I was up at the hawk watch from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. It was cold and very windy. Sharp-shinned Hawks were in the air almost all the time, and they were really struggling to make their way through the bluster. There were a few other raptors there as well.
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Common Raven
I hadn't planned on going to the Rockfish Valley Trail today, but when I got home there was an e-mail with the report of an Orange-crowned Warbler and a Lincoln's Sparrow on the downstream trail just east of the picnic table. The only other known sighting of an OC Warbler in Nelson County was one that I photographed on October 15, 2008 in just about the same location. So I headed down to the trail. When I arrived at 4:00 there was a lot of avian activity, but it pretty much died down by 5:15. Although I was only looking for unusual trail visitors and not keeping good track of what species I had seen, I remember at least 21 species that I saw this afternoon.
Although I saw neither the OC Warbler nor the Lincoln's Sparrow, I did get a quick look at a warbler that I cannot identify from the poor photos. This warbler clearly has a gray head, a complete white eye-ring, and a pale yellow and lightly streaked belly. The yellow breast could be an out-of-focus leaf in the foreground. There are several possibilities, and I would appreciate opinions.
Unidentifed Warbler
Here are some more photos from this afternoon. I was surprised to see a female Blue Grosbeak this late in the season.
Female Blue Grosbeak
Song Sparrow with bold streaks and buffy eye ring
Chipping Sparrow with bold winter plumage
Immature White-crowned Sparrow
Immature White-crowned Sparrow
Brown Thrasher
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Meadowlark
This afternoon's RV Trail list (21 species):
American Crow Eastern Phoebe Eastern Bluebird Blue Jay Northern Mockingbird Eastern Meadowlark Field Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Song Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird American Goldfinch Northern Cardinal Ruby-crowned Kinglet Yellow-rumped Warbler Palm Warbler Brown Thrasher |