Crozet area, VA, 9/21-24/16

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

For the past month, finding warblers in our area has been like pulling meat from a hound's mouth. It's been tough. Perhaps the hot weather, and dense vegetation from the rainy spring and summer have been major factors. A cold front has moved throug the area now, and perhaps the next few weeks will be better.

September 21

Walt Childs and I started out this morning at Lickinghole Creek, but there wasn't much to see, so we headed over to Mint Springs park that was fairly quiet as well. I did manage to see a single Black and White Warbler, and we saw a few other avian species. We decided to try birding a bit on Route 610 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the way there we saw two cats playing on railroad tracks.

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Black and White Warbler

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Cats

We stopped at one spot on Route 610 where there were a few warblers: American Redstart, Northern Parula, Tennessee Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler.

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American Redstart

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Northern Parula

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Magnolia Warbler and Tennessee Warbler

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White-breasted Nuthatch

The parkway was also fairly quiet. We saw one Black-throated Green Warbler, a Red-tailed Hawk, and some interesting tree fungus.

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Red-tailed Hawk

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Red-tailed Hawk

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Red-tailed Hawk

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Tree fungus

September 23

I had some errands to in Nellysford, so I did a late morning hike on the Rockfish Valley Trail. I ended up with 22 avian species including one Common Yellowthroat and one American Redstart.

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Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

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Field Sparrow

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird

September 24

I went back to Mint Springs Park where I saw a few birds including a Magnolia Warbler and a male and a female Black-throated Blue Warbler, and a Scarlet Tanager.

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Female Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Male Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Black Ratsnake

I then went back to Lickinghole Creek where it wasn't very "birdy."

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Northern Cardinal


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