December Virginia Trip Photos

We drove to Virginia last week to see my parents at their beautiful home on the Chesapeake Bay. Here is a collection of photographs I took from the road and around the Northern Neck of the Old Dominion.

“The Leaning Tower of Pedro” at South of the Border, Dillon, South Carolina 

Scary looking work along and atop a water tower in Halifax, North Carolina.

 

Benson, North Carolina- where on our return home we had a really good lunch at the Cornerstone Cafe & Coffee. I liked these signs there.

 

West Point, Virginia- home of the big WestRock Paper Mill on the York River.

 

Kilmarnock, Va. is a neat town near where my folks live. We did a little Christmas shopping there and enjoyed excellent quiche and coffee at the Carried Away restaurant at 10 North Main Street.

Our first full day at the bay was a foggy one. Below is a currently unoccupied Osprey platform in the Chesapeake Bay. But the big birds will be back in the spring, as they have for years.

The next morning was a different story. Glorious sunrise and sunshine all day. But very cold with temps in the 20s. I took these photos just after 7 a.m. from my parents’ back porch. 

These watermen had to be freezing! But they had their work to do.

Capturing sunrises like this never gets old! 

Ingram Bay feeds into the Chesapeake Bay and is just a short walk from my parents’ house. 

There’s a marina there. My dad used to keep his big fishing boat here. 

From this spot between the bay and marina I encountered several ducks in the water. 

Mallards and a Red-breasted Merganser

The Merganser hung with the Mallards for a while then broke off and went his own way. Where’s his partner, I wondered.

Ladies first: a female Bufflehead 

Male Bufflehead in breeding colors. Video next! 

I was excited to be close enough to this Bufflehead to zoom in with my Canon SX50 and record a short video. I wish I had recorded for a couple seconds longer to show the duck plunging under the water to hide from me. I took the next photos the previous morning when it was very foggy.

I almost forgot to include this little bird I saw on the road near my parents’ driveway. This is a 

Dark-eyed Junko.

I photographed these Hooded Mergansers at the I-95 rest stop in North Carolina during our drive to Virginia. It was neat because that morning before starting the trip I photographed a female pair of Hoodies in the pond by our home. 

All in all, this was a really nice trip. It is always great to see my folks and the beautiful area they live in is definitely a bonus!