Crozet, VA 12/22/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Old Trail

It was below freezing when I ventured out this morning. At least the muddy path through the Western Park wetlands was frozen, so I could hike through there. There was light frost on the vegetation, and I ended up with 20+ avian species. I seem to be lucky seeing Winter Wrens lately.

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Field Sparrows

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Winter Wren

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Carolina Wren

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Northern Mockingbird

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Red-winged Blackbird

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Red-bellied Woodpecker; Pileated Woodpecker; Northern Flicker

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Northern Cardinal

When I got to the golf course pond, I got a distant view of a small bird at the pond edge. I can't tell if it was a shorebird or a Mourning Dove.

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Shorebird or Mourning Dove?

The highlight of the morning for me was my Old Trail avian species # 140 - a Common Merganser. This appeared to be an immature bird, as it still had a white patch below its eye in addition to a white chin. Compare this bird with a photo I took last July in Alaska with an adult female Common Merganser and her chicks.

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Common Merganser

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Common Merganser

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Common Merganser

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Common Merganser

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Common Merganser

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Common Merganser; Alaska, July 2019


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