Rockfish Valley Trail 11/4/13

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

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:

Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch




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