Walt Childs and I drove to Reddish Knob to look for Red Crossbills and any warblers that might have moved into the area. We saw only a few birds on the way up to the four road intersection, including my FOS Black-throated Green Warbler.
Black-throated Green Warbler
When we arrived at the four road intersection, there were six Red Crossbills perched in a tree - three reddish-orange males and three yellow females.
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbills
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
As we headed up towards the summit, we saw a few more Black-throated Green Warblers, one Yellow-rumped Warbler, and heard a Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
But the vegetation soon diminished, and we saw only a few chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos. Normally, all of the chickadees there are Black-capped, but one of them looked more like a Carolina - straight bottom bib line, short tail, and very little white on the coverts.
Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco
On the way down and below the four road intersection, we stopped to watch a Blue-headed Vireo and a couple of Pine Warblers. Later, a Broad-winged Hawk flew quickly by the car.
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Pine Warbler
Pine Warbler
Our next stop was at Hone Quarry, which for me has usually been a very poor site for finding birds. But it redeemed itself today. We saw a couple of Blackburnian Warblers high up in the trees.
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
I have good photos of male and female Northern Parulas in non-breeding plumage, and females in breeding plumage, but all of my photos of males in breeding plumage have been backlit by bright skies, and I have been trying for several years to get a good photo of a breeding plumage male without a bright background. Finally, success!
Male Northern Parula
Male Northern Parula
Male Northern Parula
Male Northern Parula
Male Northern Parula
We made a quick stop at Nazarene Wetlands to look for the Dowitcher that had been reported there. We saw it from a good distance away, and it looks like a Short-billed to me rather than a Long-billed. There are subtle differences between to two species, but this one looks like it has a white belly that is characteristic of a Short-billed Dowitcher [update: better photos by other birders confirmed this as a Long-billed Dowitcher]. A short distance after leaving, we saw a juvenile Cooper's Hawk.
Short-billed Dowitcher
Cooper's Hawk
We ended the trip with 36 avian species, including the Red Crossbills and six warbler species, two American Kestrels, Broad-winged and Cooper's hawks, but not a single Red-tailed Hawk.