July 11, 2024 [LINK / comment]
Birding back in Virginia, July 2023
(NOTE: This is my first blog post on birding since January 3, when I finished a series of such pieces on my birding activities out west a year ago in June.)
July 11: Jacqueline and I drove up to Harrisonburg, mostly for shopping, but also spent some time at the JMU Arboretum. There we saw Wood Thrushes, Northern Flickers, etc.
July 12: Jacqueline and I drove up to Reddish Knob and later hiked for about a mile along the road toward Bother Knob, to the north. We saw several Red Crossbills at close range, as well as Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-throated Green Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, and best of all, a Merlin perched at the top of a spruce tree!

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Merlin, Red Crossbills (M & F), Black-throated Green Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, and Cedar Waxwing. (July 12, Reddish Knob & vicinity)
July 15: Jacqueline and I hiked for about a mile up the hunter access road that begins at the Boy Scout camp in Swoope, ignoring the high heat and humidity. There were several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and quite a few Eastern Wood Pewees and various woodpeckers, but the latter sort proved too elusive to photograph. LIkewise for the singing Wood Thrush. I got birds of all three primary colors (red, yellow, blue), but the Scarlet Tanager's head was obscured by a leaf. The big highlight was toward the end of our hike, when I saw my very first Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the year -- two of them, in fact! (I had seen a Black-billed one a month or so ago.) At the lake itself we saw a Great Egret, and later on north of Buffalo Gap I had a glimpse of a gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker flying over a field; that was one of the "target birds" for our hike, since I have seen them around there before.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood Pewee, Indigo Bunting, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Goldfinch, Scarlet Tanager. (July 15, Boy Scout camp & vicinity, Swoope)