This year we finally decided to take the trip to Virginia that we had been talking about taking for the last 2 years. We started out on Saturday May 10 at about 12:00 midnight. Our first destination was Seymour Indiana. The trip got off to a rocky start when we ended up being pulled over about 1 hour into the trip for failure to dim our headlights on a divided highway. Luckily we got off with just a warning. By being delayed that little bit, we were able to witness a falling star later in Wisconsin. It was a long drive that never seemed to end. We did one stop at Midewind Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois.
Midewind is a former ammunition plant that is slowly being cleared and restored to its former glory. There we rescued a baby Painted Turtle from the park road. He was only about the size of a half dollar and had just missed getting run over from 2 vehicles that had recently drove past on the road. We also saw Indigo buntings, Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Canadian Geese (with babies, the first babies we've seen this year), Solitary Sandpiper (a first sighting for us), Eastern Towhee, Orchard Oriole, Blue Jays, and Chipping Sparrow.
May 11 we headed to Elkins West Virginia. About a 6 1/2 hour drive from Seymour Indiana. We were going to head to a National Wildlife Refuge, but the weather was questionable and there was a huge very dark ominous cloud headed in our direction. We ended up out running the cloud and ended up in Elkins later on Sunday. Our hotel was beautiful and sat on the hillside overlooking the town.
May 12 we headed out finally to see some of the sights that we were wanting to see. On our way to Winchester Va, our home away from home for the next 5 days, we stopped at Rich Mountain Civil War Battlefield. This was located on some winding back roads in the hills of West Virginia. Aaron wasn't sure if he wanted to drive the car up the winding steepish gravel roads, but I said since we were there we might as well at least attempt the drive. We did and ended up making it all the way to the battlefield site. After all, we may never get back to this area again, and now we can at least say we've been there. Our next stop was Phillipi. There was a small battle here, but for me the best part was the covered bridge. It's still a functional bridge that functions as a regular highway. Here we saw some Goldfinches, Robins, Mallards, Song Sparrows, and a female Baltimore Oriole. Next up we ended up at Parsons. We didn't intend to stop here as we were looking for Corricks Ford, but we needed a bit of a break so we got out for a bit and ended up seeing some cute little house wrens that were singing up a storm, we also saw Cardinals, Eastern Starlings, and Catbirds (which by the way have an amazing singing voice). Here we saw the most amazing Azalea plants in bloom. They were so full of bees and the cutest little Ruby-throated hummingbird. Our last stop of the day was at Corricks Ford Battlefield. This park is still in the development stage.
May 13 we headed out to Shenandoah National park. There we saw Chipping Sparrows, Goldfinch, white doves, Indigo Buntings, a Yellow-throated Vireo (who was steeling silk from a caterpillar cocoon and another first for us), Brown headed Cowbird, Deer, oodles of Turkey Vultures, Eastern Towhee, Veery, Robins, Juncos, Eastern Towhee, American Redstarts, a chipmunk (not sure if it was Alvin, Simon, or Theodore though), Blue Jays, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Catbirds, a squirrel, and a Black bear. We also got yelled at for going the speed limit by a moron who thought he owned the road. Apparently we were slowing him down. Just what I want to see and hear at a National Park, the roar of a motorcycle and a hippie who cant control his mouth. At the end of our time in the park we got caught in a downpour. It was raining so hard that for a while we had to pull over and wait out the rain. It didn't take long before we were able to start moving down the mountain and back to our hotel for the night.
May 14 we went to Antietam National Battlefield. Here we saw Chipping Sparrows, lots of wild ground hogs (we even saw one drag its babies off Bloody Lane), Blue Jays, Eastern Kingbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Vesper Sparrow (another first for us), Red-bellied Woodpecker, House Sparrows, Tree Swallows, Cardinals, Eastern Meadowlark, Catbirds, Indigo Buntings, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (another first for us), Baltimore Oriole, Northern Mockingbird, Cliff Swallows, Deer, Rabbits, Brown Thrasher, and Turkey Vultures. It was interesting to say the least, but the weather was overcast and all the pictures were dark.
May 15 we planned a lazy day. Sleep late, home early. The weather was predicting thunderstorms in the early afternoon so we decided to stick close to our hotel in Winchester Virginia. We decided to spend time at Harper's Ferry and Balls Bluff. At Balls Bluff, in Leesburg Virginia, we saw a beautiful Zebra Swallowtail butterfly, Eastern Bluebirds, Robins, Mourning Doves, one unidentified bird. After visiting Balls Bluff, we headed to Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. There we saw a Tufted Titmouse, Cardinals, Zebra Swallowtails, a Bumblebee Moth, and Catbirds. We got back to our hotel around 2 in the afternoon, just before the thunderstorms hit.
May 16 we headed back to Shenandoah National Park. We didn't think it rained all that much, but it must have kept raining all night, because there was flooding in the entire region. We didn't see that much flooding, but the traffic reports on the radio were talking about how the flooding was causing delays all morning. It was patchy fog in the morning. One time it would be sunny and perfectly clear, then around the next turn complete fog. Isn't mother nature amazing? In the park we saw a wild Turkey, Indigo Buntings, American Redstart, Deer, a mother Black Bear with her young cub, Chipping Sparrows, a Chestnut-sided Warbler (another first for us), Rabbits, Catbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Goldfinch, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, and a Red-eyed Vireo (yet another first for us). Just after seeing the Black bear and cub we were passed by 3 very loud sports cars who insisted upon revving their engines while passing not only us but two other cars. Justice was served later on when we saw them pulled over by the park rangers.
May 17 we headed to Manassas National Battlefield. Once there we were greeted by the Porsche Club who were gathered at the Visitors Center before they drove off to where ever they were going. We spent some time wandering around Henry House Hill where Stonewall Jackson got his nickname. While there we saw a Turkey Vulture, Northern Mockingbirds, Deer, and Painted Lady Butterflies. At the Brawner House we saw other unidentified butterflies, Dragonflies, Zebra Swallowtail Butterflies, Eastern Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Bumblebee Moth, and a Common Yellowthroat. Next up was Battery Heights here I spend some time stalking a pair of Eastern Bluebird. We also saw some very tiny blue/purple butterflies. Then we stopped at Stone House, Matthew's Hill, and Sudley Church. At Deep Cut we saw a Green Heron, more tiny butterflies, and an Eastern Bluebird. Next stop was New York Monuments. Then on to Chinn Ridge where we saw Robins, Turkey Vultures, Caterpillars, and more butterflies and dragonflies. Our next stop was Stone Bridge. Here we saw evidence of the earlier flooding. The high water line was up to Aaron's shoulders. All the trees were covered with muddy leaves that had been pushed against them by the flood waters. Here we also saw a Tufted Titmouse and an Eastern Phoebe. Our last stop was Groverton Cemetary.
May 18 we went to Fredericksburg National Military Park. We spent several hours wandering around the park. There weren't many birds or other wildlife there since this park is in the middle of Fredericksburg, VA. But we did see some Black-capped Chickadees, Chipping Sparrows, a squirrel, Northern Mockingbird, Robins, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and a Northern Cardinal.
May 19 we started to head home from our long journey. We drove to Chillicothe Ohio and stayed there for one night. The next morning, May 20, we got up and left for our marathon journey home. Had our first experience with a toll road north of Rockford IL, and a brief down pour as we were entering Wisconsin. We left Chillicothe at 7am and didn't get home until 1:15am.
Despite getting lost 3 times, we had a wonderful vacation. Wildflowers and trees were in bloom everywhere. Now starts the daunting task of going through all the photos and hopefully have some great new shots on the website soon. Hopefully this won't turn into an Irish soon (which if you don't know, seems to take forever).
I want to take this time to thank our animal caretakers (you know who you are) for caring for our babies while we were gone. This trip wouldn't have been possible without you. You mean the world to us and we love you more than you will ever know.
Take care and happy snapping!
Karla and Aaron