American Redstart
Walt Childs and I started out on the parkway at Reids Gap (mm. 14), and soon saw a Cooper's Hawk perched on a tree, but it flew before I could get any good photos of it. We stopped at Hickory Springs Overlook (mm.12) where we saw 14 more species, including a couple of American Redstarts and a Black & White Warbler, as well as Red-eyed Vireos, Eastern Wood-Pewees, Eastern Towhees, and a very colorful Scarlet Tanager.
American Redstart
Black & White Warbler
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Male Eastern Towhee
Male Eastern Towhee
Female Eastern Towhee
Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
After a brief stop at the Humpback Rocks park and the visitor center, we got off the parkway at Route 610 and headed north to Rockfish Gap. We stopped at one spot where there was a mixed flock of birds, and added another six species to the day's total.
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
We then made stops at Lake Shenandoah, Leonard's Pond, and at points along some of the farm fields north of Waynesboro. There wasn't too much to see, and we ended up the day with about 30 species, including a Red-tailed Hawk, a Killdeer, and some Mallards.
Orchard Oriole
Rain had been forecasted for this morning, but the skies were mixed sun and clouds, so I headed over to the trail and arrived a little after 9:00. I started on Glenthorne Loop on the east side of Reids Creek, and soon saw a mixed flock of birds in one of the trees: Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Red-eyed Vireos, and a couple of warblers. One of the warblers was a Blackburnian. The other one was tough, as some of the fall warbler plumages are very similar. I thought that the other warbler might have been a female Cerulean, but after a lot of reasearch, I think that it was a drab first fall female Blackburnian Warbler.
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blackburnian Warbler
Drab first fall female Blackburnian Warbler
Drab first fall female Blackburnian Warbler
Drab first fall female Blackburnian Warbler
An Adult Common Yellowthroat was in the brush near the small pond where they nest each summer, and a bit farther down the trail, I saw a juvenile Common Yellowthroat.
Adult Common Yellowthroat
Juvenile Common Yellowthroat
Juvenile Common Yellowthroat
Juvenile Common Yellowthroat
There were lots of Eastern Wood-Pewees and Indigo Buntings on both sides of Reids Creek.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting (juvenile male?)
Indigo Bunting (juvenile female?)
Indigo Bunting (newly fledged?)
Indigo Bunting (newly fledged?)
A Great Blue Heron has, for the past couple of years, spent a lot of time in the fields rather than along the Rockfish River or Reids Creek.
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
In less than 2 hours, I had 26 species on the trail. A Broad-winged Hawk circled above, and there were lots of swallowtail butterflies.
Carolina Wren
Broad-winged Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swallowtails
This morning's RV Trail list:
Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Broad-winged Hawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Northern Flicker Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Phoebe Red-eyed Vireo American Crow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing Blackburnian Warbler Common Yellowthroat Field Sparrow Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting American Goldfinch |