Central Virginia 5/12-15/2022

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Ridgeview Park; Waynesboro, VA; 5/12/2022

I met up with Tink Moyer at the park this morning. There had been fog up in the mountains, and it was overcast. Although we did see a fair number of avian species, there wasn't a single warbler there.

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Downy Woodpecker

Blue Ridge Parkway and Route 610; 5/12/2022

The fog was clearing, so we decided to try for warblers up on the parkway and Route 610. We saw a few birds, and then it started to drizzle and we ended the outing.

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American Redstart

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

Old Trail; Crozet, VA; 5/14/2022

I had morning chores so I did an early afternoon hike. I ended up with 28 avian species including Common Yellowthroat, Pine Warbler (heard only), Yellow Warbler (heard only), and Yellow-breasted Chat (heard only). It was really hot and muggy, and then it started to rain.

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Indigo Bunting

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

Mama Bluebird was showing her youngsters how to forage. The juvenile on the right apeears to be yelling, "How about me? I'm hungry, too!"

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Eastern Bluebirds

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Eastern Bluebird

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Eastern Bluebird

Blue Ridge Parkway and Route 610; 5/15/2022

Early morning fog lifted fairly quickly, so I headed up to higher elevations. Given that it was a Sunday, I wanted to do some birding on the parkway before traffic got bad, so I birded at both ends of the cirque (near mm. 7-1/2) and in the Humpback Rocks Picnic area between 9:00 and 10:00, and then on Route 610 between mm. 4 and mm. 2 of the parkway between 10:00 and noon. There were lots of birds to see, and the most common warbler species I saw was Cerulean - a dozen or more of them at various locations.

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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Black and White Warbler

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Black and White Warbler

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Black and White Warbler

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Black and White Warbler

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Worm-eating Warbler

I heard and saw Pine and Hooded Warblers, but didn't get any good photos of them.

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Blue-headed Vireo

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Blue-headed Vireo

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Red-eyed Vireo

The highlight of them morning was a Kentucky Warbler singing for a mate on Route 610 just north of Old Elk Mountain Road (near mm. 3 of the parkway). This species used to breed between Route 610 and the parkway near mm. 2, but for the past several years I have only seen a few of them in this area during migration. As I saw this species at Mint Springs Park two weeks ago, and this Kentucky Warbler was singing, I hope that it is not migrating, finds a mate, and breeds here.

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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

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Kentucky Warbler


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