Horned Larks
There was light snow yesterday evening, and Walt Childs and I thought that if there were still snow in the ground in the Shenandoah Valley this morning, we might be able to re-locate the Snow Bunting that was with a large flock of Horned Larks last week off of Strickley Road in Augusta County. With snow on the ground, birds tend to forage closer to the road shoulders where snow has melted.
It was overcast and quite cold when we arrived, but there wasn't any snow on the ground. We found the large flock of Horned Larks, but they weren't close to the road, and finding the Snow Bunting was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Horned Larks
Horned Lark
Horned Lark
But we presisted in the cold temperature, and finally found the Snow Bunting.
Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting
We drove around the area along farm roads, saw some American Kestrels, a few Red-tailed Hawks, one Northern Harrier, and quite a few sparrows and other common species. The sun even came out for a while.
Female American Kestrel
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
We decided to try some birding in Swoope. When we got to Smith Lake, we saw the resident pair of Bald Eagles in some distant trees near their nest, and only a few other birds there.
Bald Eagles
Song Sparrow
Female American Kestrel
It was getting to be quite overcast again, and we decided to drive around Swoope some more before heading home. We stopped on North Mountain Road when we saw a Bald Eagle about 700 feet from the road. It might have been a third Bald Eagle or one of the eagles we had seen at Smith Lake.
Bald Eagle
At 2 p.m., it started snowing again, so we headed out, and saw our 8th Red-tailed Hawk of the day.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk