Walt Childs and I decided to explore the northwest corner of Rockingham County, VA, very close to the border with West Virginia. Neither of us had previously done birding there, and wondered what we might find as some of the northern U.S. summer species also spend these months in the Allegheny Mountains. We started off in the valley west of Fulks Run, and then looped around the valley areas at Bergton and Criders, and made some trips up a couple of the mountain roads. We ended up with 38 avian species there, including 4 warbler species. I wouldn't say that this area was exceptionally "birdy," but when we did encounter birds along the roads, there were usually multiple species in the same area. We saw almost all of the species in the list at the end of this report, and only heard a few of the species. I show an unidentified hawk in the list, as we heard a very loud hawk scream, perhaps a Goshawk, but as there wasn't a visual sighting of it, we can't confirm the hawk species.
Birding area map
Most of the birds we saw west of Fulks Run were Barn Swallows, and we watched juveniles screaming for papa to feed them. It also looked like a Barn Swallow was feeding a pair of Tree Swallows as well.
Barn Swallows
Barn Swallows
Barn and Tree Swallows
The roads in the Bergton and Criders areas yielded quite a few more species.
Black and White Warbler
Juvenile Pine Warbler
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Scarlet Tanager
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Wood Thrush
We saw at least seven species at one stop along Overly Hollow Road.
Yellow-Throated Vireo
Orchard Oriole
Very young Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, or Yellow-throated Vireo ?
Very young Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, or Yellow-throated Vireo ?
American Redstart
Louisiana Waterthrush
Today's list:
Turkey Vulture
Unidentified hawk
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Louisiana Waterthrush
Pine Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Scarlet Tanager
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow