March 21 was the first day of spring. However, no one told the weather gods about it. We had 5 to 6 inches of snow here in Crozet (Albemarle County) on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and twice that amount on the west side in the Shenandoah Valley (Augusta County), and even higher amounts in the mountains.
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I had planned to go birding in the Shenandoah Valley this morning. When there's snow on the ground, it's often good to bird along roads because the road shoulders tend to melt first, and birds congregate there to forage for a meal. But the temperatures were still below freezing in the Shenandoah Valley, and there were black ice warnings crossing the Blue Ridge, so I decided to stay closer to home. My first stop was at Mint Springs Park here in Crozet. There weren't a lot of birds out, but I did see a few. I saw a couple of Pileated Woodpeckers, but couldn't get any photos of them. However, there were several Northern Flickers that were more cooperative. One of them had a partially brown bill. I don't think that it was dirt, but perhaps an immature bird.
Northern Flickers
Dark-eyed Junco
I saw the remnants of a hornet's nest, and with the bottom of it missing, the interior structure was interesting to see. There was some unusual fungus growing on one of the old apple trees near the entrance to the park.
Hornet's nest
Fungus
I returned home to Old Trail, and did some hiking here. I think that this was the first time I had ever seen a Red-winged Blackbird at a feeder.
Red-winged Blackbird
American Robin
Wind-blown Yellow-rumped Warbler
And then I got a surprise. An Osprey was perched in a distant tree, and then took off when a Crow started to bother it. I have seen Ospreys here in previous years, but this was an extremely early arrival for this species in this part of Virginia.
Osprey
Osprey
I re-located the Osprey later in my hike. It was fishing on Old Trail ponds.
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
I ended my hike this morning with some photos of one of our resident Red-shouldered Hawks. It was very cooperative today, and let me take as many photos that I wanted. I ended the morning with 25 avian species.
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Walt Childs and I decided to try Augusta County as the temperatures were forecasted to be above freezing by the time we got to our first stop in Swoope. Most of the ground was still snow covered, and birds were near the road or in muddy areas where cattle had melted the snow.
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Tree Swallow
We saw a few Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, and a male "Gray Ghost" Northern Harrier.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Kestrel
Northern Harrier
One of the Bald Eagles was in the nest, and the other one was perched near Smith Lake.
Bald Eagles
From Swoope, we headed north to the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, and birded along farm roads in that area. On the way there, we saw two Sharp-shinned Hawks, and then saw more Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, and other species, bringing our day trip list to 36 species.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Kestrel
Eastern Meadowlark
We stopped along Cline River Road to check out a large nest that was used by a Great Horned Owl two years ago. The nest was very high above the road, but we could see movement in the nest. My best guess is that Red-tailed Hawks are in that nest now.
Red-tailed Hawk?
I went over to Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir this morning. It was fairly quiet, and I ended with 21 avian species there. The only bird in the reservoir was a lone Pied-billed Grebe, and I didn't see either of the Bald Eagles. Most of the birds there were ususal species, but I did see a flock of 8 to 10 migrating Rusty Blackbirds in the marshy area near the north end of the reservoir.
Pied-billed Grebe
Downy Woodpecker
Field Sparrow
Rusty Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
