Photographs of Wildlife in Virginia: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Most Beautiful Day in Virginia History

Somehow this weekend, Virginia Beach was dumped on with 8-10" of snow. This is the first time it's happened since I've lived out here, and it really showed how beautiful this area can be. After an hour long drive from Norfolk to First Landing State Park (a distance of about 15 miles), I arrived to find the park was CLOSED. I have never before seen something like this...so, after almost getting into about 10 crashes with inexperienced snow drivers, there was no way I was going to let it end with a "closed" sign. After climbing the 10' chain linked fence surrounding the park I was greeted with some of the greatest scenery I've ever seen in my life. Here's what it looked like:

Location info & Larger Photo available Here, (click the photo at the site)

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Beautiful January Saturday!

The beautiful Saturday weather continued through yesterday, so I was able to get out in the morning for a 10 miler. By about 10 A.M. though it had clouded up, however I was able to get quite a few photos during the brighter hours of the mid-morning. I saw a lot of Brown-headed Nuthatches & Eastern Bluebirds in the same location as last week, but could not for the life of me get a photo of any. The Great Egrets were the easiest today, although I'm quite sure I annoyed one to death since I basically followed it across the entire park. A couple of Brown Pelicans, some Belted Kingfishers, Black Vultures were also in the mix. And, as with the last time out, the Hooded Merganser were in force, mixed in with groups of Buffleheads near the outlet of White Hill Lake into Broad Bay. Anyways, here's some of my favorite photos from the day's hike:

Black-capped Chickadee. Photo taken 1/23/10.
Location info & Larger Photo available Here, (click the photo at the site)

Great Egret. Photo taken 1/23/10.
Location info & Larger Photo available Here, (click the photo at the site)

Great Blue Heron. Photo taken 1/23/10.
Location info & Larger Photo available Here, (click the photo at the site)

Common Loon. Photo taken 1/23/10.
Location info & Larger Photo available Here, (click the photo at the site)

Hooded Merganser (A Double Date, headed to the Theatre). Photo taken 1/23/10.
Location info & Larger Photo available Here, (click the photo at the site)

Friday, January 22, 2010

Welcome to 2010!

Welp, it's that time of year. Time to return to hiking/fishing once more! Winter in Virginia has proven to be very interesting, as I'm seeing a lot of birds I'm not used to seeing, being from the Midwest. Most of the colorful songbirds have been gone for several months, but, the shorebirds are here in vast numbers. So far in 2010, I've only gotten out a couple of times, but...here's what I've seen thus far: