Longspur road trip

Ever since Virginia's first Smith's Longspur appeared in the Shenandoah Valley two weeks ago I have been itching to get up there. A four and a half hour drive from Southern Pines, but it would be a life bird for me- plus, I have never been up to that area and have been wanting to check it out for years. After having to postpone twice because of weather, I finally was able to head up there this weekend along with my dad. Upon arriving at the Shenandoah Valley Airport in Weyers Cave, we almost immediately found the bird with the direction of a handful of birders who were already present. Several inches of snow still on the ground made it stand out nicely. For the 45 minutes we watched it, it usually stuck close to one or two nearby Horned Larks and was feeding on the grassy/muddy shoulder of the road leading to the airport parking lot. It was also seemingly oblivious to the group of birders about 50 feet away. Once when flushed, it gave great looks of its white outer retrices in flight and also did it's "rattle" call a couple times- to my ear, drier-sounding than that of the other longspurs.

 Smith's Longspur

 Shenandoah Airport- with Longspur-chasing birders in the background 

We didn't make it up to nearby Harrisonburg to look for the continuing Trumpeter Swan, but instead spent some time photographing the snow-covered rural farmlands in the area and toured around the UVA campus in Charlottesville. This campus has a robust history involving Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe- three of our early presidents. I was hoping to spend some extended time hiking and exploring Shenandoah National Park, but the 5 inches of snow still on the ground and unplowed park roads resulted in the gates being closed. Oh well , this is an excuse to visit some other time in the near future as well- perhaps when warbler migration is in full force in the spring!

Snow-covered farm  in Weyers Cave, VA

UVA campus chapel