Non-birdng spouse and I visited Highland County for a few hours today before
a quick drive to Hidden Valley in Bath County. Unfortunately, due to
unexpected encounter with thick glaze of ice on road leading into Hidden
Valley, we luckily managed to get the vehicle stopped before it slid
sideways off the road into a nasty ditch. We found outselves in a pickle --
we couldn't back up, out in the middle of nowhere and no signal strength on
cell phone to call out.. Not only that, without ice/snow studs one could
not step out of the vehicle without sliding on down the hill. Luckily I had
brought along my "Yaktrax" ice/snow walkers that slip over your shoes. The
coils gripped the ice and non-birding spouse was able to trek along the icey
slope as he gathered up snow to pack around the wheels while I manuevered
along the edge of the road using my crutch to push snow onto the ice-glazed
road. We quickly realized there was no way we would be able to back up the
slope. Only way out of the situation was to slowly manuever downhill on
ice-slick road until we reached bottom where road was clear. After turning
around we used front-wheel drive with left wheels riding along snow covered
edge to pull back up. Hidden Valley will remain hidden until Spring thaw!
Highlights in Highland County were as follows: (Alas, no eagles!)
PURPLE FINCH - small flock at McDowell feeders
AM. TREE SPARROW - single bird at McDowell Feeders (see web link below for
pics)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - Along Rt. 644 in Blue Grass area (see web link below for
pic)
NORTHERN HARRIER - same spot as Rough-legged.
RED-TAILED HAWK - 4
BELTED KINGFISHER - 1 hardy soul along Jackson River
Scenic snow-covered vistas - PRICELESS!
Web links:
Rough-legged Hawk:
http://www.birdsofvirginia.com/image_links/Rough-LeggedHawk_link.htm
Northern Harrier:
http://www.birdsofvirginia.com/image_links/NorthernHarrier3_link.htm
Northern Harrier (link #2):
http://www.birdsofvirginia.com/image_links/NorthernHarrier4_link.htm
American Tree Sparrow:
http://www.birdsofvirginia.com/image_links/AmericanTreeSparrow3_link.htm
American Tree Sparrow (link #2):
http://www.birdsofvirginia.com/image_links/AmericanTreeSparrow4_link.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------
Brenda Tekin
Charlottesville, VA
"Leave behind what you find; if you must take something, take pictures."
Digital Photography, including Birds of
Virhttp://www.birdsofvirginia.com/image_links/NorthernHarrier3_link.htmginia
:
http://www.birdsofvirginia.com
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