Rockfish Valley Trail 10/3/12

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Warmer air, calm winds, and saturated soil from yesterday's rain produced dense fog over the entire area. When I arrived at the trail at 8:45, the fog was only just beginning to clear. A few birds were already out and foraging for breakfast in the soup, and the first bird I saw this morning was a Bobolink - not a bad start. In the first 30 minutes I had logged 23 species, but the fog persisted, and in the second 30 minutes I only added 4 more species. And then the fog lifted and the sun came out. Between 9:45 and 11:45, I added another 25 species, bringing the morning total to 52 species.

Highlights included six warbler species: Magnolia, Common Yellowthroat, Palm, Nashville, probable Pine [First Of Season (FOS)] , and FOS Yellow-rumped. I also saw five woodpeckers: Pileated, Downy, Flicker, Red-bellied, and FOS Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

But the real highlight of the morning was watching a Merlin fly from tree to tree along the downstream trail, and letting me take lots (300+) of photos of it.

Bobolink

Magnolia Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Probable Nashville Warbler

Nashville Warbler

The following warbler is probably a Pine Warbler. Notice the bay coloring in the flanks and on the throat. No matter how much I wanted this to be a Bay-breasted Warbler (the last one to complete my photos of the 36 local warblers), the tail is too long, and the undertail coloring is white and not buff. Other opinions are welcomed.

Probable Pine Warbler