Augusta Bird Club: Photo archives

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McCormick's Farm field trip

Wednesday, February 27th was a beautiful if rather chilly day, as eight members of the Augusta Bird Club went on a field trip McCormick's Mill Farm. Although the species count was a relatively modest 26, there were some excellent bird sightings. Most noteworthy were the immature Red-tailed Hawk and two Golden-crowned Kinglets, along with Robins, Phoebe, and Red-winged blackbirds. The side trip to Willow Lake did not disappoint. There were many species of ducks, and the Bald Eagle flying overhead filled my heart and soul with happiness.

by Jo King

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Clockwise from top left: Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Bald Eagle, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Redheads (F & M), and Greater Scaups (F & M). (February 27, 2019)

LEFT TO RIGHT: Mark Doty, Doug Ryder, Liz Reed, Tom Trykowski, Jo King, Elaine Carwile, and Diane Holsinger at McCormick's Mill. (February 27, 2019)

Pileated Woodpecker (female); photo courtesy of Larry Litke. (February 25, 2019)

Red-tailed Hawks, in Swoope; photos courtesy of Victor Laubach. (February 24, 2019)

Quetzal, somewhere in Costa Rica; photo courtesy of Ann Cline. (February 22, 2019)

Long-tailed Duck (male) at the pond near the northeast end of Mill Place Parkway in Verona. (February 4, 2019)

Mill Place trail field trip

In spite of frigid temperatures, eight hardy birders showed up on the morning of January 26th for a field trip to the Mill Place trail. Highlights included Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier, Savannah Sparrow, and American Kestrel. At the big (unfrozen) pond behind Hardee's there were several Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, and two Great Blue Herons, plus the usual Canada Geese and Mallards.

by Andrew Clem

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: American Kestrel (F), Buffleheads, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-shouldered Hawk, Savannah Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, and Hooded Mergansers (F & M). (January 26, 2019)

Highland County field trip

On January 6th four members of the Augusta Bird Club made their annual winter trek to Highland County to seek out the Golden Eagle as well as wintering Finches. The temps started out at 30 degrees but quickly warmed up to 54 with sunshine. Our first stop was the feeders in McDowell which was a bust: only Goldfinch, Junco, White-breasted Nuthatch, and a Savannah Sparrow. Next we went to the town of Bluegrass, and on the west side of Snowy Mountain we had three Golden Eagle flying high. In the lowlands just south of Snowy Mountain we had a great view of a juvenile Golden Eagle flying low with two Red-tailed Hawks dive-bombing it. Our search for the Loggerhead Shrike on Dug Bank Road did not pan out, probably because it was a bit windy. Most of the birds were hunkered down yesterday, and we missed several target species in Highland County.

Next we headed south on Route 220, and once in Bath County we had a few ducks on the farm pond to the left: Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, and 44 Common Merganser, Kingfisher, and Bald Eagle. On the way to Lake Moomaw, we had Black-capped Chickadee, Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Junco, and Song Sparrow. The biggest treat was seeing at least eight Eastern Reddish Bats flying around. At Lake Moomaw we had Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Mallard, and Bufflehead. All in all we ended the trip with about 40 species of birds.

by Allen Larner

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Golden Eagle (imm.), Hooded Merganser (M), American Kestrel (F), Horned Grebe, Common Merganser (M), Golden-crowned Kinglet, and in center, Bald Eagle (imm.). (January 6, 2018)

Eastern Red Bats, near Lake Moomaw. (January 6, 2018)