Crozet, VA 3/2-9/2021

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Old Trail

I haven't done a lot of birding during this past week. Besides home chores and some errands, a computer email melt down, and a doctor's appointment, I've tried doing some digital astrophotgraphy after a 25+ year hiatus from doing some film based astrophotography. If you're interested in seeing some of my astrophotgraphy results, you can click on this link.

So I've only done a few shorter birding hikes this past week of a about an hour each, picking up about 20 avian species each time, with a cumulative 25 to 30 avian species.

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Ring-necked Duck

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Sharp-shinned Hawk

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White-crowned Sparrow

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White-throated Sparrow

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Pileated Woodpecker

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House Finches

I've been watching five Hooded Mergansers (3 males and 2 females) in the retention pond behind the lodge for the past three days.

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Hooded Merganser

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Hooded Merganser

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Hooded Merganser

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Hooded Merganser

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Hooded Mergansers

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Hooded Mergansers

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Hooded Mergansers

This morning, two of the males were doing their courtship dance and calls (raising their white crests, raising their chests as high as possible out of the water, and calling with a mating noise). The females, however, wanted nothing to do with this activity this morning.

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Hooded Mergansers

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Hooded Mergansers

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Hooded Mergansers

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Hooded Mergansers

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Hooded Mergansers


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