Central Virginia 9/23-24/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Some days turn out completely different from what was planned. This happened to me two days in a row. At least day #2 somewhat made up for day #1.

September 23, 2020; Blue Ridge Parkway

After yesterday's great birding at the south, upper end of the cirque (mm. 7.5), I went directly there this morning hoping for a repeat. But it was fairly quiet. I got a quick look at a flying warbler that had an all gray-blue back, and I assumed that it was the adult Tennessee Warbler I had seen there yesterday. I also got a quick look and poor photos of a female Black-throated Blue Warbler. The only decent warbler photos that I got there were of a Wilson's Warbler and an American Redstart.

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Wilson's Warbler

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Wilson's Warbler

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Wilson's Warbler

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American Redstart

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Black-throated Blue Warbler

There were a few non-warbler species at that stop.

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Pileated Woodpecker

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Brown Thrasher

One of the quick looks at a bird that I saw was very interesting, but both of the photos I got of it are badly out-of-focus. It appears to be a highly leucistic bird (warbler?) with a dark head and an all white body. I don't have a clue what it was, but wish that I had gotten decent photos of it.

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Leucistic bird

I continued down to Hickory Springs Overlook (mm. 12), where I got photos of a Hooded Warbler, a Tennessee Warbler, an Indigo Bunting, and a few other avian species.

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Hooded Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Indigo Bunting

My next stop was at 3 Ridges Overlook near Reids Gap, but it was quiet there. I then needed to decide what to do. I could have returned north on the parkway and birded along Route 610, but I made a different choice that did not turn out so well.

I keep two bird lists other than my trip lists for my blog postings. One is my life birds that also contains the state, region, or country where seen, so that I can go back and research sub-species when I want to do so. The other list is New World warblers by year photographed. These warblers are my favorite avian family to photograph, and every year since 2012, I have photographed 30+ New World warbler species. Last year, 2019, was my best year, with 40 warbler species photographed. I thought that 2020 would be be a good year as well, as I had photographed 5 warbler species the first week of January while visiting Myrtle Beach, SC. But the corona virus has put a damper on my birding plans, and with the cancellation of a couple of trips, and not driving long distances from home, I have missed 4 of the warbler species I get almost every year. At this point, my 2020 warbler species photographed count was 29, and I would be happy to reach 30 in 2020 given the trip disruptions. And I only needed to get an easy one this year to reach 30 - a Palm Warbler. I knew that this species is farily easy to find at the Rockfish Valley Trail, and after being the birding activity manager there for 5+ years, I knew where to look for them.

So I headed down Route 664 from Reids Gap, and soon after crossing Route 151 and getting onto Glenthorne Loop Road (Route 627), I heard thump, thump, thump with each tire rotation. I thought that I had gotten a rock stuck in my tire treads, but when I got out to look and remove the rock, I saw a large, metal object, probably from some farm equipment or other work truck, stuck in my tire. Drats! At least I was only a couple of miles from Stoney Creek Auto where I have gone for auto work for the past 14 years. If I drove slowly, I could make it there. About 1/2 mile down the road, the thump, thump, thump stopped, and I heard s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s . @&#@! The metal object had come out, and the tire was completely flat. It was almost noon, and Stoney Creek Auto is closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch, but they sent a tow truck, and by 2 p.m., I learned what I had expected to hear, the tire was shot. Well, I was close to getting new tires anyway, but they wouldn't be there until sometime on Friday, and I scheduled a Monday morning appointment. They put my sub-sized spare tire on my car, and I made my way back to Crozet.

September 24, 2020; Crozet

With the sub-sized spare tire on my car, I didn't want to do any highway driving, so I decided to stay close to home. It was cloudy and muggy with on and off light drizzle. I know that Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir can sometimes be good for warblers during migration, and it wasn't to far from Old Trail. I logged 22 avian species there, but only one warbler species - a pair of Black-throated Green Warblers.

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Great Egret and Great Blue Heron

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Green Heron

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Gray Catbird

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Red-bellied Woodpecker

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Northern Flicker and Northern Mockingbird

I returned to Old Trail, and decided to look for a Palm Warbler here. I know two good sites for them. I first hiked the trail along the wetlands, as Palm Warblers like to forage in the grassy fields uphill from the trail. But I only saw a few avian species, and added only House Sparrows to my day list.

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Carolina Wren

The other good site is in the grassy area between golf course fairway #1 and the loop trail. As I hiked by the pond, I heard some American Crows, giving me another day list species. When I got up to the grassy area next to the golf course, it was quiet. But I heard a chip from across the trail, next to the temporary gravel road leading to the new home construction. It was another day trip bird - Indigo Bunting.

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Indigo Bunting

But then another bird popped up onto the same branch with the Indigo Bunting - a Nashville Warbler!

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Nashville Warbler

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Nashville Warbler

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Nashville Warbler

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Nashville Warbler

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Nashville Warbler

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Nashville Warbler

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Nashville Warbler

I looked up and saw lots of birds flitting around in those trees.

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Northern Parula

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Blackburnian Warbler

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Blackburnian Warbler

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Blackburnian Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Scarlet Tanager

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Red-eyed Vireo

And then I got another surprise, and my Old Trail species # 144.

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Philadelphia Vireo

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Philadelphia Vireo

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Philadelphia Vireo

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Philadelphia Vireo

One of our resident Red-shouldered Hawks flew in, and the warblers and vireos flew deeper into the trees.

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Red-shouldered Hawk

It started to drizzle again, so I ducked under a tree and waited about 20 minutes for it to stop. I didn't see any more of these warblers and vireos, so I headed back to my car. As I got just past the pond, I saw another Cape May Warbler.

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Cape May Warbler

And in the tree right in front of me...

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Palm Warbler

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Palm Warbler

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Palm Warbler

So I got #30 warbler species for 2020, but not without having to buy a new set of tires! I then hiked along Slabtown Branch Creek that sometimes has a few migrating warblers. I got a very quick look and poor photo of my 12th warbler species of these two days.

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Common Yellowthroat

I added 19 avian species to my day list here in Old Trail, giving me 41 species for the day.


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