Shannondale Springs

At mid-morning on Friday, I spent a wonderful 1 1/2 hours walking the [Shenandoah] River Bend Trail in the Shannondale Springs Wildlife Management Area, Jefferson County. Kudos to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources for maintaining the trails in this area in such great condition. Outside in a shortsleeve shirt and shorts--temps in the 60s-70s-- while the poor folks in Minnesota shoveled out from under two feet of snow! Here are the birds and butterflies that I saw, listed in order of detection (nc = individuals not counted):

Birds:
Eastern Phoebe - 3
Turkey Vulture - 3
Song Sparrow - nc (many)
Wood Duck - 6 (all in pairs)
American Crow - nc
Canada Goose - 15 ( most in pairs)
Mallard - 34 (most in pairs)
Belted Kingfisher - 2
House Finch - 1
Common Merganser - 9
Carolina Chickadee - 7+
Northern Cardinal - nc
Blue Jay - 2
Carolina Wren - nc (many)
Hooded Merganser - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1+
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 1
Gadwall - 2 (1 pair)
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Mourning Dove - 2
Eastern Towhee - 1

Butterflies:
Cabbage White - 30 (apparently recently emerged)
unidentified skipper - 1

(Note: A modified version of this note was posted to the WV-Bird listserv on 03/15/2002.)