September 22nd marked the Autumnal Equinox and was also one of the prettiest days of the year in our opinion. We greeted the first dim rays of sunlight at our place on the Great Wicomco River with a wonderful view of an adult Bald Eagle perched on of many bare branches or snags of a waterside old sycamore tree. After breakfast we drove to one of our very favorite birding spots in the Northern Neck: Bell Isle State Park. We lasted visited there early May during spring bird migration and were anxious to see what fall migration might reveal to us.
Across from the small parking lot we looked at the old barn that serves as the park's landmark. In spring we observed Eastern Bluebirds on the barn's peak but today Turkey Vultures inhabited the space, some with wings spread out to dry and warm in the morning sun.
Leaving the somewhat creepy carrion we headed down one of the trails edged in a thin strip of woods on one side and ripening soybean fields on the other.
Dan, ever the more eagle eyed of our group of two, saw that us bird watchers were being watched from the middle of the field.
A white-tailed doe watched us intently before bounding off in the opposite direction.
Past the fields the trail opened up into wonderful views of the marsh choked with marsh grass before yielding to open water where we saw Belted Kingfisher and Great Egret from a great distance with the aid of our binoculars.
In the pines we heard chattering that told us we were in Brown-headed Nuthatch territory. These fuzzy little birds seem to talk to themselves as they glean the pine branches for insects.
Past the marsh and pines the landscape changed to an open field lush with tall grasses bowed down by the weight of ripening seed heads.
This grassy field with the occasional sweet gum sapling was inhabited by a migratory flock of a half dozen Indigo Buntings. The male was displaying just a fraction of its namesake color making it closer in brownish hue to the females of the flock. The non-breeding plumage is not as vivid as the spring breeding plumage, but it was a delight to see these south-bound birds on the equinox.
We drove to another part of Belle Isle near the newish visitor center on the shore of the Rappahannock River. Double-crested Cormorant, Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls, and a lone Sharp-shinned Hawk flyover were the expected birds to find in mid-September. Between the visitor center and the river's shore is a lush meadow of native grasses and wild flowers. A path through this meadow gave us great views of many pollinators. We're not fully versed in butterfly identification and had to research these beauties later before presenting them here. From top to bottom: Common Buckeye, Coral Hairstreak, and Monarch Butterflies (on the bottom two photos). Monarchs migrate and these two among others enjoyed the goldenrod and tick seed flowers.
We traveled to a small creek off to the side of the visitor center and down a hidden informal path to find a Great Blue Heron perched in the trees on the far shore.
Autumn in its infant stage is a wondrous and colorful place to be in Belle Isle State Park.
