Brown Creeper
I hadn't been able to go birding for 2-1/2 weeks, and started a new week list on Monday for here in Old Trail.
November 27The temperatures were a bit chilly, but the wind wasn't too bad, and the sun was out. I logged 22 avian species in a little less than two hours, including my FOS (first of season) Brown Creeper and my FOS Fox Sparrow.
Brown Creeper
Fox and White-throated Sparrows
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Swamp Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Winter Wren
Winter Wren
Tail-less Carolina Wren
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Two Ruby-crowned Kinglets were having a territorial dispute.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
I ended my hike watching eight American Crows chasing a Black Vulture.
Black Vulture
With the temperatures in the low 40s, and very strong winds, it was a bit chilly, but there were some periods of decent sunlight. I first headed over to the golf course pond a little before 10:00 to see if the winds had blown in any duck species. No ducks, but something better - a scarce Ross's Goose. I was looking into the sun, so I returned around noon for better photos. Note the bluish and straight, vertical base of its bill, that along with its size and lack of an appreciable grin patch, differentiates a Ross's Goose from the larger Snow Goose. This goose also appears to have some growths on its bill. Ross's Goose is my Old Trail species #165, and it raises the Old Trail avian list to 191 species.
Ross's Goose
Ross's Goose
Ross's Goose
Ross's Goose
Ross's Goose
White-breasted Nuthatch
Downy Woodpecker and White-breasted Nuthatch
Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-shouldered Hawk
I added 7 more avian species this morning, raising my week list so far to 29.
November 29With temperatures in the 20s, it was rather chilly, but the wind wasn't too bad. All of the little birds that had hunkered down and out of yesterday's winds were foraging this morning. I ended up with 33 avian species, including 10 new species for the week, bringing my week list to 39 avian species. I went first to the golf course pond to look for the Ross's Goose, but there were no geese in the pond. About 20 minutes later, a large flock of Canada Geese flew overhead, but I didn't see any geese other than Canadas.
Three finch species: American Goldfinch (behind left); Purple Finch (middle and my FOS); House Finch (right)
Chipping Sparrows are abundant in Virginia during the summer months, but scarce to rare during the winter months. There's always a winter flock here in Old Trail, and I saw about 10 of them.
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Hermit Thrush
Great Blue Heron
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
With 39 avian species on my week list so far, I was hoping for at least 1 more for the week. I hadn't seen so far this week a fairly common Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, or White-crowned Sparrow, or an occasional Raven, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, or Eastern Towhee, and not a single migrating duck or grebe. There was no wind, and the golf course pond was like glass. At one point, I heard what sounded like a keew call of a Northern Flicker, but I could not confirm it visually. I did get a couple of poor photos of an Eastern Phoebe. Although I saw more than 20 avian species, it wasn't nearly as "birdy" as yesterday.
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Eastern Phoebe
Red-shouldered Hawk
I saw an unusual Yellow-rumped Warbler that had a dashed, black line on both sides of it undertail coverts. Perhaps this is a common feature, but I don't recall seeing this feature before.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
And I saw a Pileated Woodpecker with a barred belly rather than solid black. I had to review my old photos to determine if I had seen this feature before (December 2021 photo added to this report).
Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker (December 2021)
Once again, there was no wind this morning, but there was complete cloud cover with afternoon and evening rain in the forecast. I had just parked my car and got out to start birding when I heard a very loud, and low flying military jet. I looked up and saw a T-38 Talon jet flying to the west, and as it approached the Blue Ridge Mountains, it circled and headed back to the east. Virginia birders living along the coast often see military jets flying from the naval air stations, but they are rare to see this far west.
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I logged 27 avian species this morning, including photographing 4 different Northern Flickers, giving me 41 avian species for my 5 day list.
Male Northern Flicker
Female Northern Flicker
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Northern Cardinal
During my hike, I caught a glimpse of an all black animal waking in dense, tall grasses, and thought it might be a bear cub, but it turned out to be a very large feral cat.
Feral cat
November 27 list:
Canada Goose
Black Vulture
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
White-throated Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
November 28 additions to list:
Ross's Goose
House Finch
Red-shouldered Hawk
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
Field Sparrow
November 29 additions to list:
Chipping Sparrow
European Starling
Mourning Dove
Great Blue Heron
Cooper's Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Pileated Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Purple Finch
November 30 addition to list:
Eastern Phoebe
December 1 addition to list:
Northern Flicker
