Hello all
Yesterday morning 8 members & friends of the Augusta Bird Club held their
annual adventure to Highland County for some early Summer birding . We
tallied 67 species of birds with a few highlights & surprises . First we
stopped off at the graveyard on Rt. 640 for the Bobolink & we found a few
singing & displaying . Also the fence rows were yellow with at least 100+
goldfinch . The big surprise was several Turkey Vultures & mixed in them was
onre 2nd year Golden Eagle & one Bald Eagle ( did not get an age on this
bird ). Our second stop was at the O' Bryan's for the Golden - winged
Warbler . With the starting temps in the upper 40's & a brisk wind we were
able to view one Golden - winged & possibly hearing a second one . Also here
we had Chestnut - sided & Common Yellowthroat . We were told by the O
'Bryan's that the Long - eared Owl is still hanging around & also they had
seen a Loggerhead Shrike several days ago . Plus they have had a Lincoln's
Sparrow a few days ago . We were unable to locate the last three . Moving
on we went up Rt. 642 to Laural Forks for the Alder's Flycatcher . Arriving
on the late side to the Beaver Dams we had found a Flycatcher not singing so
to be safe we chalked it up to an Alder's / Willow . Also we saw a large
Black Bear out in the meadow . Our next main stop was just before the
bridge at Laural Forks where we had at least 3 to 4 Canada Warblers . From
there we went up to the state line turned right & up to the not so clear cut
any more . Here we had one Mourning Warbler , Yellow - rumped , Peewee ,
Veery , & Rose - breasted Grosbeak . On the way home at the new slaughter
house on Rt 220 we saw 2 Bald Eagles in a field to the north of the place .
As I stated in the first we had 67 species & out of them all we had 13
species of Warblers . Not a bad day of birding in Highland County .
Allen Larner
Staunton
