Walt Childs and I drove our usual route in Rockbridge and southern Augusta Counties today. We started off a McCormick's Mill in Raphine, headed a bit south and west towards the Allegheny Mountains, and then north to Swoope. By the time we got to Swoope, we had already logged 30 avian species.
Gadwall
American Kestrels
Belted Kingfisher
Mourning Doves
White-throated Sparrow
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk
We added 10 more avian species in Swoope. As soon as we got there, we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle and two more sparrow species.
Bald Eagle
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
We got another Great Blue Heron at Smith Lake and added Killdeers to our day list.
Great Blue Heron
Killdeer
We saw our sixth Red-taiuled Hawk of the day.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Our two highlights of the day were at Swoope. The first one was a Merlin.
Merlin
Merlin
Merlin
And we saw a rare Loggerhead Shrike.
Loggerhead Shrike