Chestnut-sided Warbler
Tink Moyer and I headed up to Reddish Knob with three warbler species as target birds. I haven't seen a Blue-winged Warbler yet this year, Tink hadn't seen Black-throated Green Warbler yet this year, and neither of us had seen a Mourning Warbler yet this year. Black-throated Green Warblers can usually be found up near the four road intersection, and Blue-winged and Mourning Warblers have been reported up along FR 85 (unpaved side) from the intersection. We heard a Black and White Warbler and Ovenbirds on the way up Briery Branch Road, but didn't stop to look for them. When we got to the four road intersection, it was quiet - all we saw were a couple of American Goldfinches, so we headed up the fire road. It was sunny on the trip there, but cloudy with a few rain drops up along the fire road. We saw several American Redstarts, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a Chestnut-sided Warbler up there, but none of our target warbler species. We did hear a Black-throated Green Warbler up there, but never saw it.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow-rumped Warbler
We also saw a variety of non-warbler species up there.
Cedar Waxwing
Gray Catbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
Juvenile Eastern Towhee
Juvenile Chipping Sparrow
We heard Eastern Wood Pewees, and saw an Empidonax Flycatcher. An Alder Flycatcher has been seen up there, but as we did not heard this one singing, we couldn't specify the species.
Empidonax Flycatcher
Back down at the four road intersection, we looked again for Black-throated Green Warblers, but all we heard were two Black-throated Blue Warblers. On the way down Briery Branch Road, we stopped for a quick look at a Pine Warbler.
Pine Warbler
When we got to the bridge over the small creek a short distance from the reservoir, we stopped to look for warblers. There was a flurry of activity along the creek. Most of the area was in deep shadow, but every once in a while, we could see a bird in good sunlight. One of the birds was a vireo. I would have suspected that it might have been a Red-eyed, but the photo I got of it doesn't show a bright and well defined supercilium, so it might have been a Warbling Vireo.
Vireo
The highlight of the trip for me was seeing four Waterthrushes there. We thought that one or more of them might have been a Northern Waterthrush because of their yellow underside wash and apparent narrowing of the supercilium behind the eye, but after reviewing my photos, I think that all four of them were Louisiana Waterthrushes, and the yellow wash and narrowing supercilium were lighting and angle of view effects.
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
We were a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see any of our three target warbler species, but hearing/seeing nine warbler species made for a good outing.