Joseph Robbins got a beautiful photo of a great blue heron with its reflection in the water. The heron was looking for a mid-day meal in a shallow stream on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Mike Weirich spotted a flock of cormorants in the waterway bordering the Honey Bee Golf Course in Virginia Beach. When in water, cormorants float low on the surface and dive to catch fish. In flight, cormorants hold their head up with the neck slightly bent.
Evan Rhodes got a photo of a bearded hen turkey standing alert in a field in the Blackwater section of Virginia Beach. While all male turkeys have beards, only about ten percent of hens have a beard. Beards are plumes of dark brown or black feathers that protrude from the bird’s chest.
Kirk Clayton photographed a Cooper’s hawk that was hanging out on his deck in Great Bridge in Chesapeake. “Not sure what he was looking for,” wrote Clayton. No doubt looking for songbirds.
Kathy Spencer photographed a red-bellied woodpecker on the side of a pine tree at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach. The woodpecker was “getting ready to dig for a tasty meal,” wrote Spencer.
Steve Daniel sent a photo of a large group of starlings lined up on the branches of dead trees on the Cape Henry Trail at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. Large numbers of starlings and other blackbirds create murmurations when they move in one large mass across the sky and then settle down to roost as a group for the night.
John Devenny reported observing large groups of crows overhead in the late afternoon and moving in the same direction on Hargrove Street in Norfolk. “They are not talking, just coming in waves of 50-100!” wrote Devenny. Crows and other blackbirds feed on nuts that are maturing at this time. They arrive in large numbers for an evening meal before they settle down to roost.
Reuben Rohn spotted a hermit thrush perched on a branch at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach. The hermit thrush is a winter visitor to the area and moves north early in the spring. It can be found in forest openings or along woodland trails where it forages on the ground.
Harold Winer sent a photo of a male oriole in the Kings Grant area of Virginia Beach. “Our male oriole (we call him Cal) and his harem of females are back for their third consecutive year,” wrote Winer. Orioles can be attracted to your backyard by putting out ripe fruit or nectar.
Leslie Garrett sent a photo of a wooly worm that was spotted in the screened-in porch on her deck in the Norfolk Highlands section of Chesapeake. “As folklore would have it, it looks like we’re going to have a pretty mild winter,” wrote Garrett. According to folklore, if their rusty band is wide, it will be a mild winter.
Connie Owen sent a photo of a green tree frog in the Robinhood Forest area of Virginia Beach. “I went to refill my birdbath this afternoon and look who hopped out of the spout of my watering can,” wrote Owen. “I’m sure it was a great place to hide and keep warm.”
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If you go
What: Winter Wildlife Festival with Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation – a monthlong celebration of coastal wildlife and nature featuring over 50 activities, excursions, tours and more.
When: Jan. 27 through Feb. 4
Where: Various sites throughout Hampton Roads
Cost: Fees vary
More Info: (757) 385-2990; outdoors@VBgov.com; https://parks.virginiabeach.gov/events-information/special-events/winter-wildlife-festival.
Vickie Shufer, wildfood@cox.net
![A nearly century-old Oklahoma company that supplies stock for rodeos had as many as 70 horses die a week ago after receiving what an owner believes was tainted feed. Rhett Beutler, co-owner of Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. near Elk City, told KFOR-TV that the horses died shortly […]](https://www.pilotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/04/14/3X2JI5FLARG3XCZMNVHACWQSAA.jpg?w=535 "A nearly century-old Oklahoma company that supplies stock for rodeos had as many as 70 horses die a week ago after receiving what an owner believes was tainted feed. Rhett Beutler, co-owner of Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. near Elk City, told KFOR-TV that the horses died shortly […]")