Blue Ridge Parkway, VA 7/28/2021

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

I haven't been up on the parkway and Route 610 for a couple of weeks, so I decided to see what might be up there. I got onto 610 at mm. 2 of the parkway, and stopped at one of my good birding spots. I got a quick look at a Black and White Warbler, a couple of American Redstarts, a female Cerulean Warbler, and a few other avian species.

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Black and White Warbler

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Indigo Bunting

But it was a pair of Kentucky Warblers that grabbed my attention. This species used to breed on the parkway hillside across from the Rockfish Gap Overlook (mm. 2) until May 2016, when workmen spent early May cutting down brush with chainsaws. I've only seen this species along the first 14 miles of the parkway/Route 610 once since then, and it was during early migration on July 28, 2020 - exactly one year ago today. By August 1 each year, the bulk of the Kentucky Warblers have already migrated down to the border between North and South Carolina.

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Kentucky Warblers

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

I continued south on Route 610, and then back onto the parkway to Hickory Springs Overlook (mm. 12). I only saw a few more avian species, and not a single warbler.

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Wood Thrush

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Sharp-shinned Hawk

I turned around and drove back to Route 610 at mm. 4 of the parkway, and drove north. I saw another American Redstart and a Worm-eating Warbler, and the Kentucky Warblers were gone when I stopped where I had seen them earlier in the morning.

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American Redstart

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Worm-eating Warbler


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