Ruby-crowned Kinglet
I ordered my third Canon 7D Mark II camera body from B&H photo on Monday morning. As usual, they were very helpful, and included at no additional cost, expedited shipping. This was a nice touch, but unnecessary as I'm putting this camera body in storage until one of my other two 7D Mark II bodies fails. About an hour after placing the order, I got a text message from FedEx: delivery will be the next day (11/17) sometime before 8 p.m., signature required. So I cancelled my birding plans for Tuesday, and waited. Late in the afternoon, I get another text message from FedEx: delivery will be the next day (11/18) sometime before 8 p.m., signature required. Bummers! I wasted a day when I could have been birding, and I had to cancel birding now for Wednesday as well. On Wednesday morning at 11:20, I just happened to be at a place in my house where I could see a FedEx truck stop in the street (alley way) behind my house. A minute later the truck was gone, and the package form B&H Photo, partially opened, was on my driveway against my garage door. Had I not seen the truck, and had driven out after dark, I might have run it over, and of course, I didn't have to sign for it. I'm not blaming B&H Photo at all. FedEx is the culprit. At least nothing inside the package was missing or broken.
Old Trail; November 18Now that I could go out, I did a short hike here in Old Trail between 11:30 and 12:30, and logged 15 avian species. The highlight was a cooperative Winter Wren.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swamp Sparrow
Winter Wren
Winter Wren
Winter Wren
I got a late start and didn't arrive there until a little after 10:00. I wanted to see if there were any migrating ducks in the reservoir, and if the Bald Eagles had returned to their nest this year. There wasn't a single duck, and not even a Canada Goose, and the eagle's nest looks to be unoccupied. But I did see a Great Blue Heron, one Killdeer, and one Wilson's Snipe. The low sun angle this time of year makes morning birding difficult looking towards the reservoir.
Great Blue Heron
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Snipe and Killdeer
Most of the birds around the reservoir were sparrows and other woodland species, and I saw at least two Red-shouldered Hawks. One of them still had some juvenile breast feathers. I saw one White-crowned Sparrow, and don't remember ever seeing one there before this morning.
White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow and Northern Cardinal
Swamp Sparrow
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that I thought to be a female because of its white throat, but when processing the photos, I see some red throat feathers coming in, so it must be a young male. I got quick looks at Winter Wrens in two locations, and heard a third one at another location.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Tufted Titmouse and Wooly Worm
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
When I got back to Fairwinds Lane, I decided to cross the creek on the small bridge, and hike a bit on the Crozet Connector Trail. After crossing the creek, I first turned left, hiked to the turn, and just after turning to the right past the park bench, I couldn't believe what I saw seeing. It was a male Northern Parula! While I saw quite a few of them this past spring, summer, and early fall, the Virginia "Goldbook" shows that the late date for this species in the Virginia Piedmont is October 10, with an extreme late date of November 16. The only records of this species beyond November 16 are 8 sightings in previous years along the coast.
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Well, that was neat, but the hike wasn't over yet. I turned around, hiked past the smal bridge, and farther west on that trail. I added a few more avian species to my day's list.
Pine Siskins
Dark-eyed Junco
I also saw my first Northern Flicker of the morning, and had I realized what I had there, I would have tried to get more photos. When I started processing photos at home, the first shot showed the red wing and tail feathers of the western, red-shafted subspecies, instead of the yellow feathers of the eastern subspecies. Another photo of this Northern Flicker shows a mix of yellow and red underwing feathers, pointing to an intergrade (hybrid) of the two subspecies. Athough I have seen and photographed hundreds of eastern, and several western Northern Flickers, I have never seen an intergrade Northern Flicker.
Intergrade Northern Flicker
Intergrade Northern Flicker
Intergrade Northern Flicker map
I ended today's hike with 31 avian species (list below), and adding in four additional avian species I saw in Old Trail yesterday (Canada Goose, House Finch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Turkey Vulture), my two day list comes to 35 avian species.
Today's list:
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
Northern Parula
Pine Siskin
Dark-eyed Junco