Ferry Farm, Fredericksburg, VA

The Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries provides a birding and wildlife trail throughout the state. Part of that trail is the coastal area, which covers the entire coast of Virginia. A small portion of this trail includes what is known as the Fredericksburg Loop. And a small portion of this loop includes George Washington's boyhood home, Ferry Farm. Ferry Farm is located just on the eastern edge of the town of Fredericksburg. Before leaving on vacation Red found out that there was to be a birding tour held at Ferry Farm when we would be in the area on that Saturday. So we got up early that morning (Aug 25) and headed over to Ferry Farm. The tour guide, Paul Nasca, a birding enthusiast, and an archeologist by vocation, showed up around 8 a.m. Before we headed out on the grounds he noticed there were 21 of us, the most birders he has had on a tour. The down side was that he informed us that we were there at a time when many birds, especially the fledglings, have already left the immediate area. And the area had not yet started seeing the migrating birds, but that they would be coming through in another month. We were told that up to 114 species have been sighted there at Ferry Farm, but we would probably only see a couple dozen that morning. On our tour we walked through various habitats - some grassy fields, some woodlands, and a river bottom. The farm is located on the northern edge of the Rappahannock River. I did not have the chance to take photos of any of the birds we saw - we were mostly too far away for my little 10x zoom digital camera. Here is a list of birds we saw in each of the various habitats:

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated hummingbird
Red-bellied woodpecker (heard)

Downy Woodpecker

American Crow
*Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse (heard)

Carolina Wren (heard)

*Blue-gray gnatcatcher

Eastern Bluebird (heard)

American Robin
*Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird

Cedar Waxwing

European starling (heard)

*Red-eyed vireo

*Prairie warbler

Northern cardinal

*Chipping sparrow

House finch
American goldfinch

House sparrow

That made a total of 24 species we saw or heard. Seven of them are lifers for me, too. And I'm only counting the ones I saw (not heard). I marked the lifers with an asterisk.

Once the tour was over we were allowed to walk the grounds and tour the house. Red and I didn't have time to tour the house, but we chose to admire the garden in the back yard. There was a lot of activity going on. Not just birds, but many butterflies, dragonflies, and bees. Here are some photos I took.

Here is a large bee gathering pollen from a squash blossom. Click on each of the photos for a larger view.

Lamb's ears, coleus, and marigolds

More of the same - marigolds and lamb's ears

This is the center of the garden, with a birdbath, and to the right is the pole where the feeder is sitting on.

Maybe someone can help me with the name of these beautiful flowers.

A Tiger Swallowtail

A hyacinth bean bush - and a close-up of the flower and beans.