Black-throated Green Warbler
This turned out to be a very good birding day, but quite different from what I had planned. I was able to get an early start (for me), and arrived at Rockfish Gap at 9:05 a.m. I planned to make a quick drive along Route 610 between mm. 2 and mm. 4 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then see if I could re-locate and photograph the Cerulean Warbler I had heard yesterday at the south end of the cirque (mm. 7.5). I didn't expect much on Route 610 that early in the morning, as the lower sun angle with lots of leaves still on the trees meant that it would be quite dark there, and from my experience, warblers like to search for bugs in well-lit areas. I would then spend more time on 610 on my return leg. My first stop on 610 was at the old tower, and I didn't see or hear a single bird there. I continued on, and stopped about half-way on 610 when I saw and heard a flurry of avian activity at one of my favorite warbler stops.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow-throated Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireos
By the time I reached the intersection of 610 and mm. 4 of the parkway, I had logged 19 avian species. I got back onto the parkway, and soon found myself stuck in a line of traffic. Work crews were sealing that section of the parkway, and the guy with the stop sign didn't know how long we would have to wait. After 10 minutes, I turned around and got back onto Route 610. Avian activity had quieted down, so I decided to try Ridgeview Park in nearby Waynesboro. All I saw there were five new species, and not a single warbler. It was 11:30 now, and I decided to hed for home, but at the last moment, decided to try Route 610 again. That turned out to be a very good decision.
I got back onto Route 610 at mm. 2 (Elk Mountain Road), and the woods were loaded with birds between there and the old tower.
American Redstart
American Redstart
Black and White Warbler and Chestnut-sided Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cape May and Chestnut-sided Warblers
Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Oriole
Great Crested Flycatcher
I heard a Hooded Warbler at the old tower, but couldn't see it. It was probably the same one I had been seeing there all summer. I continued south on 610, and ran into Huck Hutchens. We each drove to where I had the furry of acivity earlier that morning, and re-located both Chestnut-sided Warblers, the Yellow-throated Vireo, and another Blackburnian Warbler. I got a quick look at another warbler as it dropped down from a low branch and disappeared in the brush. Huck had gotten a good look at it, and said it was a male Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-throated Vireo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
We drove back to the old tower, and birded down to Elk Mountain Road. I heard the Hooded Warbler again, and re-located the Black and White Warbler. Huck found a first fall female Canada Warbler, my 10th warbler species of the morning.
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Canada Warbler
Canada Warbler
When I was processing my photos from this morning, I found that I had gotten a poor photo of the Canada Warbler earlier (at the start of my second trip on 610). I ended up with about 35 avian species this morning, and one groundhog.
Groundhog