VA BIRDers,
Larry Meade, Rich Rieger and I visited Highland Co today. We made an early
start from Staunton, arriving there the late afternoon of the day before -
we visited Bells Lane and found the local Short-eared Owl in the waning
light. Up at dawn, we arrived at the Confederate Breastworks at ca. 0730
and found nothing. It was quite windy, cold, and a gorgeous blue sky (most
ponds were unfrozen in Highland Co). Down on the hairpin turn we stopped
and quickly found a singing female Red Crossbill - ca. 0745. The male
called to her and soon appeared. Larry got some great shots as the birds
sand and graveled on the roadside edge which he may describe later.
We continued onto to Monterey visiting the Beverage's feeder (one Am.
Goldfinch) and thence south and soon crossing over to the southern reaches
of the Blue Grass Valley. Northward we drove and eventually found our first
Rough-legged Hawk just to the west of Blue Grass near big cattle
concentrations - ca. 0930. Continuing northward we found 2 more
Rough-leggeds at the next east-west crossover. The west side of Snowy Mtn,
close to the W. VA border produced the Golden Eagle at ca. 1100. We visited
a few more feeders, went to the fish hatchery, and a short northward
excursion from McDowell but found no other highlight species. We left the
county at ca. 1445.
The following is the trip list for those in Highland Co. and nearby
collecting the data.
Kurt Gaskill
Canada Goose 14
Mallard 18
Turkey Vulture 12
Red-tailed Hawk 5
Rough-legged Hawk 3
Golden Eagle 1
Am. Kestrel 5
Killdeer 51 - mostly in the northern portions
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied WP 1
Downy WP 3
Blue Jay 26
American Crow 130
Common Raven 12
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 6
Carolina Wren 2
E. Bluebird 6
Am. Robin 15
No. Mockingbird 1
E. Starling 300
Song Sp 7
White-throated Sp 3
Junco 26
No. Cardinal 1
Red-winged BB 250, several groups
E. Meadowlark 4
Common Grackle 250, several groups
Brown-headed Cowbird 40, one group
Red Crossbill 2
House Finch 10
Am. Goldfinch 7
House Sparrow 24
