It had been 10 days since my last birding activity, and I thought that I would go to the trail this morning. When I arrived at 8:50, the temperature was still in the high 30s and there was a light breeze, but the sky was sunny. However, the change back to standard time meant that the sun was an hour higher in the sky this morning than it was at this time of day last week, and although there was a lot of avian activity on the trail, it was mostly sparrows.
I hiked for only one hour, heading downstream first, taking Glenthorne Loop to the bog area, returning to the Rockfish River trail head, and then hiking upstream to the benches and then back. I ended up with 26 species, although there were certainly more species on the trail that I most likely would have seen on a longer hike. The variation in the plumage of Song Sparrows never ceases to amaze me.
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrows
Swamp Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Purple Finch
Great Blue Heron
Blue Jay
Today's RV Trail list:
Turkey Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk Rock Pigeon Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Blue Jay American Crow Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Eastern Bluebird European Starling Yellow-rumped Warbler Chipping Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Purple Finch American Goldfinch |