American Goldfinch
Had to go into Charlottesville this morning, so I wasn't able to do any birding then. However, after lunch I decided to take a local photo hike from my house here in Stoney Creek, as I haven't done that for a few weeks. I started at 2:30 p.m. and hiked for about 1-1/2 hours. I didn't expect to see very much mid-afternoon, and it was 84 dgrees when I started, and 88 by the time I finished.
On the way down to the Allen Creek Nature Preserve, I saw Bluebirds and an Eastern Phoebe, and then in the brush past the wooden bridge I saw a female Northern Cardinal and a few American Goldfinches. One of the male Goldfinches gave me a nice display of its tail feathers. At the edge of the preserve, I saw a couple of Chickadees, almost certainly Carolina as Black-capped are rare here, but the white on the Chickadee was very shaggy, and its greater coverts are grayish-white; so if anyone thinks this might be a Black-capped, please let me know.
American Goldfinch
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Chickadee
I hiked a short way into the preserve, but it was dark and quiet, so I did not explore more there, and headed back along the farm road at the south end of the small pine forest. In the distance I saw an Osprey circling above Sawmill Creek pond #6, and when I got to the pond, I saw a female Belted Kingfisher and a lone Canada Goose. I soon heard what I thought was a Red-tailed Hawk over the farm, but when I got to a clearing where I could see, it was a Broad-winged Hawk making a bee line due south, and then I saw another one above it going in the same direction.
Osprey
female Belted Kingfisher
Broad-winged Hawk
Broad-winged Hawks
Hiking back along Sawmill Creek Dr., I heard several birds, but the only one I could identify was an American Crow. I saw another Chickadee with shaggy white feathers, so again, if anyone thinks this might be a Black-capped, please let me know. I hiked to Sawmill Creek pond #4, where a small flock of Wood Ducks took off to the other side of the pond when they saw me. I added some Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker to my afternoon list. The most interesting bird there was an American Goldfinch that remained perched low in a tree for some time, and kept singing what sounded like a soft fee-dee. It took me a while to figure out what this bird was, as I have never heard a Goldfinch sound like this one. I logged 14 species this afternoon, more than I expected to see.
Carolina Chickadee
Wood Duck
Wood Duck
Wood Duck
American Goldfinch