Swoope, VA 12/2/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

I met up with Tink Moyer in Swoope, and we did some two vehicle birding. One of the first birds that we saw was a Red-tailed Hawk, and from its dark markings, it was most likely a northern race hawk.

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Northern race Red-tailed Hawk

Northern race Red-tailed Hawks are described in a good article written by Jerry Liguori. Read his article. I have seen examples of this race of Red-tailed Hawks every winter since September 2011, and they are characterized by much heavier breast and underwing markings, and barring on leg feathers.

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Northern race Red-tailed Hawk, Rockfish Valley Trail, VA; September 2011

While we were stopped and looking at this first hawk, we also saw our "best" bird of the day. It was an immature Red-headed Woodpecker starting to get its red adult plumage.

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Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

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Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

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Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

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Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

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Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

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Immature Red-headed Woodpecker

As we drove around Swoope, we saw several American Kestrels and at least six more Red-tailed Hawks. One of these hawks was a juvenile with very dark markings and leg feather barring, and I assume that it was a northern race juvenile.

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Male American Kestrel

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Female American Kestrel

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Juvenile northern race Red-tailed Hawk

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Juvenile northern race Red-tailed Hawk

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Eastern race Red-tailed Hawk

We stopped at Smith Lake where I have permission to enter the private property. There were lots of ducks on the lake, as well as a Great Blue Heron and a few shore birds.

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Great Blue Heron

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Green-winged Teals and Mallards

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Ruddy Ducks

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American Black Ducks

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Gadwalls

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Mallards

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Green-winged Teal

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Killdeers

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Wilson's Snipe

We stopped for a look at the lake by the boy scout camp. There were a few Buffledheads in that lake, and when I started processing photos, noticed two Hooded Mergansers behind the Buffleheads. We saw one Northern Harrier catching a field mouse. It dropped the mouse, landed again, and then took off with the mouse. Later,we saw two more Northern Harriers.

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Northern Harrier carrying a mouse

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Northern Harrier

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Northern Harrier

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Northern Harrier

Our 38th avian species in Swoope was a Belted Kingfisher. I had already heard two of them, but this was the first one we saw.

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Belted Kingfisher

Noticeably missing was seeing a Bald Eagle. They are in Swoope, but we missed this species. We stopped along Bell's Lane on the other side of Staunton to look for the Short-eared Owls, but didn't see any. While there, we saw another Red-tailed Hawk, and added three more species to our trip list: Canada Goose, White-crowned Sparrow, and probable Common Merganser. There were lots of ducks in the ponds, but they we were so far from them that identification was a challenge. For sure, we saw more Hooded Mergansers in the closer pond, and the Common Merganser identification was based on color and body/bill shape that looked correct for this species.

Trip list:

Mallard
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Gadwall
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Meadowlark
American Goldfinch

Canada Goose
White-crowned Sparrow
Common Merganser


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