Swainson's Thrush
There was light rain overnight as a weak low pressure front moved up the east coast, and the remnants of Hurricane Nate were forecasted to move into the area mid-afternoon. But I had a few hours in between to try some birding up on the parkway. Even though it was a Sunday and about a week or so before peak autumn leaf color, I thought that the heavily overcast skies and rain would keep tourists away. But there were still lots of visitors to the parkway. There was intermittent light drizzle for the first two hours I was there.
I decided to take my usual autumn route up there, exiting onto parallel Route 610 near mm. 2, and then re-entering the parkway near mm. 4. I would see most of the same birds on Route 610 that I might see on the parkway along these two miles, and there were very few cars and lots of places to pull off the road for bird watching.
I had just gotten onto Route 610 when I saw three other birders - a husband and wife, and their son, and they were watching warblers and thrushes. When we introduced ourselves, they said that they had come from Richmond, VA, and were on Route 610 after reading my list-serve posts from earlier in the week. Nice to know that some people actually read what I write! Anyway, the four of us birded together for the next four hours. I led the way, and they would follow in their car and stop when I did. It was great to make some new friends, and four sets of eyes are usually better than one set. The only regret that I had about birding with them, is that after re-tracing our route, and once again on Route 610, they said good-bye close to mm.2 and headed for home. Less than 5 minutes later, and less than 100 feet down the road, I found a mixed flock of 10 warbler species and the second Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the day, and wished that they had stayed abother 5 minutes. They will probably read this report, and I wanted to let them know that I felt badly that they missed this last flock of birds.
On the first trip along Route 610, we saw a few thrushes. In the field, they all looked like Swainson's to me, but after looking at the photos, one of them looks like it might be a Gray-cheeked, but it could also be an immature Swainson's.
Swainson's Thrush
Gray-cheeked/Swainson's Thrush
We saw quite a few warblers on Route 610, but only a few on the parkway. All of the warblers we saw along the parkway, except for one Black-throated Green, stayed far from the road. The almost constant traffic must have been quite disturbing for the birds.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
We encountered four or five mixed flocks of warblers on Route 610, in addition to the last flock I saw after the Richmond birders had left.
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Male Black-throated Blue Warbler
Male Black-throated Blue Warbler
Female Black-throated Blue Warbler
Female Black-throated Blue Warbler
Female Black-throated Blue Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Although Blackpoll Warblers are not one of my favorite warblers in terms of colorful plumage, I found them to be very interesting on this trip. The autumn plumage on warblers can sometimes be quite confusing, but Blackpoll Warblers always have yellow feet. However, their legs can be either yellow or dark (usually on immature birds), and autumn males can show dark streaking. There were enough Blackpoll Warblers there today for some good examples.
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
In addition to the 11 warbler species, I logged 24 other avian species. I was surprised to see an adult Northern Cardinal still feeding an immature Cardinal with almost complete adult plumage.
Northern Cardinals
Scarlet Tanager
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - second one of the day
Bee Fly