A couple days ago a male Eastern towhee was foraging on our back porch, and I was fortunate to get a photo of him before he flew away. The lighting wasn't very good, but you can at least see the reddish tint in his eyes.April 14, 2007 [LINK / comment]
A couple days ago a male Eastern towhee was foraging on our back porch, and I was fortunate to get a photo of him before he flew away. The lighting wasn't very good, but you can at least see the reddish tint in his eyes.
While helping out with church cleanup this morning in downtown Staunton, I heard and then saw a flock of Cedar waxwings. A little later I noticed a flock of small dark birds swirling about overhead. At first I thought they were [swallows] but soon realized that they were Chimney swifts, the first I have seen this year. They are quite consistent from year to year in terms of their migratory schedule, and my records indicate that they arrive in the Charlottesville area (east of the Blue Ridge) about a week earlier than they do here in the Shenandoah Valley.
It looks like any birding activity this weekend will be "rained out." Peak migration season is just around the corner...