Central Virginia 9/16/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

It was a beautiful day, although quite hot in the afternoon at lower elevations. I headed up early this morning to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Route 610. I started off the bat with a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Pine Warbler on 610, and then went directly to the south upper end of the cirque on the parkway (mm. 7.5).

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Pine Warbler

The cirque was quite active. I saw Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, Black-throated Green and Tennessee Warblers (and heard a Hooded Warbler and an Ovenbird), and a Scarlet Tanager.

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Blue-headed Vireo

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Blue-headed Vireo

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Blue-headed Vireo

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Blue-headed Vireo

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Red-eyed Vireo

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Scarlet Tanager

At the cirque, I also saw a flycatcher that I could not identify, and it wasn't singing to give me a clue. It might have been an Eastern Wood-Pewee, but it looked too stocky, and it had a rather short tail and a very dusky breast.

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Flycatcher

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Flycatcher

I continued on to Hickory Springs Overlook (mm. 12). There were at least two Hooded Warblers near the north end and a third one near the south end. I heard another Ovenbird and a Gray Catbird, and saw a Cedar Waxwing there.

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Hooded Warbler

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Hooded Warbler

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Hooded Warbler

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Hooded Warbler

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Cedar Waxwing

I then drove to Three Ridges Overlook (mm. 13), and got my second Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the morning.

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak

At this point, I re-traced my route and added my sixth warbler species of the day on Route 610 - American Redstart, and got a quick look at a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a species that I had heard at several locations but had not yet seen this morning.

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American Rredstart

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Yellow-billed Cuckoo

A brief visit to the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch added an American Kestrel and a Red-tailed Hawk to my day list, and then I drove to Ridgeview Park in nearby Waynesboro. Soon after I started hiking there, and Ovenbird popped up for a photo shoot, probably realizing that I had been hearing them earlier in the day, but hadn't seen one yet today :-).

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

The Ovenbird was the only warbler I saw at the park, but added Pileated and Downy Woodpeckers to make it a five woodpecker species day. I saw an American Robin that appeared to be anting on the path, and ended the day with 35 avian species.

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American Robin

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Gray Catbird


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