Crozet Connector Trail
It was hot again today, but not as bad as it has been for a few days. Upper 80s is a lot better than upper 90s! I decided to stay close to home, but wanted to hike elsewhere than here in Old Trail, so I drove over to the nearby Crozet Park and did a late morning hike on the Crozet Connector Trail from point A on the map to just past point D, and back again. It's about 1.5 miles each way, and a good portion of it is shaded by dense tree cover.
Crozet Connector Trail
Although the hike wasn't very "birdy," I did see/hear 24 avian species, including some interesting birds. There were several dragonfly and damselfly species as well. Male Indigo Buntings were singing from the tree tops while the females were foraging for food.
Common Whitetail dragonfly
Female Indigo Bunting
Immature male Northern Cardinal
Immature Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - note the very long, pale bill
I saw Tufted Titmice feeding their young, and a lone Chickadee was nearby. The common Chickadees here are Carolina, but Black-capped sometimes show up. Unfortunately, I couldn't see whether its coverts were white to confirm Black-capped, but this one had a very ragged black bib and a rather long tail, so it might have been a Black-capped.
Tufted Titmice
Black-capped(?) Chickadee
I heard a Common Yellowthroat singing in the field near point D, and there were a few female American Redstarts along the trail near that field. One of the Redstarts had the typical white breast with yellow patches at the sides of the breast, but another one had a complete yellow wash on its underside. I checked my warbler guides and found that the yellow wash can occur, but I don't remember ever seeing one like this.
Typical Female American Redstart
Female American Redstart with yellow wash
Female American Redstart with yellow wash
On the return hike I heard a Yellow Warbler singing from high up in a tree, and a female Yellow Warbler was foraging below.
Female Yellow Warbler
Female Yellow Warbler
Just near the end of my hike, I saw two woodpeckers foraging together. The dense vegetation made them difficult to see and photograph, but I got a good look at one of them as they flew to another tree, and confirmed it as a Pileated, and assumed that both of the woodpeckers were Pileated. When I processed my photos, I saw that the second woodpecker was a Northern Flicker. I had seen five different woodpecker species in the same large tree a few years ago, but I believe that this was the first time I have seen two woodpecker species foraging and flying together.
Pileated Woodpecker and Northern Flicker