It was a bit windy and the temperatures never made it out of the mid to high 30s, but Walt Childs and I ventured out into Augusta County to look for whatever birds we could find. It was supposed to be partly cloudy turning to mostly sunny by afternoon, but we saw a few snowflakes north of Waynesboro, and could see patches of snow falling close to the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We started off on our usual route on Strickley Road and made our way along mostly back roads to the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. Many of the smaller birds were hunkered down and staying out of the wind.
Red-tailed Hawk carrying nesting material
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Female American Kestrel
Male American Kestrel
From the airport, we headed south towards Swoope. We were watching a male American Kestrel when another hawk flew in. It was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk missing a lot of feathers.
Male American Kestrel
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
We continued on, saw another Red-tailed Hawk and a few other woodland species.
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker
Song Sparrow
When we got to Swoope, we went first to Smith Lake where we have permission to go birding. We saw one of the two resident Bald Eagles perched near the drive, and then it flew to its nest carrying nesting materials.
Bald Eagle
We then drove some of the roads in Swoope, and saw a few more birds.
Male American Kestrel carrying a mouse
Belted Kingfisher
Killdeer
Adult Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
We stopped at a high vantage point on North Mountain Road where we could get a good, but distant, view of the eagle's nest. Both Bald Eagles were there, and at one point traded positions. One of the Bald Eagles appeared to be bending down into the nest, perhaps feeding a little one.
Bald Eagles
On our way out along Hewitt Road, we spotted a female Northern Harrier.
Northern Harrier
It was a good outing, especially given the weather. We ended up with 36 avian species including Bald Eagles (2), Red-tailed Hawks (4), Cooper's Hawks (2), American Kestrels (5 males, 3 females), and one Northern Harrier.