Red-tailed Hawks
Walt Childs and I hadn't been birding along the James River for several months, so we decided to head first to Warren Ferry to see if any early season Yellow-throated Warblers had arrived.
As we were driving along Langhorne Road, a Red-tailed hawk flew by us. A short distance down the road, we thought that we saw the hawk eating something in a field, but it turned out that the second sighting was actually a different and lighter-colored Red-tailed Hawk. A minute or so later, the first hawk flew from a tree, and then the second hawk took off.
Red-tailed Hawks
Red-tailed Hawks
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
There wasn't much to see at Warren Ferry - only a few woodland birds and Canada Geese.
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Our next stop was at Totier Creek Park. I heard a Belted Kingfisher, and as I walked closer to its call, a large bird took off. My first, momentary, thought was that it was awfully big for a Kingfisher, and then soon realized it was an Osprey with a partially eaten fish in its talons.
Osprey
We saw only a few birds there, including more White-throated Sparrows, a Gray Catbird, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and a Pied-billed Grebe.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Pied-billed Grebe
We made a few more stops along the James River, and only saw some more common species.
Dark-eyed Junco
Our last stop was at the James River Wildlide Management Area. This WMA hasn't been very productive for birding on previous visits there, but it was a little better today. Soon after we entered the WMA, we saw our third Red-tailed Hawk of the day.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
We crossed the railroad tracks and hiked around the marsh areas. There were lots of loud frogs, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, some sparrows, Mallards and Wood Ducks, and a Rusty Blackbird. We ended the trip with 30 avian species.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Wood Duck
Rusty Blackbird