Crozet, VA 1/20-21/2022

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Old Trail; January 20

I'm still trying to determine if the female and male Dark-eyed Juncos I have seen here might be Cassiar Juncos (Junco hyemalis cismontanus) - a Rocky Mountain hybrid (intergrade) of the Western Oregon subspecies and the continental Slate-colored subspecies of the Dark-eyed Juncos. The photos that I had taken on January 18 and 19 were inconclusive. Male Slate-colored Juncos are dark gray with white bellies and white outer tail feathers. First winter males are dark gray as well, but may still have some brown juvenile feathers. Slate-colored females can be lighter gray, grayish brown, or almost all brown. The Oregon Junco males have a dark black hood, brownish back, or orangish flanks. Oregon Junco females are very similar to Slate-colored females. Primary differences are more contrast between a sooty head/mask and orangish flanks, and the mask tends to curve upwards at the sides of the breast rather than downward on Slate-colored. But the females of both species are so similar that it can be tough to separate the two, and a female hybrid of the two subspecies makes it an even greater challange. I thought that I had seen and photographed a male with a black hood the past two days, but it might have been a lighting effect.

It was a bit warmer this morning, but also very overcast and drizzly. I headed over to where I had seen these birds, and saw quite a few Dark-eyed Juncos and other species, but couldn't draw any definite conclusions. I did relocate the Dark-eyed Junco with the black hood, but it didn't appear to have orange flanks.

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Juncos

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Dark-eyed Junco with black hood

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Chipping Sparrow

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Chipping Sparrow

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Song Sparrow

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Hermit Thrush

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Hermit Thrush

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Eastern Bluebird

Old Trail; January 21

The bottom dropped out of the thermometers overnight. Temperatures were in the low teens, and about 20 degrees when I went out. I decided to try birding at my usual locations, rather than spend the morning hunting for Juncos. I started out at the golf course pond. There were about 150 Canada Geese in the small unfrozen portion of the pond. But the snow was frozen and slippery, so I decided to look for juncos again from the shoveled sidewalk where I had been birding the past three days.

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Canada Geese

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Golden-crowned Kinglet

When I got to the sidewalk area, I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk. The little birds didn't seem to mind it's being there; unlike the Cooper's Hawk from two days ago. I saw most of the same species I had been seeing there this week.

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Hermit Thrush

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White-throated Sparrow

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Eastern Bluebird

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Chipping Sparrow

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Field Sparrow

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House Finch

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Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

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Squirrely Bird

And I saw several Dark-eyed Juncos.

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Dark-eyed Junco

I re-located the Dark-eyed Junco with the black hood. It's possible that the black hood is a shadow/lighting effect. But when processing the photos, I noticed another feature - a light orange vent area. Male Slate-colored Juncos have a gray vent area, whereas Oregon Juncos have an orange vent area. So does this confirm it as a Cassiar? I ended this morning's outing with 23 avian species - not bad for an icy day.

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Dark-eyed Junco with black hood and light orange vent area


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