By Vickie Shufer
Cindy Hamilton spotted approximately 100 white ibis at Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area in Virginia Beach. “White ibis are all white, except for their black wingtips and their red bills and legs,” wrote Hamilton. “The tips of their bills appear to be dark because they were foraging in the mud.”
Benjamin Gerber photographed a bald eagle perched on a pole in Western Branch in Chesapeake.
Laura Joksaite sent some of her favorite photos of ospreys at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. “I had never been so close with ospreys,” wrote Joksaite. “Watching them nesting was a brilliant lesson for me.”
John Butler observed two ospreys at an iconic nest at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. “One in the nest and the other flying around protecting the nest,” wrote Butler.
C. J. Maziarz photographed a great egret having fish for lunch at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach. During the breeding season, the area between the beak and eyes turns a bright, neon green.
Rick Robillard captured a photo of a snowy egret displaying his breeding plumage and yellow feet while stalking the shallow waters looking for lunch at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.
Rich Thiesfeld photographed a great blue heron stalking along the water’s edge doing some fishing at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.
Jane Kent sent photos of a great blue heron and a pelican at Cypress Cove Villas in the Churchland area of Portsmouth.
Joe DiGeronimo photographed a young loon having breakfast just offshore at the beach at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. Loons are diving birds seen during the migratory season sticking their heads beneath the surface looking for fish.
Reuben Rohn sent a photo of a horned grebe going into breeding plumage at Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore. The horned grebe is a fairly small grebe that puffs up its head feathers during the breeding season, making them appear to be large.
Edward Obermeyer has two pileated woodpeckers nesting in a dead tree in his backyard in the Castleton neighborhood in Virginia Beach.
Joseph Robbins photographed pileated woodpeckers at Lake Lawson/Lake Smith Natural Area in Virginia Beach.
Jane Hughey photographed a downy woodpecker “waiting for his turn at the suet feeder” in the Indian River area of Chesapeake.
Bob and Kathy Marchant sent photos of a dove with her hatchling in the Burnetts Mill neighborhood in Suffolk. “Both parents have been taking turns sitting on the nest for the past several weeks,” wrote Bob Marchant. “The bird hatched out yesterday. The nest is an artificial tree on our front porch.”
Stacey Enesey Klemenc sent a photo of a stunning male bluebird that has been hanging around with his mate in South Shore Estates in Virginia Beach.
Connie Owen was excited to see yellow-rumped warblers in breeding plumage, “dressed for wooing a female. It was starting to rain but they were full of energy,” wrote Owen. “Dashing about with no care for the weather.”
Laura Mae photographed a handsome eastern towhee in Norfolk. “He was singing and singing his ‘drink-your-teeeeea’ song!” wrote Mae. Towhees forage on the ground among leaf litter.
Jane Hughey sent photos of brown-headed nuthatches taking care of their babies in the Indian River area of Chesapeake.
Benjamin Gerber photographed cedar waxwings in his yard in the Western Branch neighborhood of Chesapeake.
Vickie Shufer, wildfood@cox.net
To submit items, email no more than two photos and/or nature sightings each week for possible publication in Close Encounters. Don’t forget your full name and neighborhood. Email photos as .jpg attachments to wildfood@cox.net. If you have injured wildlife, call Tidewater Wildlife Rescue, 255-8710. Wildlife Response can be reached at 543-7000.