Cerulean Warbler
It was very hot today at lower elevations, and I had a couple of hours open this morning, so I did some birding on the first 14 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway where it was 10 degrees cooler. I hadn't been there for more than a month, and the vegetation and leaf cover was much denser, making the birds difficult to locate. I had planned to stop at the Humpback Rocks Visitor Center as a Kentucky Warbler had been reported behind the reconstructed pioneer village, but just as I arrived, a bus load of school children had unloaded and were making their way to the pioneer village, so I passed on that spot. I did manage to log 21 avian species, but some of the species, including two of the warbler species, were heard only birds. Ironically, the most sought after species there, Cerulean Warbler, was the most common species I heard and saw, and one even flew one foot over my head as it crossed the parkway.
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
American Redstart
American Redstart
Scarlet Tanager
Red-eyed Vireo
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Broad-winged Hawk
Hairy Woodpecker
Eyed Click Beetle
Today's list:
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Red-eyed Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Wood Thrush
Cerulean Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Hooded Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Cedar Waxwing
Hairy Woodpecker