Crozet, VA 7/11/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Old Trail

Hot and humid weather continues here in central Virginia. We had some thunderstorms in the area last night that cleared out some of the humidity, and even though it was warm this morning, there was a nice breeze that made birding acceptable. I got a photo of a rainbow last evening after one of the storms moved to the east of us.

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Rainbow

I was birding from about 9:50 to 11:20 this morning, and ended up with 22 avian species. One of the first birds I saw was a Green Heron very high up in one of the trees over the wetlands.

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Green Heron

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Great Blue Heron

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Red-winged Blackbird

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Red-winged Blackbird

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Orchard Oriole

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House Sparrow

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Northern Mockingbird

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American Goldfinch

Barn Swallows are feeding their young in the nest under the breezeway from the town center parking lot to Golf Drive.

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Barn Swallows

The highlight of this hike was a pair of Brown Thrashers on the trail along the golf course pond. One of them was an adult. The other one was a juvenile. Note the juvenile's lighter head and white irises of its eyes. The juvenile had not yet learned to be afraid of people, and it just waddled closer and closer to me. I had fun watching it figuring out how to eat a caterpillar.

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Adult Brown Thrasher

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Juvenile Brown Thrasher

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Juvenile Brown Thrasher

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Juvenile Brown Thrasher

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Juvenile Brown Thrasher

The male Blue Grosbeak continues to hang around Slabtown Branch Creek, and not too far from my house. I've been seeing this bird in the same area since June 14, and haven't found its nest yet. I saw the female only once, and assume she's on the nest.

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Male Blue Grosbeak

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Male Blue Grosbeak

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Male Blue Grosbeak

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Male Blue Grosbeak


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