Crozet, VA 5/5/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Old Trail

Most birders have had days when birding just wasn't optimal. With the corona virus, my favorite birding sites in central Virginia are either too far away or closed. Hiking here in Old Trail can be a challenge, especially when other residents are on the trails and don't seem to want to be social distancing, forcing me to move off the trail. Now that it is May, the vegetation just off the trail is starting to get high. And the weather this week is really weird. After a high temperature yesterday close to 80, a cold front has moved into the area. Rain was forecasted to start about 10:30 this morning and go through tomorrow afternoon. So I headed out at 8:30 to try for a couple of hours of birding. When I left my house, it ws completely overcast and the temperature was 46! And it's supposed to get even colder by the end of the week. The birds must have said, "What the ...?" as most of them were hunkered down trying to stay warm. There was a cold mist in the air - it almost felt like it was going to snow. I thought that I heard a Worm-eating Warbler in the wooded area along the creek near my house. This would have been a new Old Trail species for me, but as I couldn't see it, I couldn't rule out a Chipping Sparrow, so I assumed the latter as it is a common species here. The sandpipers I have been seeing at the nearby retention pond were gone, as heavy equipment had moved in next to the retention pond to start constuction of more townhouses.

At 9:30, the mist turned into a few small rain drops, and at 9:45 it started to rain. I ended up with only 17 avian species.

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White-throated Sparrow

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

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Northern Mockingbird

When I got home, I saw a tick crawling on my shirt sleeve, presumably from when I stepped off trail to let another resident pass by. Some days, mother nature throws everything she can against you :-)


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