Twenty-one members of the Rockingham Bird Club braved quite chilly weather
but enjoyed the sun sparkling off the tiny ice crystals flying by in the
wind, up by one of the iceboxes of Virginia--Snowy Mountain in Highland
County. Due to several minor problems early on we didn't catch up with John
Spahr and Tom Pendleton but were glad they went on ahead, and we saw pretty
much the same list they saw. Our highlights were 13 species of birds at the
Beverage's feeders in Monterey, 4 immature Golden Eagles, one each of both
phases of the Rough-legged Hawk, and a delicious interaction where the dark
phase Rough-leg was diving on a Golden Eagle perched on the ground between
Blue Grass and Hightown. The other three eagles were on the west side of
Snowy Mountain. Our list included:
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 6
Rough-legged Hawk 2 (LP, DP)
Golden Eagle 4 imm.
American Kestrel 1
Killdeer 1
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1 male
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 12
Common Raven 2
Horned lark 1
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 45
Fiedl Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 18
Northern Cardinal 8
American Goldfinch 12
House Sparrow 8
Coming home, at the pond in Mount Solon, we added about 60 Mallards and a
pair of American Wigeon; and on Badger Road east of that town, 3 adult
Red-headed Woodpeckers. Lastly, on Gardner Lane near Bridgewater, just south
of Ken Hinkle's home, some of us saw a Loggerhead Shrike (resident in the
area for some weeks) and 3 Eastern Meadowlarks. It was a good day of
birding.
John Irvine
Harrisonburg, VA
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