Six birders from Rockingham County went on a day-long trip to Highland and
northern Bath counties on Monday, January 19th. Tom Lord, Tom Pendleton, Tom
Mizell, Mike Smith, Richard Schiemann, and John Irvine made up the group, which
returned home with a 40-species list. Along Augusta County back roads en
route, particularly noted were a Red-headed Woodpecker on Badger Road, a
Bufflehead and 3 Hooded Mergansers among the numerous Mallards and Canada Geese
at the
pond in Mount Solon, and a Swamp Sparrow near Stribling Springs Road. A very
tame Ruby-crowned Kinglet and an almost equally tame Hermit Thrush provided
particular enjoyment for observers who remained in their cars to enjoy the
show.
The Beverage feeders in Monterey produced expectable birds, including a few
Purple Finches. In the Blue Grass area and further south we enjoyed fine
looks at raptors: one immature Golden Eagle on the west side of Snowy
Mountain;
five dark-phase Rough-legged Hawks and one light-phase; plus various American
Kestrels and Red-tailed Hawks (we had 13 of the latter for the entire trip). A
small flock of six Horned Larks were foraging in some hay that had just been
scattered on the snow at a farm near Blue Grass. After lunch we drove south
to the Pump Storage Ponds along Rt. 600 in northern Bath County. Two adult
Bald Eagles were seen on the far side of the big reservoir. Waterfowl present
there at the far north end of the reservoir included several hundred Canada
Geese, some Mallards, and 9 Green-winged Teal; and 2 female Hooded Mergansers
were
in the stream below the dam. There were no waterfowl at all on the ponds
below the dam during our visit, though there was still some open water. We saw
5
Belted Kingfishers during the trip. All in all, a very satisfying, mostly
sunny day of birding, though the word "brutal" was frequently heard for the
weather conditions when we left the cars--it being quite cold (varying between
11
and 20 degrees F. with winds of 15 mph or more).
John Irvine
Harrisonburg, VA
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