Speaking Piedmontese

The trip to the Piedmont offered a glimpse of things to come--daffodils in bloom, cherry trees flowering and wild onion sprouting from turf lawns. Birds were amazingly plentiful the entire trip. The long city winter can make it feel like the days of 40-plus species are eons away, but not in the Richmond area. We recorded pileated woodpeckers in two separate locations, especially a treat because pileateds have mostly been extirpated from Chicagoland. A trip to Maymont yielded several species including a bald eagle soaring over the James River Valley. The weather was milder than here, though still chilly at times. It even snowed for a short time Sunday afternoon, a rarity for Central Virginia. The final trip tally was 42 species and one great wedding.