Nelson County, VA 12/15/17

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

I almost decided not to post this report because birds were few and far between, but we did see an unusual sight. It was a fairly cold and very cloudy day. Walt Childs and I did some birding in southwestern Nelson County, and for a bit of the time, crossed over the Tye River into Amherst County. Many of the smaller birds were hunkered down, but we did see some woodland species, and decided to focus on finding raptors. As we headed south on Route 151, we passed an adult Red-shouldered Hawk, but decided not to turn back to try for a photo. We turned onto Route 56, and found the Bald Eagle next across from Massie's Mill, but didn't see any eagles. As we drove along some of the back country roads, we stopped when we saw something new to both of us. Several Black Vultures were picking something off the back of a young bull. The bull was so still that we weren't sure if it was a real live animal, but after a minute or so, it moved its tail.

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Black Vultures

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Black Vultures

We drove a little bit farther, and stopped to look at some birds in a field. When I turned my head to the right, there was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk about 10 feet away. It soon took off.

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Pileated Woodpecker

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Red-shouldered Hawk

We continued driving around, and saw several Red-tailed Hawks.

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Red-tailed Hawk

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Red-tailed Hawks

High up on one of the mountain roads, we saw the back side of a large and distant hawk. It flew as soon as I got out of the car, and I never got a photo of it. Its back looked dark brown, and it was probably a Red-tailed Hawk, but it looked huge to me when it flew away from us, and I wonder if it might have been a Goshawk. We continued driving and saw a few more bird species and more farm animals.

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Interesting genetics


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