Connie Owen sent a photo of a great egret coming in for a landing at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach. “I have enjoyed the big numbers of egrets at Stumpy Lake this fall,” wrote Owen. “I went one morning early and there had to be at least 100 egrets hanging out. They leave for the day and come back in the evening. I suspect many were passing through headed south.”
Reuben Rohn photographed an oystercatcher looking for food on a rock jetty at Cape Charles Beach on the Eastern Shore. Oystercatchers are easily recognized by their red-yellow eyes and vivid red-orange bill. Oystercatchers can be found in intertidal areas and adjacent beaches, especially barrier islands where they look for clams, oysters, and other saltwater mollusks.
Mike Weirich had a first-time sighting of a surf scoter at the beach at Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach. Surf scoters can be recognized by the black-and-white patches on the heads of the males. These birds are sea ducks that winter along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and nest in northern Canada and Alaska.
Cindy Hamilton spotted an American bittern that was camouflaged among the reeds at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach. “These birds are incredibly well camouflaged,” wrote Hamilton. “Their vertical streaks help them blend into a reedy habitat. In addition, these birds often stand perfectly still with their bills pointed upwards.”
Rob and Heather Rice sent a photo of a Cooper’s hawk on their back fence near their squirrel feeder in the Woods of Piney Grove in Virginia Beach. Cooper’s hawks are mostly forest birds but are commonly seen in parks, quiet neighborhoods, and backyard feeders where they prey on small birds and mammals.
Jonathan Snyder photographed a red-bellied woodpecker at Jamestown with a berry in its beak. Red-bellied woodpeckers are medium-sized woodpeckers with black-and-white bars on their back. They are known to cache nuts and berries in crevices, tree cavities, and under bark.
Kathy Spencer sent photos of a mourning dove in the Chic’s Beach neighborhood near Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach. “A mourning dove on a very cold morning in her puffer coat,” wrote Spencer.
Rich Thiesfeld had a rare sighting of a red wolf making his way through a recently harvested corn field at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. “His location offers some creative canid cornfield camouflage!” wrote Thiesfeld. “This shot is of one of the pups born this spring. He’s not quite old enough to get his radio collar yet.”
Laura Koubsky sent a photo of a piebald deer that she came across at Bodie Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The discoloration is the result of a genetic mutation in addition to being shorter and stouter than normal white-tailed deer.
Vickie Shufer, wildfood@cox.net
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If you go
What: 3/4-Day Whale Watching in Virginia Beach
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 24 and 25
Where: 200 Winston Salem Avenue, Virginia Beach
Cost: $80 per person
More information: Reservations are required. Call (757) 425-3400 or email rudeeangler@gmail.com.
![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 […]")