Old Trail; Crozet, VA 7/1-2/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

I am not a twitcher, a birder who rushes over to see a new bird species just to tick it off a list. I enjoy watching and photographing various species over and over again, as I often witness a behavior that I had never seen before.

July 1

It was hot this afternoon when I went for a short hike here in Old Trail, but the dew point was only 57, so even though the temperature was in the upper 80s, the humidity wasn't unbearable for an mid-afternoon hike. I started off at Western Park, the Albemarle County park that is completely within Old Trail. I soon heard the cries of a Red-shouldered Hawk. Our resident pair had four chicks this spring, and the cries were coming from a juvenile, presumably recently fledged from the nearby nest.

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Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk

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Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk

A short while later, one of the adults was perched on one of its favorite spots.

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Adult Red-shouldered Hawk

A Common Yellowthroat was singing from the wetlands in the park.

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

As I approached the plateau that overlooks the wetlands, I saw a Northern Mockingbird that was acting strange. It would hop a few feet, and then flap its wings several times, and then it repeated this pattern over and over again. I did see it fly short distances at times, and wondered if perhaps it had been injured or was just exercising it wings.

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Northern Mockingbird

I saw a fawn with its mother, and then headed over to the golf course pond near hole #1.

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Fawn

I had planned to walk out on the dock to look for any water or shorebirds, but a Great Blue Heron had taken my spot before I got there. We just looked at each other from 10 to 15 feet apart. It didn't want to lose its spot, and I decided not to make it fly away. It is rare that a Great Blue Heron allows me to get so close without getting spooked, at least here in Virginia. I did, however, take some good close-up shots.

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Great Blue Heron

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Great Blue Heron

I headed up the trail towards the golf course where I had seen a Blue Grosbeak a few days ago, and it was still there.

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Blue Grosbeak

I ended the short hike with 15 avian species.

July 2

The high pressure area had moved off the east coast overnight, and the counter-clockwise rotation of the atmosphere was now pumping in hot and muggy gulf air. I started out a little before 9 a.m., and went first to Western Park. Most of the same species were still there, and I was surprised to see the Northern Mockingbird still acting in the strange way on the plateau. An Eastern Kingbird flew across the plateau.

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Northern Mockingbird

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Northern Mockingbird

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Eastern Kingbird

I crossed Old Trail Drive to check out the pond on the other side of the road. Three male Red-winged Blackbirds were pitching a fit.

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Male Red-winged Blackbird

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Male Red-winged Blackbird

And then I saw why. A female Red-winged Blackbird had caught a praying mantis, and the males were trying to take it away from her. She kept trying to figure out how she was going to eat it, but had to keep flying to different spots to avoid the males. This female also had bright red shoulder patches, a feature that I have only seen a few times on females of this species.

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Female Red-winged Blackbird

When I crossed over Old Trail Drive again, a workman was mowing the plateau. I saw him being followed by a Barn Swallow that was catching flies disturbed out of the ground by the mower. I had never seen or even thought about this before, but it makes sense.

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Barn Swallow

I headed over to the golf course pond, and saw a few other species, including the Blue Grosbeak.

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Blue Grosbeak

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Chipping Sparrow

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Mallards

I ended the hike along Slabtown Branch Creek, where I saw more avian species, including another Blue Grosbeak, and some butterflies. I ended the 24 hour period here in Old Trail with 38 avian species, and that didn't include 10+ summer species that I often see here.

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Blue Grosbeak

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Blue Jays

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Gray Catbird

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Brown Thrasher

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Tiger Swallowtail

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Great Spangled Fritillary

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Red-spotted Purple Admiral

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Squirrel

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Eastern Painted Turtles


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