Old Trail; Crozet, VA 10/10/18

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

We had heavy rain during the night, and the Lindy Bain loop trail here in Old Trail was even wetter than it was yesterday. At 9:00 a.m., there wasn't any wind, and once again, it was like hiking in a steam bath. But by 10:30, some low pressure bands starting to move into the area, and at least there was a slight breeze. It was still quite warm, and I don't remember ever seeing turtles out on pond logs this late in the year.

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Turtles

Although I only saw 29 avian species this morning, falling short of yesterday's 38 avian species here, I did have a few highlights, including 5 woodpecker species: Downy, Pileated, Red-bellied, Northern Flicker, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, as well as a new Old Trail species (# 131) for me: Red-breasted Nuthatch.

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Northern Flicker

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Downy Woodpecker

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Immature male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

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Red-breasted Nuthatch

I only saw two warblers: a Magnolia an a Palm.

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Magnolia Warbler

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Magnolia Warbler

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Palm Warbler

Most of the other birds were common species here.

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Gray Catbird

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Starling

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House Sparrow

I either saw two Red-shouldered Hawks, or more likely, the same hawk in two different locations.

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Red-shouldered Hawk

The best bird I saw this morning was a Scarlet Tanager. Sibley's field guide shows a drawing of a female Scarlet Tanager variety with narrow wing-bars and white edging on its secondaries (inner wing feathers). I rarely see a Scarlet Tanager with these features.

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Scarlet Tanager

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Scarlet Tanager

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Scarlet Tanager

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Scarlet Tanager

Here's a photo of a Scarlet Tanager with these features that I took in Waynesboro, Virginia, in September 2014.

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Scarlet Tanager


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