfisher, a large flock of Starlings, a House Finch, and a couple of Goldfinches, and then a Red-tailed Hawk showed up and dispersed the crowd.


American Wigeons


Male American Wigeon


Female American Wigeon


Belted Kingfisher


House Finch


Starling - Angry Bird!


Red-tailed Hawk

But the rest of my birding for two hours around Guthrie Road, Hall School Road, and the Cowbane Prairie Natural Area Preserve only yielded another dozen common species, although I did see two additional Red-tailed Hawks.


White-crowned Sparrow along Guthrie Road

Crozet, VA

So I headed over to Crozet, arriving at Lickinghole Creek trail and lake around noon with 18 species already logged for the day. I spent about an hour at Lickinghole, and added another eight common species, with the highlight there being three Red-shouldered Hawks.


Killdeer


Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk


Hermit Thrush

Next stop was the pond at Old Trail, where I added five more species. The Ruddy Ducks and Pied-billed Grebe all had rust color on their breasts and faces, and I wonder if the coloring was from mud at the bottom of the pond?


Ruddy Ducks


Male Ruddy Duck


Female Ruddy Duck


Pied-billed Grebe


Flicker

My last stop was at the King Family Vineyards where I saw Canada Geese, Mallards, and Wood Ducks. I had 32 species in 5 hours, about the same number of species I have been getting on the Rockfish Valley Trail in 90 minutes, although seeing ducks on the trail is unusual.



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