Black-capped Chickadee
It was very hot today, with highs in the mid- to upper 90s, and high humidity. Walt Childs and I headed first for Cowpasture Rd. in Highland County, where there were recent reports of Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers. Thanks to the birders who sent me directions and coordinates, as we ended up at the exact location described by the birders who had recently been there.
Walt and I met the owner of the green house at that location, chatted with him a bit, and he let us park on his property while we birded down the road. He invited us to come back whenever we wanted to, and also asked for a complimentary copy of my book when we came back. So I guess there is a parking fee for leaving our car there!
We saw lots of typical woodland species. Most were easy to identify, but a few were problemmatic. Most of the birds we saw were on the east side of the road, in the dark shadows of dense tree canopies, with open areas of very bright sunlight poking through the shadowed areas. The high contrast made photography a real challenge.
Black-capped Chickadee
Eastern Phoebe
Tufted Titmouse
Flicker
Female Orchard Oriole
Immature Indigo Bunting
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Ratsnake
I saw one vireo, and think that it is most likely a Philadelphia Vireo. It had a short bill, dark wedge-shaped lores that point toward the bill, white flanks, and a hint of yellow wash on its breast.
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
I got one poor photo of a bird that I think is an immature Eastern Wood-Pewee, and I did hear a Pewee in the area.
Immature Eastern Wood-Pewee?
And yes, we did see warblers. In addition to an American Redstart, we had a very cooperative adult Blue-winged Warbler, and a first year male Blue-winged Warbler. The Golden-winged Warbler was a bit more elusive, but I did see one in the dark shadows that shows dark auricular and throat patches, and in a nearby tree, another (female?) Golden-winged Warbler that had a very light gray throat patch that may have been washed out in the photo by the bright sunlight, or perhaps it was a Brewster's hybrid.
Golden-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
First year male Blue-winged Warbler
First year male Blue-winged Warbler
Our next stop was the hiking trail across route 250 from the Confederate Breastworks. Our target bird there was a Red Crossbill. As soon as we parked the car, I played the Red Crossbill song from my Ipod Touch app, and immediately had three birds responding with the same song. One was right in front of us somewhere in a dense pine tree. After a few repeated calls back and forth, we saw one of the birds between the branches fly up along the trunk of the pine tree. There wasn't enough time to get a photo, but the visual sighting was a new life bird for me.
Our last stop was the Swoope area in Augusta County. Did I mention that it was hot? !! A few birds were out and about or sitting on wires or fence posts, but most of them were keeping cool in dense vegetation, or splashing in water wherever they could find some. We saw some of the same species we had seen in Highland County, and added another nine species to bring our trip total to 47 avian species for the day.
Common Grackle
Common Grackle
Female Blue Grosbeak
Mourning Dove
Willow Flycatcher
Grasshopper Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Today's List (47 species):
Turkey Vulture American Kestrel Red-tailed Hawk Mourning Dove Flicker Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Wood-Pewee American Crow Barn Swallow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Blue Grosbeak Black-capped Chickadee Eastern Bluebird American Robin Northern Mockingbird Catbird Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing Starling Blue Jay Philadelphia Vireo Golden-winged Warbler Blue-inged Warbler American Redstart Northern Cardinal Yellow(?)-billed Cuckoo Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow House Sparrow Song Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Orchard Oriole Eastern Meadowlark Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Common Grackle House Finch American Goldfinch Red Crossbill |
(Greg M.; VA): Glad you found the spot! Very interesting shot of the male GW Warbler. Appears it has no black bib. I've heard that there is an unusual hybrid variation w/ this characteristic. I've never seen one like that! Those first two GWs look like definite GW females.
I'm pretty sure the photo with the (?) is a female B&W Warbler rather than a Pewee. I saw one at the same spot. Also, the vireo is almost certainly a Red-Eyed. Philadelphias this time of year are in Canada or the extreme northern parts of NY/NE. I also think the last two shots are Orchard Oriole females (or young) rather than BW Warblers. The bill and yellow undertail coverts tell the tale on that one.
Really nice shots of those BW Warblers. Almost all of mine turned out poorly due to the tricky light. Great Grasshopper Sparrow too!