It was quite windy so I hiked close to home this morning, and ended up with 20 avian species.
Northern Cardinal
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Pine Warbler
Walt Childs and I headed west over the Blue Ridge. Our first planned stop was at Mccormick's Mill in Raphine, and we had a fair nimber of species on the way there.
Red-tailed Hawk
By the time we left McCormick's Mill, our trip tally was up to 27 avian species.
Brown Thrasher
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
We then stopped at Willow Lake in Raphine where we saw 18 avain species, including 12 that we had not seen on this trip prior to arrival there. Some of the species in addition to those shown below included Double-crested Cormorant, Ring-necked Duck, Bleted Kingfisher, and Pied-billed Grebe.
Osprey
Hooded Merganser
Gadwalls
American Wigeons
Blue-winged Teal
We then drove west and south from Raphine. A fox crossed the road in front of us, and we saw a few more species for the trip.
Fox
American Kestrels
Next stop was Swoope in Augusta County. We saw several species at Smith Lake, including Green-winged and Blue-winged Teals, a Northern Pintail, Mallards, a large Snapping Turtle, and a Greater Yellowlegs. We drove around Swoope looking for the resident Bald Eagles, but didn't see them. We saw our third Belted Kingfisher of the day.
Green-winged Teals
Blue-winged Teal
Greater Yellowlegs
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
We ended the outing with a quick stop at the Fishersville quarry where we saw our 51st avian species of the day: American Coot. On the drive back, Walt spotted a bear cub that had be hit and killed on I-64 at Afton Mountain.